Apples popular Back to School campaign is officially returning for customers in Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, offering free accessories for students and educators purchasing new Apple products in these countries.Apple gives free AirPods and Apple Pencil with its Back to School campaignThis year, Apple is offering a free pair ofAirPods 4with Active Noise Cancellation with the purchase of a newMacBook Air,MacBook Pro, oriMac. For those buying a newiPad ProoriPad Air, Apple is including afree Apple Pencil which can be either the Apple Pencil Pro or the USB-C versionWhen it comes to the offer to buy a new Mac, customers can also upgrade to AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Max and receive a discount equivalent to the price of AirPods 4 with ANC. The campaign aims to help students and teachers gear up for the academic year with the latest Apple technology.In addition to free accessories, students and teachers can buy Macs, iPads, and eligible accessories at a discount. As noted by MacRumors, AppleCare+ plans are also 20% off for students.In these countries, Apples Back to School campaign runs until March 13, 2025. For countries like the US and Canada, the campaign usually starts in June. You can find more information by visiting the Apple website or an Apple Retail Store in your country.Of course, you can alsobuy MacsandiPads at a discountfrom stores like Amazon even if youre not a student.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Big brain time.Smelt It, Delta ItPresident-elect Donald Trump has found the real culprit behind Los Angeles' massive and devastating wildfires: the Delta smelt fish.In a post on his failing Truth Social platform, the forthcoming commander-in-chief slammed California Gov. Gavin Newsom or "Newscum," in Trumpspeak for putting a "worthless fish" over Golden State's populace."Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way," Trump posted. "He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didnt work!), but didnt care about the people of California.""Now," he continued, "the ultimate price is being paid."The "worthless fish" in question is the Delta Smelt, a small and endangered freshwater fish that's protected under California law and, though it's a crowded field, just might represent one of the former and future president's stupidest beefs.Very Stable FaucetAs Trump's would have it, Southern California could bring in more water via a "very large faucet" a nonexistent water diversion system from the Rocky Mountains to the north that experts call completely nonsensical."You have millions of gallons of water pouring down from the north, with the snow caps and Canada, and all pouring down," Trump said during a Los Angeles fundraising trip last September. "And they have, essentially, a very large faucet, and you turn the faucet, and it takes one day to turn, and its massive."After Trump plugged the convoluted "solution," Oregon's state climatologist Larry O'Neill suggested in interviews with local press that this strange technology only exists in Trump's mind."There is indeed no such diversion system," O'Neill told Portland'sKOIN, "and none has been seriously proposed that I am aware of."Despite his proposed technology not existing in the real world, the man who will be sworn back into office in less than two weeks thinks that California should be doing things his way."I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA!" Trump posted. "He is the blame for this."Back in reality, climate change and the notorious Santa Ana winds are really to blame but in this dumb age, who's keeping score?More on Trump proposals: Trump Planning to Cut Funding for EVs and ChargersShare This Article

An iconic Los Angeles high school famous for welcoming many beloved TV show and movie crews onto its grounds has burned down.The building perished as a casualty of theongoing L.A. fires that startedin the Pacific Palisades area.The school, which serves star-studded neighborhoods like the Palisades and Brentwood, caught on fire on Tuesday evening (Jan. 7).Business Insider reported that the schools athletic facilities and bungalow structures burned down, but they did not respond to questions about the extent of the overall damage or the state of the main building.READ MORE:Celebrities Share Their L.A. Fires Updates on Social MediaWhile the schools next term had not yet begun, staff and student-athletes were present at the time of the fire and were quickly evacuated safely.According to the outlet, the main building is still standing and about 70 percent of the campus reportedly survived.The school has a long list of A-list alumni, including J.J. Abrams,filmmaker and father to singer Gracie Abrams, who once based a character on his PCHS English teacher.Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker also attended the school and performed in the school's musical productions ofJesus Christ Superstar andCabaret.The well-known high school opened its doors in 1961 and has been the set for several popular movies and TV shows.Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh and Black Eyed Peas rapper-producer Will.i.am also attended the school.Below, find out which iconic TV shows and movies came to life in the halls of PCHS.What Movies and TV Shows Were Filmed at Palisades Charter High School?One of the most famous films to grace the grounds of PCHS was the 1976 adaptation of Stephen King'sCarrie.PCHS was one of several schools used to portray the bloody Bates High School in the film.In 2003,Freaky Friday took over the school to film scenes with Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Chad Michael Murray, including the infamous inside-out shirt scene and Anna's (Lohan) detention run-in with hottie Jake (Murray).Then, on MTV, seasons three through seven of the hit showTeen Wolf used the school as the backdrop for Beacon Hills High School's resident werewolves including Tyler Posey and his human bestie Dylan O'Brien.Plus, the 2012 wild teen comedyProject Xalso filmed scenes at the school, and in 2021, Olivia Rodrigo used their locker room as part of her "Good 4 U" music video.Get our free mobile appDevastating Los Angeles Wildfires in PhotosSee jaw-dropping photos from the multiple wildfires raging through Los Angeles in January 2025.Filed Under: Freaky Friday, Teen WolfCategories: Movie News

