Prime Video has a lot to offer horror fans, from classic movies like American Psycho to more recent releases like Abigail. Ads are now a part of the streaming service, but if you'd prefer to watch your spooky content without commercial interruptions, you can pay an additional fee to remove them.Here are some highly rated horror films to satisfy your cravings. Dim the lights, grab the popcorn and enjoy your creepy feature. Universal Pictures Abigail (2024) Wild, gruesome and a lot of fun, this horror movie follows a group of kidnappers -- including a woman played by Melissa Barrera -- who discover a little too late their young captor is far from helpless. Paramount Pictures A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) Aliens that kill based on sound populated the worlds of the post-apocalyptic horror films A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II. This spin-off prequel written and directed by Michael Sarnoski (John Krasinski helmed the originals) shows the creatures invading New York and stars Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn. Lionsgate American Psycho (2000) In case you haven't yet been introduced to well-groomed investment banker Patrick Bateman, it's time to pull out your business card and get acquainted. Elements of dark comedy, thriller and horror are on display in this film, a satire of late '80s excess that stars Christian Bale as a wealthy young professional with murderous hobbies. Totally Killer (2023) Want to revisit the '80s? Kiernan Shipka time travels to the decade and takes on a killer in this new Prime Video slasher comedy. Randall Park and Julie Bowen also make appearances. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre/YouTube The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) Five friends cross paths with cannibalistic monsters -- including the chain saw-wielding Leatherface -- in this 1974 film directed by Tobe Hooper. The influential horror movie will thrill and disturb you. Amazon Studios Nanny (2022) Nanny is an increasingly unnerving movie about a mother working in the US and separated from her son in Senegal, whom she hopes will soon join her. The powerful, chillingfilm -- led by a captivating Anna Diop -- takes viewers through her difficult, haunting wait. Universal Candyman (2021) Jordan Peele and Nia DaCosta are at the helm of this gripping slasher. A sequel to the 1992 film of the same name, Candyman tackles issues such as gentrification and police brutality. Prepare for blood, swarming bees and people making the unfortunate decision to recite Candyman's name in front of a mirror. Candyman is available to watch for free with ads. Amazon Suspiria (2018) If you like your horror films interspersed with a bit of contemporary dance (and who wouldn't!), then Suspiria is definitely the one for you. It tells the story of a supernatural dance academy run by a coven of witches and features themes like motherhood, guilt and abuse of power. An homage to the original 1977 film, Suspiria stars Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton. Amazon Prime Coherence (2014) Coherence is a huge favorite here at CNETand it's a terrifying watch. Not necessarily in the traditional, gory, horrific sense but more in terms of the concepts. It's a multiverse movie released before multiverses were cool and is not what you expect. Coherence is the kind of movie you'll finish and immediately rewatch to try to rewire your brain. It's a fantastic achievement and amust watch. Related stories

What the US PornHub ban is really aboutAge verification laws designed to block children from online porn sites are sweeping the US, Io Dodds writes. But do they actually protect children, or is there another agenda at work?Saturday 11 January 2025 15:37 GMTUS states where Pornhub and other US states are blocked (The Independent)Age verification systems are surveillance systemsThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read ourprivacy policyNearly one third of U.S. states with a combined population of just over 104 millions people are now unable to access PornHub, the worlds largest pornography site.That is because all those states have passed laws requiring porn websites to verify that their users are under-18, such as by checking their drivers licenses, or else be vulnerable to civil lawsuits.The result is that online porn giant Aylo, which owns PornHub, RedTube, and YouPorn has simply stopped operating in those states, arguing that it cannot comply with the laws without violating its users privacy.Advocates say these laws are necessary to prevent children from accessing online porn, which they claim is distorting young peoples sexuality and normalizing sexual abuse.Critics argue that they are ineffective, burdensome, and effectively ban reputable providers from operating at all as well as potentially being a Trojan horse for crackdowns against sexual and gender freedom.At the core of the debate is a genuinely thorny technical and legal question: how to verify someones age over the internet without exposing them to cyber theft or government surveillance.Age verification providers