Sonic The Hedgehog 3s box office success has sped past another milestone to become the second highest-grossing video game movie adaptation of all time in North America.The film, which sees Keanu Reeves join the cast as Shadow the Hedgehog, is now over $204 million domestically after weekend four earned $11 million across 3,582 locations. The global tally is an impressive $384.8 million.Sonic 3 has overtaken its predecessor, Sonic 2, in the domestic box office race, but it is way off the number one record holder: The Super Mario Bros. Movie. In fact, the gap is insurmountable. The Nintendo adaptation earned an incredible $574,934,330 domestically, with an eye-watering $1,359,146,628 box office. These are figures that may never be beaten when it comes to video game adaptations, although the upcoming Minecraft movie and the Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel may run it close.The people behind Sonic The Hedgehog 3 wont be too bothered, however. The movie is a certified hit for Paramount, which has already announced Sonic 4.Oh, and if you were wondering about other hugely successful video game movie adaptations, 2022'sUncharted is in fourth with $148,648,820 domestically, and the first Sonic movie is in fifth with $146,066,470.Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Its always been clear that Vision Pro was simply Apples first step into the AR/VR headset world, and that a lower-priced Apple Vision product would follow, but there have so far been mixed reports on when we might expect to see it.Weve so far seen reports variously suggesting that the non-Pro Apple Vision headset would launch in 2025, 2026, and 2027 with the latest of these saying the company is ramping up development work Lower-priced Apple Vision timingsAs recently as October of last year, Bloomberg was reporting that work on the device was on-track, and set to launch as early as 2025. Admittedly Mark Gurmans trademarked phrasing allows for a lot of leeway; any year from 2025 onwards would technically qualify.Ming-Chi Kuo disagreed shortly afterwards, suggesting that Apple was prioritising an updated version of Vision Pro, and that a lower-cost model had been pushed back to 2027.By yesterday, Gurman was disagreeing with both Kuo and his own earlier prediction, saying that theres no sign of an updated Vision Pro in the works, but a more affordable headset isnt likely until 2026.What to expect from a non-Pro Apple VisionApple will have to tread a careful path in launching a lower-cost model. On the one hand, it absolutely has to bring the price down to a more realistic level for something beyond very niche early-adopter take-up.On the other hand, it cant throw away too many of the reasons anyone would opt for an Apple Vision product over any of the existing competitor products, like Metas Quest headsets.EyeSight will be dropped for sure EyeSight was one of the headline features of Vision Pro, with Apple claiming it had practical benefits in letting people know when a user could see them, as well as psychological advantages in reducing the isolation experienced by someone using the spatial computer.However, its an expensive feature, requiring an additional display, and the evidence is that very few people seem to think it adds much value. Users report that it fails to live up to the marketing materials, and that was very much backed by my own hands-on experience.For both reasons, its safe to expect this to be absent from a lower-cost model.Lower-resolution displays also a certaintyA much bigger benefit of Vision Pro over lower-cost competitors is the quality of the displays, thanks to a type of OLED technology known as OLEDoS, aka OLED on Silicon.Conventional OLED has a glass substrate; OLEDoS in contrast mounts the display directly onto silicon containing the drivers for the pixels. This allows for much smaller pixels, increasing the maximum pixel density to several thousand per inch. The tech also supports the very high refresh rates needed to avoid motion-blur.Vision Pro not only has OLEDoS displays, but exceedingly high-resolution ones of 3,6603,200 pixels per eye. These produce incredibly life-like images, but manufacturing them is an extremely delicate and expensive undertaking. Currently only Sony is capable of producing OLEDoS at this resolution, and even then it is limited to making around 1M units per year, thus enough for only 500k units.Apple will almost certainly stick to OLEDoS technnology for a lower-priced product in order to retain the very low latency, but its equally certain that it will reduce the resolution to make the displays more affordable, as well as enabling manufacturers to hit the necessary yields for a more popular product.Apple has reportedly been seeking samples of OLEDoS displays from both JDI and Samsung with around half the resolution, meaning somewhere in the 1,500 to 1,700ppi range. This would likely also be reflected in a narrower field of view in order to protect the realism of the images.Less