The London-based practice working with Bureau Cube Partners of Serbia won a single-stage competition to transform the former Milan Vapas Paper Mill into an educational visitor attraction dedicated to the Serbian-American engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla.In awarding the 60,000 top prize, the jury praised the winning design for its originality and thoughtful combination of Teslas historical legacy with the architecture of old Belgrade, and the modern appearance of the Serbian capital represented by the Belgrade Waterfront.A second prize of 40,000 was awarded to Zoran Sobic, Marko Filipovic, and Srdjan Stojanovic while a third prize of 20,000 was awarded to William Poole, Jim Richards, Benjamin Walker, Ivan Jankovic, Sasa Popovic, and Milutin Folic. The competition, organised by the Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade, received 46 submissions.AdvertisementThe project backed by the Belgrade Waterfront Company will preserve and enhance the 8,400m complex, considered one of Serbias best-preserved and most significant buildings of industrial architecture. Key aims include creating a space for a very rich museum exhibition, dedicated to one of the greatest inventors of the modern era on the 7,200m site.The winning scheme was inspired by Teslas vision of magnetic fields, combined with the idea of wireless transmission of electricity. It features spherical surfaces and circles creating a striking entrance foyer which leads visitors into a main atrium. The centrepiece exhibition will be the Tesla Electric Transformer Gallery featuring a 12-million-volt transformer.The museum building is a short distance from the site of the iconic 1957 Belgrade Fair and overlooks the River Sava. The site neighbours the busy Mostar motorway loop and is part of Belgrades enormous 177ha waterfront regeneration zone.In 2019, Madrid-based Fenwick Iribarren Architects won an international contest to transform Savski Square, which is a short distance from the proposed Loionica Multifunctional Centre next to the citys former main station. The scheme will create a new gateway to the 3.5 billion Belgrade Waterfront redevelopment project.Located on the southern bank of the River Sava, the Belgrade Waterfront development will transform a large area of former railway and logistics land. The district, known as Savamala, was a major commercial hub for the city before falling into disuse and has now been cleared for redevelopment. The scheme will deliver 6,000 apartments and 750,000m of office and commercial space.AdvertisementZHAs scheme will provide one of three new museums alongside a Historical Museum of the Republic of Serbia and Childrens Museum planned for the Belgrade Waterfront site. Once complete, it will provide a new environment for researchers studying Teslas archive and stimulate critical thinking about the role of technology in shaping the future.Competition judges included Marko Stoji, chief urbanist of the City of Belgrade; Ivana Zori, senior curator, of the Nikola Tesla Museum; Kristina Luki, graduate economist at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia; and Aleksandar Ivanovi, graduate architectural engineer at the Cultural Heritage Preservation Institute of Belgrade.Architects view Source:Image by NorviskaWinner: Zaha Hadid Architects with Bureau Cube PartnersThe adaptive reuse of the 1920s structure will preserve its industrial heritage while upgrading its indoor and outdoor spaces as a leading cultural venue with improved accessibility from the city.The museums design draws on Teslas research into magnetic fields and wireless energy transfer. Informed by concepts of magnetic forces and interconnectivity, the design incorporates dynamic elliptical curves radiating from the old factory chimney, the sites dominant feature.A new circular opening in the factorys western faade will be the public entrance, leading visitors to the triple-height central atrium anchored by the historic chimney at the heart of the 13,400m museum.To enhance circulation and functionality in the buildings continued life as a museum, ellipsoidal sectional openings will be carved within the walls that divide the old factory's interior. These openings define a series of three-dimensional spherical voids that create an extended perspective viewed from the western entrance, through the atrium and terminating at the Tesla memorial at the eastern end of the museum.The museums first-floor galleries incorporate historical artefacts, interactive displays and immersive presentations, while temporary galleries will host an ever-changing programme of exhibitions and events, ensuring a new experience for returning visitors.Featuring a 12-million-volt transformer, the immersive Tesla Electronic Transformer Gallery will capture imaginations and showcase Teslas pioneering spirit. The museums visitor amenities also include a caf, a multipurpose hall and a rooftop restaurant offering panoramic views of the Sava River.Outside the building, Nikola Tesla Square will serve as a new public space for the city. Inspired by Teslas concepts of electromagnetic fields, the squares flowing pathways, gardens and plazas will enhance accessibility and connect with Belgrade Waterfront as well as the city's transportation network.Minimising ecological impact through passive design in addition to the use of renewable and geothermal energy, the paper mills restoration preserves its historic faades, vaulted ceilings and masonry, while updating its structure to serve as one of the citys most important cultural destinations.