are adamant that this is possible. But in practice, that question is overshadowed by Americas culture war and by the rising tide of social conservatism that seeks to control and suppress sexuality itself.This is the canary in the coal mine. It isnt just about porn, digital rights advocate Evan Greer told the BBC.HTMLAge verification systems are surveillance systemsIn July 2024, Donald Trump ally and Project 2025 contributor Russell Vought sat down in a five-star hotel room in Washington, DC to meet two men whod represented themselves as relatives of a wealthy potential donor.Wed have a national ban on pornography if we could, right? Vought allegedly said. Wed have the porn companies being investigated for all manner of human rights abuses.But instead, he explained, were doing it from the back door starting with the kids.In fact, the two other men were undercover agents of a British environmentalist nonprofit, who then shared the video of their conversation By back door, Vought was referring to a new type of anti-pornography law that has attracted broad bipartisan support, even as they provoke numerous first amendment lawsuits.This wave is the product of a strange alliance between Laurie Schlegel, a sex addiction therapist and freshman Republican state legislator in Louisiana, and Gail Dines, a British radical feminist who helped build bipartisan support for Schlegels bill.You cant be 10 years old and go into Mr. Binkys thats an adult bookstore in my district, Schlegel Schlegels bill was passed almost unanimously by Louisianas state legislature, with the support of both parties. That pattern has repeated across the US.Most of these laws are similar to Schlegels, which citizens to sue porn providers if they fail to implement reasonable age verification methods, either directly or through a third party provider.The law isnt very specific about what methods count as reasonable, but gives checking government IDs and checking transactional data (such as mortgage or employment records) as examples.Schlegels law also requires age verifiers to delete all identifying information after access has been granted.Yet porn sites and free speech activists say these laws are riddled with problems. Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, a spokesperson for Aylo told The Independent. [But] any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy.Age checking methods that use government IDs also freeze out the sizable number of people who do not have one.Age verification systems are surveillance systems, says the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Once information is shared to verify age, theres no way for a website visitor to be certain that the data theyre handing over is not going to be retained and used by the website, or further shared or even sold.A 2022 report by Frances data regulator CNIL found that there was no solution on offer that simultaneously offered sufficient reliability, complete coverage of the population, and respect... for privacy and security.Opponents also argue there are less intrusive ways to stop children from accessing adult content such as stronger parental controls on devices. Given that, they argue, why should adults be required to expose their identity simply to access a legal and constitutionally protected art form?Besides, most users will be able to find porn elsewhere, on websites that do not even try to comply. Porn companies that have tried to implement age checks say their users largely refuse to participate.To speak frankly, this is leading to the suppression of the most responsible sites in the industry in favour of those that often do not verify uploaders, do not moderate content, do not integrate age verification, a spokesperson for porn site xHamster told the BBC.This can be done in a privacy-preserving wayAge verification providers and child protection advocates insist that its possible to check users age without creating some dodgy database of citizens masturbation habits.When the UK first tried to do this back in 2017, there was a very legitimate question about how this could technically be done, Andy Burrows, head of a British child protection group called the Molly Rose Foundation, tells The Independent.Weve now had the best part of a decade of the market developing solutions... and I think we can say with certainty that there are robust technical means to age assure at 18 in a privacy-preserving way.Take Yoti, a British company that works with adult sites and apps such as OnlyFans, as well as tobacco vendors, gaming companies, and social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.Weve done over 700 million age checks over the last five six years, and all of those 700 million checks have been deleted immediately after we estimated the age, chief executive Robin Tombs tells The Independent.No porn site gets to see anything [about the user] apart from an over 18 or an under 18 result. Thats not well explained by many privacy organizations, and by some adult sites who basically dont want to see age verification come in.With this method, users take a photo of their face which is