aluminum, more plasticVision Pro contains a lot of aluminum, which adds to the premium product feel, but also makes it more expensive to produce.Additionally, even a relatively lightweight metal like aluminum is considerably heavier than plastic, which is one of the reasons users say it can only be worn comfortably for short periods of time.For both reasons, we can expect a more affordable model to have a mostly plastic construction.Possible iPhone tethering but probably notWhile Id put money on the above predictions, a far less certain one is that Apple could require the device to be tethered to an iPhone. This would offload much of the processing power, again reducing the manufacturing cost of the headset itself.Bloombergs Mark Gurman said last summer that Apple is considering this approach, but we havent heard anything more about it since then.This would be quite a radical change, especially as it already needs a tethered battery, and its unlikely an iPhone could provide the power needed. Double-tethering feels like a very clunky approach to me, so for now at least Im going to file this one under possible but unlikely.Pricing in the $1500-2000 rangeIf theres one thing that has led to more criticism of Vision Pro than anything else its the $3,400+ price tag. Even CEO Tim Cook admits this makes it a niche product.At $3,500, its not a mass-market product, Cook says. Right now, its an early-adopter product. People who want to have tomorrows technology todaythats who its for.Many have suggested that Apple needs to hit a price of around $1,500 to make it viable as a somewhat popular product, while others have argued that $1,000 is the critical price.This was my own view until I tried it, at which point I decided that if Apple can crack the all-day comfort problem (which is a very big if), then Id probably be tempted at $2k.Right now, the smart money is on something in the $1500-2000 range.Would you buy this?Lets leave aside iPhone tethering and assume it still works as a standalone device. Lets also split the predicted price range down the middle, and assume $1,750.Given no EyeSight, a lower-resolution (but still OLEDoS) display, and plastic casing would you buy one? Please take our poll, and share your thoughts in the comments.Photo byBram Van OostonUnsplashAdd 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

Jan 13, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Cloud SecurityA recently disclosed critical security flaw impacting the Aviatrix Controller cloud networking platform has come under active exploitation in the wild to deploy backdoors and cryptocurrency miners.Cloud security firm Wiz said it's currently responding to "multiple incidents" involving the weaponization of CVE-2024-50603 (CVSS score: 10.0), a maximum severity bug that could result in unauthenticated remote code execution.Put differently, a successful exploitation of the flaw could permit an attacker to inject malicious operating system commands owing to the fact that certain API endpoints do not adequately sanitize user-supplied input. The vulnerability has been addressed in versions 7.1.4191 and 7.2.4996.Jakub Korepta, a security researcher at Polish cybersecurity company Securing, has been credited with discovering and reporting the shortcoming. A proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit has since been made publicly available.Data gathered by the cybersecurity company shows that around 3% of cloud enterprise environments have Aviatrix Controller deployed, out of which 65% of them demonstrate a lateral movement path to administrative cloud control plane permissions. This, in turn, allows for privilege escalation in the cloud environment."When deployed in AWS cloud environments, Aviatrix Controller allows privilege escalation by default, making exploitation of this vulnerability a high-impact risk," Wiz researchers Gal Nagli, Merav Bar, Gili Tikochinski, and Shaked Tanchuma said.Real-world attacks exploiting CVE-2024-50603 are leveraging the initial access to target instances to mine cryptocurrency using XMRig and deploying the Sliver command-and-control (C2) framework, likely for persistence and follow-on exploitation."While we have yet to see direct evidence of cloud lateral movement, we do believe it likely that threat actors are utilizing the vulnerability to enumerate the cloud permissions of the host and then pivot to exfiltrating data from the victims' cloud environments," Wiz researchers said.In light of active exploitation, users are recommended to apply the patches as soon as possible and prevent public access to Aviatrix Controller.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