Were pleased to share that DNEG has entered a strategic partnership with Stars Collective to bring immersive theater experiences to the Chinese market!Leveraging our decades of expertise and our DNEG IXP division, which was launched earlier this year, we will work with Stars Collective on the development and production of immersive experience content, including establishing and operating immersive experience venues in China, and designing IP-themed stories and experiences tailored for the Chinese market.Speaking on the partnership, CEO Namit Malhotra said,With the launch of DNEG IXP, our Immersive Experiences division, and our continued drive to diversify our service offering to complement our Hollywood partnerships and projects, I welcome this strategic partnership with Stars Collective. The agreement aligns with our own investment in and development of premium global content, and I am confident that this partnership will deliver exciting creative opportunities for storytellers and new avenues for content owners to maximise the value of their IP across territories.The development, production, and operation of these immersive experience projects will focus first on China, with future plans to expand into Southeast Asia and North America.Learn more from Variety.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.So the purple category in the NYT Connections puzzle was kind of entertaining today, but if you don't know a certain probability puzzle involving a certain game-show host, you're going to think the puzzle makers are off their rockers. Click here if you want to know what I'm talking about. Read on for today's Connections hints and answers.The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. And players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.Read more:Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every TimeHints for today's Connections groupsHere are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.Yellow group hint: Conditioned by something else.Green group hint: Cool itBlue group hint: Cheers!Purple group hint: Game-show brain teaserAnswers for today's Connections groupsYellow group: Be contingent (on)Green group: "Calm down"Blue group: Ingredients in an old fashionedPurple group: Featured in the Monty Hall problemRead more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English WordsWhat are today's Connections answers?The yellow words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is be contingent (on). The four answers are depend, hinge, rely and rest.The green words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is "calm down." The four answers are chill, easy, enough and relax.The blue words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is ingredients in an old fashioned. The four answers are bitters, orange, rye and sugar.The purple words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is featured in the Monty Hall problem. The four answers are car, door, goat and host.

It hasn't been an easy couple of years forstudent loan borrowers. Between multiple payment pauses and the courts disputing the legality of the Biden administration's Saving on a Valuable Education plan, the fate of student loan forgiveness and other programs remains unclear. Elaine Rubin, a higher education policy expertAs a student loan expert with more than 15 years of experience in the industry, I understand the confusion. I've witnessed my fair share of program changes, but I've never been through a period more complicated and tumultuous than the policy tug-of-war we've seen over the past two years.With so many factors up in the air, how should you approach your student loan repayment strategy?You can't control the fate of debt relief programs or income-driven repayment plans, but there are steps you can take to regain control of your student loans. Here are five things you can do right now -- and one thing you shouldn't do. Review your student loan balanceDo you know how much you owe in total on your student loans? You might have an idea (or think you do), but it's important to check.Many borrowers I've worked with are surprised to find they owe more than they initially borrowed when it's time to start repayment. This is because most loans, except subsidized ones, begin accruing interest from the moment they are disbursed. Outstanding interest, which has not been capitalized or added to your loan, is listed separately from the principal balance. To fully understand your loan balance, it's important to carefully review your statements.If you know who your student loan servicer is, you can log into your online account to check your balance. If you're not sure, you can find out by logging into your Federal Student Aid account and visiting the My Aid page.Read more:5 Ways to Pay Off Your Student Loans Even Faster Plan to restart paymentsIf you are enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan, your loans have been in an administrative forbearance since this summer due to the plan's legal challenges. You haven't been able to make payments, and your interest rate has been set to zero. This payment hold is temporary, and I expect it to end soon.If you haven't done so already, reevaluate your monthly budget to accommodate your student loan payments.Compare the income-driven repayment plansIf you're worried about SAVE disappearing or looking to adjust your budget to include your monthly loan payments, it's a good idea to explore all available repayment plans. You can use the US Department of Education's Loan Simulator to estimate your payments and check eligibility for specific plans. This tool will let you explore available income-driven payment options.Update: The department recentlyrestored the Pay as You Earn and Income-Contingent Repayment options, two IDR plans that were previously phased out. You can now apply for them online (if you're eligible). Don't sleep on the PSLF buyback