then analyzed by AI to estimate their age. Tombs says this involves no analysis of the users actual identity, and that all photos are deleted once the check is finished. Hence, neither Yoti nor the porn site ever needs to know who you are.AI face estimation is not without drawbacks. Tombs admits that users at the borderline, who have only recently come of age, sometimes cannot use it, because they may still look to young for the AI to be confident that they really are over 18.Another method, used in Germany, lets people show their ID card at a post office and get a unique ID to access adult sites. This could potentially be done without logging the persons identity, but as CNIL points out such systems require much work to set up.Burrows agrees that striking a good balance between safety and privacy requires a high degree of regulatory clarity and engagement something few US age verification laws currently provide.We find ourselves being asked to justify some of the legislation coming from red states that isnt being constructed or driven the way we would look to do it, he says.Legislation should be drafted in a way that... there isnt the potential for mission creep, which starts taking us into a more subjective measure of what is and isnt harmful for children.Mission creep is exactly what opponents fear will happen. The chilling effect here is the point, Michael Stabile of the Free Speech Coalition, an adult industry trade group, Vought himself said as much in the undercover recording. What happens is, the porn company then says were not gonna do business in your state. Which is of course entirely what we were after.Indeed, Project 2025 calls for porn to be outlawed entirely, with creators jailed and librarians who stock such material its odd definition fo pornography including the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology be classed as sex offenders. Given American conservatives sustained attempt to tar LGBT+ people in general as child abusers, its easy to see why some Americans wouldnt trust these new laws.All of which leaves us with yet another new front in the culture war, but not much in the way of actually effective age verification systems that are widely used and trusted. A cynic might suspect that thats the point.Join our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesMost PopularPopular videosSponsored Features

So-called reasoning AI models are becoming easier and cheaper to develop. On Friday, NovaSky, a team of researchers based out of UC Berkeleys Sky Computing Lab, released Sky-T1-32B-Preview, a reasoning model thats competitive with an earlier version of OpenAIs o1 on a number of key benchmarks. Sky-T1 appears to be the first truly open source reasoning model in the sense that it can be replicated from scratch; the team released the data set they used to train it as well as the necessary training code.Remarkably, Sky-T1-32B-Preview was trained for less than $450, the team wrote in a blog post, demonstrating that it is possible to replicate high-level reasoning capabilities affordably and efficiently.$450 might not sound that affordable. But it wasnt long ago that the price tag for training a model with comparable performance often ranged in the millions of dollars. Unlike most AI, reasoning models effectively fact-check themselves, whichhelps them to avoid some of thepitfallsthat normally trip up models. Reasoning models take a little longer usually seconds to minutes longer to arrive at solutions compared to a typical non-reasoning model. The upside is, they tend to be more reliable in domains such as physics, science, and mathematics.The NovaSky team says it used another reasoning model, Alibabas QwQ-32B-Preview, to generate the initial training data for Sky-T1, then curated the data mixture and leveraged OpenAIs GPT-4o-mini to refactor the data into a more workable format. Training the 32-billion-parameter Sky-T1 took about 19 hours using a rack of 8 Nvidia H100 GPUs. (Parameters roughly correspond to a models problem-solving skills.)According to the NovaSky team, Sky-T1 performs better than an early preview version of o1 on MATH500, a collection of competition-level math challenges. The model also beats the preview of o1 on a set of difficult problems from LiveCodeBench, a coding evaluation. However, Sky-T1 falls short of the o1 preview on GPQA-Diamond, which contains physics, biology, and chemistry-related questions a PhD graduate would be expected to know.Also important to note is that OpenAIs GA release of o1 is a stronger model than the preview version of o1, and that OpenAI is expected to release an even better-performing reasoning model, o3, in the weeks ahead.But the NovaSky team says that Sky-T1 only marks the start of their journey to develop open source models with advanced reasoning capabilities. Moving forward, we will focus on developing more efficient models that maintain strong reasoning performance and exploring advanced techniques that further enhance the models efficiency and accuracy at test time, the team wrote in the post. Stay tuned as we make progress on these exciting initiatives.