The Flash director Andy Muschietti thinks the film failed because it didnt appeal to all four quadrants of moviegoer demographics.The 51-year-old filmmaker helmed the 2023 DC Comics blockbuster, which starred Ezra Miller as the titular hero, has theorized the superhero flick flopped because it couldnt attract a wide enough audience.During an appearance on Argentinas Radio Tu, Muschietti said: The Flash failed, among all the other reasons because it wasn't a movie that appealed to all four quadrants.It failed at that.Ezra Miller - The Flash - 2023 - Warner BrosWarner Brosloading...READ MORE: Actors Who Turned Down Major DC RolesThe It director added general audiences just dont care about The Flash as a character as much as other DC heroes like Batman or Superman.He continued: When you spend $200 million making a movie, Warner [Bros.] wants to bring even your grandmother to the theaters.And I've found in private conversations that a lot of people just don't care about The Flash as a character. Particularly the two female quadrants. All of that is just the wind going against the film I've learned.The Flash follows the titular hero (Miller) as he finds himself stuck in an alternate reality in which General Zod (Michael Shannon) arrives to destroy Earth, leaving the speedster to team up with Tim Burtons Batman (Michael Keaton) and Supergirl (Sasha Calle) to stop him.On a budget of approximately $200 million, The Flash bombed at the box office, pulling in $271 million globally.Before its financial disaster, The Flash was plagued by major production issues. The movie was initially slated to hit screens in 2018, with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse writing duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller set to pen the story.However, the pair were later dropped, leaving The LEGO Batman Moviewriter Seth Grahame-Smith to pick up the pen instead before he too ultimately left the project in 2016.After more directors and writers (like Rick Famuyiwa, Joby Harold, John Francis DaleyandJonathan Goldstein) joined and exited the film, The Flash finally found its director in Muschietti and writer in Christina Hodson, with the pairs involvement in the film being officially announced in November 2019.After the picture was confirmed for a July 2022 release date, The Flash was pushed back to November that year due to the strain the Covid-19 pandemic put onto the visual effects industry, before it was delayed once again to June 2023.While The Flash failed, Muschietti is set to return to the DC universe for his Batman film The Brave and the Bold.Get our free mobile appThe Biggest DC Movie BombsThese movies may have featured some of the biggest superheroes in history, but they were also big flops.Filed Under: Andy Muschietti, DC Comics, The FlashCategories: Movie News, Superheroes

Time zones: SBT (UTC +11), GMT (UTC +0), MSK (UTC +3), CEST (UTC +2), BST (UTC +1), JST (UTC +9), CST (UTC +8), WIB (UTC +7), MMT (UTC +6:30), BST (UTC +6), NPT (UTC +5:45), IST (UTC +5:30), UZT (UTC +5), IRDT (UTC +4:30), GST (UTC +4)MailerLite is one of the fastest-growing email marketing services. We help more than 1 million businesses around the world stay in touch with their customers. Today, we are a team of more than 170 dreamers, adventurers, and world travelers passionate about what we do and believe in. And we are ready for another talented person to join the party.Were looking for a Senior Product Manager who will shape not only the future of our product but also the success stories of creators, entrepreneurs, and dreamers around the world. Whether its an author launching their first book, a small business owner selling handmade goods, or a student testing out a new side hustle we believe everyone should have the tools to succeed sooner. In this role, youll lead the way in building innovative features and experiences that make our email marketing services smarter, faster, and more effective, using technology and creativity to help our customers grow. Why MailerLite?Wondering why we think youll love working for MailerLite? Here are our favorite 6 reasons!You'll turn big ideas into realityWith ambitious plans for our product and team, you'll play a key role in making them happensolving exciting challenges and driving impactful changes that empower our customers to succeed.You'll grow, develop and evolveAs part of a team that's always looking for new, innovative ways to offer value for our customers, you'll constantly be experimenting, learning, and trying out new things.You'll take ownershipWe expect you to take full responsibility and ownership of your tasks. Team leads avoid micromanaging and minimize interruptions so you can stay focused on your assignments.You'll have experts at handWhenever youre stuck, your teammates with a wide range of different expertise are ready to help you grow. And theyd love for you to share your knowledge too!You'll pick where you work, every dayWe embrace the remote culture. Every day you get to choose what environment makes you most productive.You'll have stabilityWe value a stable workplace! MailerLite has been thriving for over 10 years and our year-over-year growth continues to increase.What you will work onCreating a clear strategy and roadmap for one of the audiences in MailerLite, identifying opportunities to leverage innovation