programThe Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers debt cancellation for teachers, nurses and other public service employees who work in a qualifying job for 10 years and make 120 payments on their loans. If you're enrolled in SAVE and were close to reaching your 120 total payments, the recent payment pause may have delayed your forgiveness. In this case, you might benefit from the PSLF buyback program.The PSLF buyback program lets you "buy back" months where your loans sat on hold during a forbearance period -- but only if doing so brings you to 120 total payments.For example, let's say you had already made 115 qualifying payments before your loan entered the SAVE Plan forbearance. You could apply for the PSLF buyback program to buy back five of the months where your loans were in forbearance to reach the 120-payment requirement. You'll apply for the program online, and once approved, you'll have 90 days to pay off what you owe for the number of months you buy back. So, if your monthly payment was $100, you'd need to pay $500 to receive forgiveness.You'll need to also make sure you meet all other PSLF eligibility criteria, such as working for a qualifying employer and having the correct loan type. If you think you're eligible and want to confirm your payment count, you can find qualifying payment amounts in yourStudentAid.gov account. Expert tip: If you qualify for forgiveness through the buyback program, you will not pay any federal taxes on the forgiven amounts through 2025. However, certain states may tax student loan forgiveness. If you're in school, start paying off interestIf you're still in college, your student loans likely haven't entered repayment yet. While it's difficult to predict whatrepayment options will be available in the future, there are proactive steps you can take now.One recommendation is to pay off any interest that accrues while you're still in school. Even small contributions can help reduce the overall cost of your loans in the long run.If your federal student loan hasn't yet entered repayment, you won't be eligible to enroll in a repayment plan yet. Repayment starts six months after graduation or if your enrollment drops below half-time, unless you enroll in another program, like graduate school, before the grace period ends. Don't count on forgivenessMany borrowers have turned to income-driven repayment plans to reduce their monthly payments and potentially qualify for student loan forgiveness. However, forgiveness is not guaranteed, especially as legal challenges continue to threaten the SAVE repayment plan. Programs like PSLF and forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment Plan carry less risk, since they would require congressional action to be altered or eliminated.That said, it's always wise to plan for full repayment of your student loans, regardless of any current potential forgiveness opportunities. More student loan advice

Marvel Rivals, the new hero shooter based on Marvel comics characters, starts its first full season later this week. The free-to-play game launched season 0 on Dec. 6 and quickly reached 20 million players.After the abbreviated season 0, we're starting the first full (13-week) season. We're gotten a flood of confirmed details, and here's what we know about season 1, including the trailer for the season.Marvel Rivals season 1 start timeThe Eternal Night Falls trailer says the season begins Friday, Jan. 10. The trailer's YouTube page specifies that it's 4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. PT.Read more:Marvel Rivals: How to Choose Which Heroes and Roles to Play Sue Storm can pull unsuspecting enemies into your team, allowing for a quick elimination. Marvel/Capture by Adam BenjaminNew Marvel Rivals heroes and mapsThe new trailer on Monday gave us brief glimpses of the Fantastic Four -- Invisible Woman, Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch and The Thing. They're a fitting addition to the game, given its premise that two Doctor Dooms from different timelines are warring for control. (It also helps build hype for the new Fantastic Four movie, First Steps, coming this summer.) Invisible Woman will take the role of a strategist, and Mr. Fantastic will be a duelist. Though not appearing until later in the season, The Thing will be a vanguard, with Johnny Storm adding yet another duelist to the roster.I had a chance to try out the new heroes before the season and had two main takeaways. First, Mr. Fantastic is officially a duelist, but his role very much blends with vanguards. His Reflexive Rubber ability lets him store and bounce incoming damage back at enemies, and his ability to generate overhealth makes him far tankier than most duelists. In most of the games I played with or against him, he was absorbing almost as much damage as the team's tanks.Second, Invisible Woman has a lot to keep track of. I enjoyed the high-actions-per-minute play style, but some players might be fatigued by having to track the limited range of her primary fire, the health of her deployable shields, the multiple inputs for her push/pull ability and the cooldowns of all her abilities. She has a lot of utility, but effectively managing those various resources is the key to her success. When enemies overextend, you can use Invisible Woman's ultimate to prevent enemy strategists from healing them while also healing your team inside the radius. Marvel/Capture by Adam BenjaminThe season will be divided into two halves, with Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman being added at the start of the season, while Thing and the Human Torch join up in the second half. We'll get one new convoy map, Midtown, where players will escort the Fanastic Four's robotic ally H.E.R.B.I.E. to Avengers tower. We're also getting an all-new arcade game mode, Doom Match, which will take place in Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. A third