In BriefPosted:11:04 AM PST January 11, 2025Image Credits:ActivisionWhats behind ballooning video game budgets?Why does it cost some companies hundreds of millions of dollars to develop a popular video game?A couple weeks ago, The New York Times blamed the never-ending quest to deliver more photo-realistic graphics and it suggested the industry is beginning to see diminishing returns, leading to layoffs and studio closures.However, Bloombergs Jason Schreier argues this analysis is a little bit off the mark. He doesnt deny that budgets have grown dramatically ($20 million for Naughty Dogs Uncharted 2 in 2009 vs. $220 million for their Last of Us Part II in 2020) or that graphics play a role, but he said it really boils down to needing bigger teams for longer periods of time due to improved graphics, yes, but also the growing scope of games.Plus, he writes that everyone whos spent at least a few years in the industry has their own horror story about management decisions like feature that gets canceled because the CEOs teenage kid didnt like it or teams of hundreds of people floundering in pre-production as they try to figure out what a games core loop will actually look like.So if game companies are really worried about ballooning budgets, Schreier says they should focus their introspection on mismanagement that can end up wasting everyones work and time.Topics

POLAND - 2023/10/19: In this photo illustration Anthropic logo is displayed on a smartphone with ... [+] stock market percentages on the background. (Photo Illustration by Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesNvidia is the biggest company by market cap, but the big model services companies are becoming household names. OpenAI is at the top, but Anthropic is a runner-up in many ways.One of the things I heard from a recent AI Daily Brief podcast with Nathaniel Whittemore is the announcement that Anthropic is getting $2 billion in new funding, for a $60 billion evaluation overall.That makes both of the Amodeis (Dario and Daniela) billionaires as well as five other top brass at the firm. So whos funding Anthropic this way?Amazon, Etc. On BoardBy most accounts, the top contributor is Amazon, which has integrated Anthropics Claude model into some of its web services.Heres a resource from Amazon talking about the use of Anthropics Claude 3 Haiku:MORE FOR YOUUnlock the power of fine-tuning Anthropic's Claude 3 Haiku model with Amazon Bedrock. This comprehensive deep-dive demo guides you through the process, from accessing Amazon Bedrock to customizing Claude 3 Haiku for your business needs. Discover how to boost model accuracy, quality, and consistency by encoding company and domain knowledge. Learn to generate higher-quality results, create unique user experiences, and enhance performance for domain-specific tasks. Don't miss this opportunity to harness the full potential of Claude 3 Haiku by getting started with fine-tuning today.The co-branding here is obvious.Other companies like Google have also chipped in, and new reports show that Lightspeed Venture is also on board. In a way, it makes sense that Amazon, for one, would fund the company this way, based on the partnerships in play.But theres some amount of speculation on the overall context of this deal, too.Burning Through Cash? Whats the Runway?A recent opinion article at Marketwatch talks about how both OpenAI and Anthropic are spending quite a lot of money on compute and other web services.Therese Poletti reports that OpenAI was forecasted to lose $5 billion in 2024, where the company appears to be losing money on its ChatGPT subscriptions, because people are using up too much compute power.Anthropic, she notes, is following suit, racking up its use of AWS capacity.Plummeting Costs of InferenceAlthough both OpenAI and Anthropic are spending a lot of money, some people with industry knowledge point to a prediction that new types of networks are going to greatly decrease the cost of a ChatGPT session or any other kind of AI use.They point to a hyper-process that follows the outlines of Moores law, where computing costs came down as hardware got smaller. Citing various kinds of scaling laws, these experts are suggesting that were going to see much lower costs for token use, and some of that is going to be enabled by multi-agent AI. In other words, individual AI components can work together, and bring their own skill sets to the table.I go back to Ethan Mollicks bullish predictions on what robots and AI entities will be able to do within just a few years anything from changing a diaper, to comforting the sick, or making a meal, or designing a greeting card.Those are my examples, not his, but there are compelling arguments to be made that the technology is going to become faster, cheaper and quite a lot better in 2025!The Anthropic news is one more way station toward a burgeoning industry that is going to become much more important as the months go on.