and AI to enhance customer successDefining, analyzing, and optimizing metrics to grow MailerLite while measuring impact and reporting on progressApplying product management best practices including conducting product discovery, leveraging data insights, and exploring AI-driven innovations to uncover new product opportunitiesDeeply understanding user needs by conducting user research, articulating use cases clearly, identifying potential bottlenecks, and translating these insights into actionable requirements for the development teamDefining, prioritizing, and managing a product backlog effectively, organizing sprints, and continuously improving team productivityWorking collaboratively with customers, development, design, SRE, customer support, and marketing to deliver impactful features, seamlessly launch projects, and create excitement around the productwhile driving innovative improvements that set the product apartWhat we expect from you5+ years of experience working in a SaaS-focused company (preferably a product for application developers) with a track record of driving growth and optimizationDemonstrated understanding of the techniques and methods of modern product discovery and product deliveryExperience implementing AI-powered features and integrating AI into product development processes to enhance functionality and improve user experiencesAbility to think at a high level about product strategy and bridge business goals with product and technical considerationsStrong analytical skills, such as the ability to leverage data and AI insights to uncover opportunities and drive product improvementsAbility to take ownership of the end-to-end idea-to-product process and work as a self-directed member of the development teamExcellent project management skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple initiatives simultaneouslyExcellent communication and interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with distributed cross-functional teams.What we offerYearly gross salary range: $55,000 - $70,000Remote-first culture with the team working remotely from all over the worldInternational health insurance provided with coverage in most countries. Monthly health care payout available in select countries where coverage is limitedCompany-paid retreats. Once per year we gather for a week in an exotic location to work, learn and have fun together31 days of vacation per year. We encourage you to unplug and recharge!12 paid sick days for your physical and mental well-being, no doctor's note required. Parents can use them to care for their sick children4 creative days. One paid day off per quarter to do something creative and fun12 parental days per year. Enjoy one paid day off each month to treasure time with your childrenParental leave. Enjoy paid bonding time at 100% of your salary when welcoming a new child into your family through birth or adoption - 3 months for primary caregivers and 1 month for secondary caregiversParenting budget of $1000. Celebrate the arrival of your little one, whether through childbirth or adoption, with a special gift from usJoy Budget. Annual budget to spend on whatever that brings you joyMacBook and other tools that'll help you to do your job efficientlyFor more information, visit our FAQ page.

Why Use a Pen Display with Blender?I've been an illustrator, as well as an avid Blender enthusiast for many years. I've watched Blender's tool set grow and diversify to include not only modelling, texturing and animation, but sculpting and even drawing.Graphic tablets and pen displays have been part of my studio set up for a long time, but only recently have they been something I've used with Blender on a daily basic.How a Pen Display Enhances Blender Workflows While a mouse and keyboard might be sufficient for modelling, basic animation and node wrangling, a tool that gives you more precision and an intuitive feel to these other tasks is key.Wacom asked me to review their new Movink 13 portable pen display to see how it would perform with Blender's Grease Pencil, so naturally I was so keen to see for myself!Road Testing the Movink 13 Pen Display for BlenderWacom has been a brand synonymous with drawing tablets and pen displays for as long as I could remember. For years, I was a die hard Intuos Pro user - it was affordable, easy to set up and customize, so I was not unfamiliar with using a drawing tool to navigate Blender's interface in this way.Downloading the appropriate drivers for your operating system is the obvious first step for hooking up any drawing device. If you're on Windows, open your Blender Preferences and set your Tablet API accordingly.A pen display obviously means you can interact with Blender more directly, but it is not without its own unique challenges - namely physical button controls and shortcut keys - and as any seasoned Blenderhead already knows: SHORTCUT KEYS IS LIFE but the Movink is virtually button free!Don't panic! If you're familiar with other pen displays, you'll