map, Central Park, will be added midseason. Prepare for some portal pandemonium in the Sanctum Sanctorum's arcade mode. MarvelThe devs said this is twice what they have planned for future seasons, so it's probably safe to expect one new hero at the start of future seasons and another about six weeks later, with one or two new maps per season. That would mean eight new heroes per year, and four to eight new maps. That's an impressive amount of content for a live-service game.There have been many other Marvel Rivals leaks recently, including hero models or abilities for characters like Ultron, Emma Frost and Jean Grey. These all have yet to be confirmed and won't show up in season 1, but they do suggest a healthy content roadmap for the game, essential for keeping players engaged over the year.Battle pass Marvel/Screenshot by CNETSeason 0 featured an abbreviated battle pass, and developers have said the season 1 pass will feature "double the content and excitement," in the latest dev vision video. That includes 10 new costumes, styled around the season's Eternal Night theme.The season 1 battle pass will cost 990 lattice (about $10 worth of in-game currency). You can earn 600 lattice and 600 units (collectively, about $12 worth of in-game currency) if you complete the battle pass.Balance changesThe devs have seen your Reddit posts -- Hawkeye and Hela are getting nerfs to start season 1, although the changes look a little tame compared to community expectations. Jeff's ultimate is also being adjusted. And buffs are coming the way of Captain America, Cloak and Dagger, Storm, Venom and Wolverine, among others.The devs have released full patch notes detailing the changes, and the stats on the Rivals website will be updated with new balance numbers. The Rivals site has also been updated with pick and win rate stats and will receive new updates every half season.Ranked reset and mouse accelerationThe dev vision video also revealed that players' ranks will drop seven divisions -- a platinum 1 rank will start the new season at silver 2, in their example. By that math, anyone in gold 2 or lower will be back at bronze 3 to start the season.Additionally, the game is introducing the celestial rank, which will feature the standard three tiers and appear after the grandmaster rank.The developers also said that season 1 will include the much-requested mouse acceleration settings option, meaning no one will have to resort to editing game files if they don't want that feature.For more on Marvel Rivals, check out my tips for getting started and my guide to choosing which heroes and roles to play.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is the latest PlayStation game to require a PSN account on PCDespite last year's Helldivers 2 outcry.Image credit: Naughty Dog/Sony News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Jan. 10, 2025 It's probably not a huge surprise to hear at this point, but Sony has confirmed The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will - like numerous other single-player PlayStation games before it - require a PSN account in order to play when it launches for PC this April.Sony, of course, faced a major backlash last May when it announced it would be making PSN accounts mandatory for Helldivers 2 on PC - a move that meant players in the 177 countries where PSN is unavailable would no longer be able to play the game they'd purchase. Ultimately, the outcry was significant enough that Sony relented, but that hasn't stopped it from implementing PSN requirements for an increasing number of PC ports since then.It's a decision that's continued to draw criticism given the requirement - which was originally justified as being necessary for the "safety and security" of online play - is now being implemented across both multiplayer and single-player games. Ghost of Tsushima, for instance, does have a multiplayer component, despite being a predominantly single-player title, while other PC releases requiring PSN - such as Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, God of War Ragnark, and Until Dawn - are purely single-player experiences.The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC announcement trailer..Watch on YouTubeAnd now The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered (as spotted by VGC) has joined the steadily expanding list of predominantly single-player PlayStation titles - online leaderboards are supported in its roguelike No Return mode - requiring a PSN log-in on PC.For most, that requirement is probably little more than a somewhat irritating inconvenience. But for others - namely, those based in one of the aforementioned 117 regions where PSN is unavailable - it means The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered simply won't be purchasable on PC. And given Sony previously confirmed this month's PC port of the single-player Marvel's Spider-Man 2 also requires a PSN account, it appears this is a path it's now determine to follow.The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered launches for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store on 3rd April, the same month season two of HBO's acclaimed The Last of Us television series begins airing. Digital Foundry called the remaster - which includes the likes of increased texture resolution, increased level-of-detail distances, and improved shadow quality - the "best way to play a genuine classic" when it arrived on PlayStation 5 last year.

"Stay tuned for more".Another accessory manufacturer has decided it's ready to show off some new 'Switch 2' products. This time it's Skull & Co with an all-new "NeoGrip" accessory, which will allow you to get a better grip on Nintendo's new system in handheld mode.Here's a look, and as you can see - these same images seem to feature the new hardware that hasn't even been announced by Nintendo yet. Wild, we know!Read the full article on nintendolife.com