Gigabyte's Radeon RX 9070 XT GAMING OC graphics cardGigabyteMultiple pricing leaks for AMD's highly anticipated Radeon RX 9070 XT have surfaced in recent days, painting a rosy picture for AMD if the pricing is accurate as it will likely be undercutting all of Nvidia's new RTX 5000-series, including the GeForce RTX 5070 at $549.Pricing for the Radeon RX 9070 XT reference cardThe first leak stems from a member on Chiphell's forum, who claims that the reference card for AMD's Radeon RX 9070 XT, will cost just $479. it should be noted that the reference card is usually quite basic in terms of cooling and most gamers opt for third party manufacturers with their own coolers for lower noise levels and better cooling. Still, it's price does tie in somewhat with a more recent leak that suggests pricing for those more elaborate models, often referred to as AIBs or partner cards.Pricing for the Radeon RX 9070 XT partner cardsThis is the pricing everyone would like to know seeing as cards such as the Gigabyte Gaming OC version of the RX 9070 XT are the one's most gamers tend to buy. A leaked page on a Philippine retailer (via Videocardz) states a price for this model of 35,00 Pesos. This equates to around $512 before taxes and likely closer to $600 after them.For reference, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 is slated to cost $549, which was confirmed by Nvidia early last week at CES in Las Vegas during CEO Jensen Huang's keynote presentation. The RTX 5070 Ti will come in at $749, so significantly more than the Radeon RX 9070 XT if the leaked pricing is to be believed.MORE FOR YOUIn its own presentation at CES, AMD revealed some interesting information about what graphics card models its new Radeon RX 9000 RDNA 4 graphics cards would be going up against. I short, it would be avoiding Nvidia's flagships and instead aiming for the mid range and competing with the likes of the RTX 4070 Ti and probably not performing much better than its current RX 7900 XT.AMD has named its new graphics cards the RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 to allow for clearer comparison with ... [+] the competition, specifically the Nvidia RTX 4070 and 5070 modelsAMDHowever, in a recent performance leak, the RX 9070 XT was doing more than that and instead offering similar performance to the RTX 4070 Ti Super in one test and even eclipsing the RTX 4080 Super in another. It would be nice to think that performance over delivers compared to the image above, but realistically a $600 price tag would currently only mean competing with an RTX 4070 Super and even then you'd be hard pressed to find one under $650.If AMD could offer performance a step or two above this for the same price, it will be on the right track to offer Nvidia some stiff competition in the mid range, even if its own Radeon RX 7900 XTX will still be its fastest card. However, with both AMD and Nvidia launching new models over the next month or two, this should also see falls in pricing of the Nvidia RTX 4000 and AMD Radeon RX 7000 series cards.AMD's aim this time around is to target market share and to do that it needs to be extremely competitive on price. It will also have its own version of Nvidia's DLSS 4, which it announced at CES alongside the likes of the GeForce RTX 5090, which is called FSR 4. Already previewed by journalists at CES such as Digital Foundry, It's framerate boosting technology help it compete with Nvidia in offering higher frame rates, which should mean that even smooth gaming at 4K resolution is possible on the Radeon RX 9070 XT and 9070.As usual, the pricing is not confirmed, but with AMD most certainly having confirmed the new cards are coming, we don't have long to wait to see how AMD compared to Nvidia this time around.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Table of ContentsTable of ContentsAlienware Area 51HP Omen 16LMaingear Apex Force and Rush PCsHyte Nexus-powered casesCES 2025 has been a whirlwind of exciting PC gaming announcements, including new graphics cards and upscaling technologies from Nvidia and AMD. But as much as CES is about showing off new individual components and tech, its also a great place to see the gaming PCs of tomorrow.Sometimes CES is full of wacky designs that are more proof of concept than anything, but thats not been the case this year. We feasted our eyes on some truly gorgeous and impressive gaming PCs, and all of them are either ready to preorder now, or are coming down the pipe very soon. Here are the best gaming PCs of CES 2025.Recommended VideosLuke Larsen / Digital TrendsIf you had a rich gamer friend in the early to mid-2000s, theres a good chance thay had an Alienware gaming PC built inside the iconic Area 51 chassis. The Alienware brand has long since moved away from overt plastic styling and racing vents on the front, but parent company Dell brought back the Area 51 name at this years CES, with a fresh look.Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming The new design mostly resembles a high-end DIY gaming PC, with a great-looking interior, well-thought-out layout, and thoughtful cable management. All components are standard and upgradeable, and the all-black, stealthy motherboard looks particularly cool.Luke Larsen / Digital TrendsThis model was fitted with all the bells and whistles, but when it goes on sale later in the first quarter of this year, the Alienware Area 51 desktop will come with a range of hardware options. That will include the latest Ryzen 9000 and Intel 200 processors, as well as Nvidia RTX 50-series graphics.