know that the control center software allows you to customize on-screen buttons, radial menus and touch areas which allow you to have all your favorite keystrokes accessible at a glance. This combined with the pen's own buttons makes for a quick and intuitive workflow for drawing, and the Movink is no different.The Movink 13 is designed for portability. It can extend the functionality of your existing laptop, or work as a comfortable pen display for your desktop. Here's a short list of set ups I've experimented with:Desktop setup for Wacom Movink 13:I substituted my drawing tablet with the Movink, but immediately ran into some tech issues - most importantly I discovered my PC did NOT support display over USB-C in Alt Mode! This is a problem if your CPU does NOT have integrated Graphics. The cheapest solution (other than replacing your GPU with a USB-C display port output, or Upgrade your CPU to something with onboard Graphics) is to grab a converter that can take power, USB and HDMI signals and combine them so that your Movink will receive and respond correctly. Option A: Standard Laptop SetupMost laptops and macbooks released in the last few years *should* have a USB-C or at least a USB port that can be switched to Alt-Mode, so you'll be able to connect your Movink 13 via a single cable and use it as an external display - mirrored or extended. My preference is Extended, and to set the Movink as your Primary Display when attached. This will minimize troubleshooting for overlays and touch settings.I use an optional stand as well, but this allows me to work freely, AND use my Laptop screen as a 2nd monitor ideal for references, or to look at work applications while you draw.Option B: Portable UseIf I'm in transit, or in a situation where having my laptop open is not ideal, I set my laptop's power settings so that it does not go into sleep mode when it is closed. Now I can carry my laptop in my backpack, or use it as a table for the Movink and sketch as if I were on a portable touch device.Favorite Pen Display Shortcuts for BlenderAs I mentioned earlier, Shortcut Keys are a big part of how to navigate the Blender Interface. The Movink shares similar customization settings with other pen displays such as the Cintiq and you can lay these out in all manner of ways that suit your own purposes. This is my essential set mapped to the two side areas on the bevel:The Pen buttons are also mapped for essential use:Top Button: CTRL-TABMiddle Button: Middle-Mouse ClickBottom Button: Right Mouse Click (default)I now have a range of options to toggle modes, move, zoom increase/decrease brush sizes, even switch between draw and erase, but using a combination of mouse functions mapped to the pen, and modifier keys via my Pen Display Modifiers grid.No keyboard is required - but even if one is (for, say, labeling layers), I've retained the On Screen Keyboard toggle in my Wacom Screen Keys.In Conclusion:I have thoroughly enjoyed using the Movink 13 with Blender. I've managed to create quick sketch content in a range of set ups, and even taking it with me to some life drawing classes, where digital devices are becoming more and more common.So if you're in the market for a pen display, you'll be happy to know this is a good balance between price point and portability, and most importantly for me, it plays well with Blender!Thanks for Reading!Paul Caggegi___ Want to improve your Blender Grease Pencil skills? Start with our FREE introductory course DRAW!

LDA Design also working on mixed-use project for Legal & GeneralSource: Zaha Hadid / LDA DesignCGI showing the proposed arrival point to the residential apartments from Brocks BridgeLegal & General has submitted a Zaha Hadid Architects-designed masterplan for a mixed-use development in the Bristol Temple Quarter regeneration area.The Temple Island scheme aims to create a new urban district of 520 homes, two new office buildings, retail space, flexible workspace, and a new hotel.L&G first announced its plans for a 350m investment in the area in 2021.The scheme will be divided across four residential blocks, two office blocks, one hotel building and one flexible and a commercial use building, which together will cover a 1.23ha site.A 70m residential tower will be the developments highest block.The insurance and pension giant said it was working with Bristol City Council and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority to provide 40% of the homes at social and affordable rents.LDA Design is working on the scheme as public realm and landscape architect.All of the commercial buildings will target BREEAM Outstanding status.Tony Dyer, leader of Bristol city counci, saidl: Temple Island will be a key part of the wider Bristol Temple Quarter area, contributing to our ambitions to deliver 10,000 new homes and thousands of new jobs across the area.Wider plans for the regeneration of Temple Quarter include a refurbished Temple Meads railway station and a new campus for the University of Bristol.

The Antepavilion competition now in its seventh year invites participants to draw up visions for a new installation for the northwest rooftop corner of the Hoxton Docks complex on the Regents Canal.Last years edition of the annual 25,000 project, backed by historic regeneration specialist Shiva, focussed on transforming land formerly occupied by a Soviet T-34 tank in Southwark and was won by Good Shape.This year sees Antepavilion return to its original home at Hoxton Docks and follows a successful legal battle between the client and local authority Hackney Council which previously won an injunction requiring the temporary removal of 2020s winning scheme a series of floating sharks by architect Jaimie Shorten.AdvertisementAccording to the brief: For 2025 the Antepavilion brief returns to the location at the origins of the competition: the North-West corner of the Hoxton Docks rooftops.The prominence of this position has made it Antepavilions signature display space since 2016 when it was first occupied by Matthew Butchers Flood House. Since then it has hosted a series of displays of art/architecture and performances.As usual, the 2025 brief is open to broad interpretation. Entrants need have regard only to the location where their proposal is to be realised and the platform, podium or plinth as its base.The two-storey 1960s Columbia Wharf and its neighbour Brunswick Wharf stand on a stretch of canal side site that was originally home to the Gas Light and Coke Company, but was transformed into artist studios almost 20 years ago and is now known as Hoxton Docks. The complex, at 53-55 Laburnum Street, overlooks Haggerston Baths and BDPs 2008 Bridge Academy.Previous installations to occupy Hoxton Docks northwest rooftop corner include Flood House by Matthew Butcher, Potemkin Theatre by Maich Swift Architects, and All Along the Watchtower by Project Bunny Rabbit.AdvertisementThe latest brief invites participants to draw up proposals which respond to the unique site and its planning history. The reuse of existing construction materials stored on the site is encouraged including a large quantity of reclaimed Red Douro lath cladding.Applications for the latest commission should include two A3-sized boards along with a project title and team details. Site tours will be held on 26 January, 15 February, and 2 March. A 20 registration fee is also required.Up to five shortlisted teams will receive structural engineer support and a 500 bursary to develop their schemes realisation and construction strategy during the competitions second phase.The overall winner will receive 10,000 prize money along with 15,000 worth of materials and labour to deliver their scheme by 1 August.Competition detailsProject title Antepavilion 2024Client ShivaContract value 25,000First round deadline 14 MarchRestrictions tbcMore information https://www.antepavilion.org/2025Q&A with Russell Gray, managing director Shiva, sponsors of the AntepavilioncompetitionWhy is the latest edition of Antepavilion returning to its original home at Hoxton Docks?Hoxton docksis the home of Antepavilion. It is where it has had its studios, gallery and public display spaces for three decades. The site in Southwark was available to Antepavilion for the medium term and offers avacantcentral London site for various experimental works. Last years brief Earthwork was an example of something that could not be explored at the Docks. Development of further projectswill be facilitated on that site during 2025 but without the constraints imposed by the strict timetable of the competition. So the Southwark site offers possibilities for Antepavilion to support development, experimentation and display of works that do not fit comfortablywithin the annual competition. There is no intention to shift the principal home of Antepavilion but it could certainly become more itinerant in the future.What would you like to see in submissions to this years contest?The briefrefers toAntepavilion's successful defence of the activities that have been carried on at the Wharves for thirty years, against the councils most recent attack on them asunlawful. This years winner will be displayed ten years after the position it occupies hosted Flood House, which marked a shift from the mostly internal and wall-based displays of art (in planning parlance) in Hoxton Docks previously. It will be a good year for artists to make a show of solidarity and to assert their presence.What sort of teams would you like to see step forward for this unique opportunity?Antepavilion welcomes any medium of expression. If you havesomething thatresonates with Antepavilions ethos to say or show, this years brief invites you to propose it for display on Hoxton Docks' most public platform. Whether it comes from individuals or teams, large or small, established orunknownisimmaterial.