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsHPs latest miniature gaming PC, the Omen 16L, might have given our Jacob Roach pause for its interesting component options, but nonetheless, its one of the better-looking gaming PCs shown this year at CES. Its miniature design is perfect for lower-power components, lowering power costs and helping to keep temperatures and noise levels down.This is the smallest gaming PC HP has ever made, but it can still pack in some powerful hardware, like an Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti or an AMD RX 7600. Those arent the RTX 5090, but theyre still plenty capable for high-frame-rate, 1080p play in most games. Theyre also physically small enough to fit inside such a compact design, helping keep this chassis lightweight and portable it could be a great LAN machine.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsIf you want to go really low power, or have a more professional system inside this PC, there are also options for APU processors without a GPU, though that does sacrifice a lot of gaming ability.Keep an eye out for a closer look at this gaming PC in a review from us later this year.MaingearThe loudest and most eye-catching gaming PC designs at CES have to go to Maingears new Apex range of gaming PCs. These tempered-glass, wraparound chassis would look fantastic if they were just focused on the internals with gorgeous hardline watercooling, beautiful distro plates with unique designs, and some of the best RGB lighting youll find outside of a DIY enthusiasts system.But these PCs arent just full of great-looking and performing gear theyre covered in gorgeous sticker art, too. This gives them a real boutique gaming PC feel, and yet these are going to be sold as pre-built systems, for you and anyone else to buy. That potentially opens the door up to many more gamers and PC enthusiasts to enjoy a gorgeous hardline water loop without all the headaches. Well, most of the headaches. Maingear might build it for you, but maintenance will be down to you.MaingearHardware inside will range from the more-modest to the extremes of the latest generations of CPUs and graphics cards, each cooled by their own custom water loop. This kind of thing is usually only found in the back of custom PC manufacturers catalogues, reserved for the most demanding of gamers. But Maingear is bringing that kind of styling to the mainstream in beautiful fashion.Theres no confirmed release date or pricing on these just yet, but expect them to be very expensive. Just look at those nickel-coated fittings. They dont come cheap.HyteHyte went in a different direction with its PCs. As well as leaning into its kawaii aesthetic, it also has a range of new cases with a giant touchscreen on the front. It uses these in a range of different builds to show off different looks with different kinds of hardware. They can play videos or display useful system information this is something that Hytes Q80 CPU cooler has had for a while, but now its extending into larger case designs too.Its not just about looks, though, as these screens can handle media functions, launch apps, or provide news and updates on a separate, readily-accessible display.HyteAlso built into these Y70 chassis is a new custom distro plate for even more customizable watercooling.For more news from CES 2025, from cars, to displays, to floor cleaners, and more, check out our ongoing CES 2025 coverage. Want to get a head-start on some of the best tech of the year? Here are the best CES 2025 products you can buy or preorder right now.Editors Recommendations

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Table of ContentsTable of ContentsRazer Blade 16Asus ROG Flow Z13Lenovo Legion Pro 7iAsus ROG Zephyrus G14Alienware Area-51Its been a while since even many of the best gaming laptops have gotten a true refresh. That has to do with graphics cards. Nvidia has made us wait a few long years before stepping up to the new RTX 50-series cards, and without a GPU upgrade, its hard to justify buying an expensive new laptop.But with the RTX 50-series officially announced, a load of new and updated gaming laptops were announced at CES this year, and having checked them out myself in person, these are the five that really caught my attention.Recommended VideosLuke Larsen / Digital TrendsIts probably no surprise to see the Razer Blade 16 on this list but truthfully, this is one of the biggest changes to this design in many years. The chassis has been reduced significantly over last years model, which was actually quite thick. This time around, its just 0.59 inches at thinnest and 0.69 inches at its thickest. Thats incredibly thin. Razer says the slight incline not only helps with typing ergonomics but also with thermals, allowing for a small chamber at the bottom called a thermal hood. Adding in a larger vapor chamber internally and making the switch to AMD will help maintain similar thermals as the previous design despite being thinner again, according to Razer. Dont forget youre also getting up to an RTX 5090 for graphics, and the same killer OLED display.Luke Larsen / Digital TrendsThe ROG Flow Z13 is certainly the most unique gaming laptop I saw at CES this year. The 2-in-1 design already makes it stand out, for sure, but the chip inside is what truly makes this special. Its one of only a few devices to use AMDs new Ryzen AI Max+ Pro chips, which have a massive integrated GPU inside. Its so powerful, in fact, that Asus has switched away from using a discrete RTX 4050 or 4060, which were available in last years model. AMD is comparing it to the Apple M4 Pro, saying it surpasses it in some performance testing. Thats a huge deal.The fact that such a chip and such a laptop even exist make it worth mentioning on this list. But Ive always loved the design of the ROG Flow Z13, specifically in how it keeps the heat away from your hands while gaming. If this fancy new Ryzen chip can make it a faster, cooler, and quieter laptop, Ill be delighted.Jacob Roach / Digital TrendsThe Legion Pro 7i has long been one of our favorite gaming laptops for those who want a blinged-out powerhouse and arent afraid to pay for it. This year, though, it got a fairly significant upgrade to its design. Its still a large-and-in-charge type of gaming laptop, but this time Lenovo has replaced mini-LED with OLED, which is a major step up.The other noticeable change is in the back, which replaces rear-facing ports with some RGB vents and returns the the array of ports to the sides. Lenovo says its for improved thermals, which this laptop will need if it hopes to cool the 250 watts of total power shared between the CPU and GPU. Well have to see how it shakes out when reviews launch, but this is one to look out for.Chris Hagan / Digital TrendsThe ROG Zephyrus G14 is a mainstay among our recommendations for best gaming laptop, and after last years significant redesign, I wasnt expecting any serious changes this year. And there werent. And yet, the small tweaks make this already spectacular laptop that much better.First off, its made the switch from AMD to Intel the opposite move that the Razer Blade 16 made. That means its configurable up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H and 64GB of memory. The most meaningful change, however, is an added 2mm of thickness, which is allowing Asus to stuff in up to an RTX 5080 this time around. Last years model topped out at an RTX 4070. And lastly, Asus has moved one of the USB-C ports to the other side of the chassis to make for more convenient charging options.Chris Hagan / Digital TrendsUnlike many of the other gaming laptops on this list, the Alienware Area-51 isnt trying to be sleek or dainty. Alienware surely wouldnt have revived the Area-51 branding if that was the goal. That doesnt mean the Alienware Area-51, which will come in both a 16-inch and 18-inch size, has a sloppy design. Not at all.This is a meticulously crafted new look, harkening back to the classic Alienware vibes while still modernizing as many elements as possible. The edges are softer and more rounded again, the ring of light on the thermal shelf is refined and more subtle, and even the hinge has a more streamlined aesthetic. All are changes for the better. I still wish we were getting some better display options here like mini-LED or OLED, but its hard not to respect what Alienware has done with the triumphant return of the Area-51.Editors Recommendations

Mark Zuckerberg explained why Meta is replacing fact-checkers on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.He said the change aims to address ideological censorship concerns and enhance user voice.Critics argue the move is a setback for accuracy.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained his rationale for changing the company's content moderation policies during Friday's episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast.Earlier, on Tuesday, Zuckerberg posted a video message to Meta's blog announcing that he would replace fact-checkers with community notes, a system similar to what Elon Musk uses on X.The announcement was criticized by dozens of third-party fact-checking groups, which signed an open letter to Zuckerberg denouncing the changes as a "step backward" for accuracy.Zuckerberg told Rogan his reason for the changes was "censorship.""You only start one of these companies if you believe in giving people a voice," he said. "It goes back to our original mission, it's just give people the power to share and make people more open and connected."Zuckerberg said that over the past 10 years, there's been a greater push for "idealogical-based censorship" on the platform, fueled especially by the 2016 election, Brexit, and the COVID-19 pandemic. "We just faced this massive, massive institutional pressure to start censoring content on ideological grounds," he said.Zuckerberg initially gave into the pressure, believing it stemmed from genuine concerns about misinformation. After the 2016 election, he implemented a system of third-party fact-checkers tasked with correcting statements like "the earth is flat." However, the system quickly veered into gray areas, leading to accusations that the company's moderators were biased.Pressure on Meta's content moderation policies continued, reaching a fever pitch during the COVID-19 pandemic when the Biden administration rolled out its vaccine program. "While they're trying to push that program, they also tried to censor anyone who is basically arguing against it," Zuckerberg said. "They pushed us super hard to take down things that were, honestly, were true."That means he has been considering changing Meta's content moderation policies for a while now."I think that this is going to be pretty durable because, at this point, we've just been pressure tested on this stuff for the last 8 to 10 years with like these huge institutions just pressuring us," he said. "I feel like this is kind of the right place to be going forward."