Key Takeaways The best high-yield savings account rates continue to offer over 4% APY.Since the Federal Reserve has started cutting interest rates, banks have been following by cutting their savings rates.The best savings high-yield savings accounts don't require a minimum balance or deposit to open. Currently, the best high-yield savings accounts have annual percentage yields over 4%. You'll likely find the best rates at online banks and credit unions compared to major brick-and-mortar banks, but these high savings rates may not last.Experts say a high-yield savings account is the best place to keep your money for short-term savings or an emergency fund. Which bank is offering the best rate right now?Here are the best savings rates we found and what experts recommend considering before opening an account.Today's best savings rates Bank APY*Min. deposit to openVaro 5.00%**$0Newtek Bank 4.70%$0LendingClub 4.50%$0Bask Bank 4.50%$0EverBank 4.40%$0Laurel Road 4.15%$0Synchrony Bank 4.10%$0American Express 3.80%$0Capital One 3.80%$0 Experts recommend comparing rates before opening a savings account to get the best APY possible. Enter your information below to get CNET's partners' best rate for your area.How much the best savings rates have changed over the past week Last week's CNET average savings APY* This week's CNET average savings APYWeekly change4.20% 4.18%-0.48% Where can I find the highest savings rate?Currently, Varo Bank offers 5% APY. You'll only earn this rate for up to $5,000 of your balance. After that, it offers a 2.50% APY, which is less than what other options are offering.If you're looking for a place that offers a high rate on your entire balance, Newtek Bank currently has a 4.70% APY with no minimum balance or monthly fees. Both Varo and Newtek are online only, so you'll need to be comfortable managing your money virtually.Is it still worth opening a high-yield savings account?Rates aren't as high as the 5% APYs we saw from some banks last year. Rates are hovering below 4.50% APY, and experts predict that the decline will continue."People may hesitate if it's worth it to open a HYSA with the lower rates we are currently seeing," said Danielle Flores, a CNET Money Expert Review Board member and founder of I Like to Dabble. "It is always worth it to earn a little extra on your already-saved money."Savings rates are variable and will continue to fluctuate, but earned interest adds up in the long run, Flores pointed out. Plus, rates for HYSA will still be higher than most traditional savings accounts, so you'll earn more interest on your money.For example, let's say you make a one-time deposit of $500 into a HYSA with a 4.2% APY. Assuming the rate stays the same for the next 12 months, you'll earn $21.60 in interest. If you keep your money in a traditional savings account that's offering 0.42% for the same deposit you'll earn $3.60 over the same time frame. Features to consider when choosing a high-yield savings accountHere are some things to look for when opening a HYSA.Minimum deposit requirements: Some HYSAs require a minimum amount to open an account, typically between $25 and $100. Others don't require anything.ATM access: Not every bank offers cash deposits and withdrawals. If you need regular ATM access, check to see if your bank offers ATM fee reimbursements or a wide range of in-network ATMs, said Lanesha Mohip, founder of the Polished CFO and another CNET Expert Review Board member.Fees: Look out for fees for monthly maintenance, withdrawals and paper statements, said Mohip. The charges can eat into your balance.Accessibility: If you prefer in-person assistance, look for a bank with physical branches. If you're comfortable managing your money digitally, consider an online bank.Withdrawal limits: Some banks charge an excess withdrawal fee if you make more than six monthly withdrawals. If you may need to make more, consider a bank without this limit.Federal deposit insurance: Make sure your bank or credit union is insured with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the National Credit Union Administration, respectively. This way, your money is protected up to $250,000 per account holder, per category, if the bank fails.Customer service: Choose a bank that's responsive and makes it easy to get help with your account if you need it. Read online customer reviews and contact the bank's customer service to get a feel for working with the bank.MethodologyCNET reviewed savings accounts at more than 50 traditional and online banks, credit unions and financial institutions with nationwide services. Each account received a score between one (lowest) and five (highest). The savings accounts listed here are all insured up to $250,000 per person, per account category, per institution, by the FDIC or NCUA.CNET evaluates the best savings accounts using a set of established criteria that compares annual percentage yields, monthly fees, minimum deposits or balances and access to physical branches. None of the banks on our list charge monthly maintenance fees. An account will rank higher for offering any of the following perks:Account bonusesAutomated savings featuresWealth management consulting/coaching servicesCash depositsExtensive ATM networks and/or ATM rebates for out-of-network ATM useA savings account may be rated lower if it doesn't have an easy-to-navigate website or if it doesn't offer helpful features like an ATM card. Accounts that impose restrictive residency requirements or fees for exceeding monthly transaction limits may also be rated lower.*APYs as of Jan. 13, 2025, based on the banks we track at CNET. Weekly percentage increase/decrease from Jan. 6, 2025, to Jan. 13, 2025.**Varo offers 5% APY only on balances of less than $5,000.More savings advice