TropiBox Kochi House / TAB/Tropical Architecture BureauSave this picture! Turtle Arts PhotographyHousesKozhikode, IndiaArchitects: TAB/Tropical Architecture BureauAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:3500 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Turtle Arts PhotographyManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Saint-Gobain, Blum, Hafele, Legrand, Mitsubishi Electric Lead Architects: Uvais Subu More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!"The architecture cannot be totally explained but must be experienced." TropiBox Kochi features interconnected levels and open spaces, with pavilions designed to surprise and create a cohesive whole. Careful attention to detail, scale, and proportion enhances the human experience. Inspired by Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa, TAB has crafted a unique blend of greenery-filled architecture and tropical modernism. The primary challenge was to design a home that provides each inhabitant with their own space while encouraging interaction. The building is organized using a vertical stacking strategy, with gardens and glass walls nestled between two main concrete faades. This design approach improves the microclimate by introducing natural ventilation and daylight into every room while the alternating openings enhance visibility and interaction among family members.Save this picture!The I-shaped plan creates two distinct levels due to the existing site, separating public and private zones. The central dining area serves as a communal gathering space, receiving abundant sunlight through a roof opening, and connecting to the kitchen, garden courtyard, and pool. Palms and plants form various courtyards, linking the open living room, dining area, bedrooms, and study. The vertical variation of spaces offers interesting sightlines and maintains natural ventilation, providing a comfortable environment in Kerala's tropical climate. materials such as natural stone, wood, and exposed concrete, combined with the microclimate, help reduce operational and maintenance costs. The architecture not only addresses functional and aesthetic concerns but also fosters a connection between people and nature.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The house's exterior is characterized by clean curved lines, planter boxes, and minimal solid forms, reflecting tropical modernism. Planter boxes on the front faade provide privacy and visual connections, creating a dynamic visual element that complements the surrounding built environment. The design emphasizes playing with levels, turning spaces like the living room, kitchen, family living area, and staircase openings into design elements. These spaces facilitate a seamless flow and movement, blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors and maximizing natural light and ventilation throughout.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The upper living area features no closed planes from east to west, with a mezzanine floor offering optimal north exposure and minimal south exposure, allowing free wind flow and natural lighting. One main courtyard is strategically placed alongside the compound wall, connected to the open kitchen and formal living area. The outdoor patio features a pool, offering a serene and relaxing space for residents.Save this picture!The dining area, located at the heart of the house, includes a large opening and double-height skylight, framing picturesque views of the entire house. This framing adds depth and meaning to the design, emphasizing the importance of personalized and meaningful experiences in architecture.Save this picture!Save this picture!TropiBox Kochi is a captivating example of architecture that presents an introverted faade while revealing an invitingly open plan and surprising spatial experience inside. The result is a beautiful and functional space that embodies architectural principles while providing a serene and relaxing home for residents. The front and back yards serve as buffer spaces to reduce heat from the outside environment. The front yard offers a relaxing area for morning coffee, where wind, sunlight, and the shadows of the curved lines on the planter box wall intersect.Save this picture!The mezzanine, a family space that includes a balcony or meditation area, contains two bedrooms (one for the couple and one for a baby), a kitchen, and a dining table. This shared space allows residents to feel the breeze and enjoy the interplay of shadow and sunlight as they move from the ground floor to the stairs.Save this picture!Using simple materials and energy-efficient designs, TropiBox Kochi fosters a deeper emotional connection with the environment, encouraging residents to experience all the seasons of Kerala. The home promotes human interactions, offering a functional space that harmonizes with the environment. It features natural air conditioning and temperature-balancing mechanisms, focusing on both the interior and exterior environment to support the family's well-being.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeMaterialConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on January 11, 2025Cite: "TropiBox Kochi House / TAB/Tropical Architecture Bureau" 11 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. 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