January 13, 20254 min readHealth Care AI Requires a Lot of Expensive Humans to RunDespite the hype over artificial intelligence in medicine, the systems require consistent monitoring and staffing to put in place and maintainBy Darius Tahir & KFF Health News Maskot/Alamy Stock PhotoPreparing cancer patients for difficult decisions is an oncologists job. They dont always remember to do it, however. At the University of Pennsylvania Health System, doctors are nudged to talk about a patients treatment and end-of-life preferences by an artificially intelligent algorithm that predicts the chances of death.But its far from being a set-it-and-forget-it tool. A routine tech checkup revealed the algorithm decayed during the covid-19 pandemic, getting 7 percentage points worse at predicting who would die, according to a 2022 study.There were likely real-life impacts. Ravi Parikh, an Emory University oncologist who was the studys lead author, told KFF Health News the tool failed hundreds of times to prompt doctors to initiate that important discussion possibly heading off unnecessary chemotherapy with patients who needed it.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.He believes several algorithms designed to enhance medical care weakened during the pandemic, not just the one at Penn Medicine. Many institutions are not routinely monitoring the performance of their products, Parikh said.Algorithm glitches are one facet of a dilemma that computer scientists and doctors have long acknowledged but that is starting to puzzle hospital executives and researchers: Artificial intelligence systems require consistent monitoring and staffing to put in place and to keep them working well.In essence: You need people, and more machines, to make sure the new tools dont mess up.Everybody thinks that AI will help us with our access and capacity and improve care and so on, said Nigam Shah, chief data scientist at Stanford Health Care. All of that is nice and good, but if it increases the cost of care by 20%, is that viable?Government officials worry hospitals lack the resources to put these technologies through their paces. I have looked far and wide, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said at a recent agency panel on AI. I do not believe theres a single health system, in the United States, thats capable of validating an AI algorithm thats put into place in a clinical care system.AI is already widespread in health care. Algorithms are used to predict patients risk of death or deterioration, to suggest diagnoses or triage patients, to record and summarize visits to save doctors work, and to approve insurance claims.If tech evangelists are right, the technology will become ubiquitous and profitable. The investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners has identified some 20 health-focused AI startups on track to make $10 million in revenue each in a year. The FDA has approved nearly a thousand artificially intelligent products.Evaluating whether these products work is challenging. Evaluating whether they continue to work or have developed the software equivalent of a blown gasket or leaky engine is even trickier.Take a recent study at Yale Medicine evaluating six early warning systems, which alert clinicians when patients are likely to deteriorate rapidly. A supercomputer ran the data for several days, said Dana Edelson, a doctor at the University of Chicago and co-founder of a company that provided one algorithm for the study. The process was fruitful, showing huge differences in performance among the six products.Its not easy for hospitals and providers to select the best algorithms for their needs. The average doctor doesnt have a supercomputer sitting around, and there is no Consumer Reports for AI.We have no standards, said Jesse Ehrenfeld, immediate past president of the American Medical Association. There is nothing I can point you to today that is a standard around how you evaluate, monitor, look at the performance of a model of an algorithm, AI-enabled or not, when its deployed.Perhaps the most common AI product in doctors offices is called ambient documentation, a tech-enabled assistant that listens to and summarizes patient visits. Last year, investors at Rock Health tracked $353 million flowing into these documentation companies. But, Ehrenfeld said, There is no standard right now for comparing the output of these tools.And thats a problem, when even small errors can be devastating. A team at Stanford University tried using large language models the technology underlying popular AI tools like ChatGPT to summarize patients medical history. They compared the results with what a physician would write.Even in the best case, the models had a 35% error rate, said Stanfords Shah. In medicine, when youre writing a summary and you forget one word, like fever I mean, thats a problem, right?Sometimes the reasons algorithms fail are fairly logical. For example, changes to underlying data can erode their effectiveness, like when hospitals switch lab providers.Sometimes, however, the pitfalls yawn open for no apparent reason.Sandy Aronson, a tech executive at Mass General Brighams personalized medicine program in Boston, said that when his team tested one application meant to help genetic counselors locate relevant literature about DNA variants, the product suffered nondeterminism that is, when asked the same question multiple times in a short period, it gave different results.Aronson is excited about the potential for large language models to summarize knowledge for overburdened genetic counselors, but the technology needs to improve.If metrics and standards are sparse and errors can crop up for strange reasons, what are institutions to do? Invest lots of resources. At Stanford, Shah said, it took eight to 10 months and 115 man-hours just to audit two models for fairness and reliability.Experts interviewed by KFF Health News floated the idea of artificial intelligence monitoring artificial intelligence, with some (human) data whiz monitoring both. All acknowledged that would require organizations to spend even more money a tough ask given the realities of hospital budgets and the limited supply of AI tech specialists.Its great to have a vision where were melting icebergs in order to have a model monitoring their model, Shah said. But is that really what I wanted? How many more people are we going to need?KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News (KHN), is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.