You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereMetal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima is one of the most revered game designers in the industry. Known for revitilizing the stealth genre and pushing forward cinematics in games, Kojima is still creating amazing experiences with Death Stranding and its upcoming sequel.However, early on in the game designers career, Kojima was so frustrated that he planned to leave Konami before before the original Metal Gear MSX game was finished.Speaking to Nice Games in 1999, preserved by website Shmupulations, Kojima revealed that trying to make Metal Gear was frustrated due to the dismissive nature of other developers at Konami.I thought it would be awesome to make a game built around a concept like [The Great Escape], of trying to escape from somewhere, Kojima explained. But when I told the senior devs on the team about my idea, they were very dismissive: Theres no games like that. I was still a new planner at Konami, so I guess no one was inclined to listen to what I had to say there was just zero motivation from the start. It was like, what do I have to do here, do I have to start beating people up?The game designer explained that the early years at Konami degraded further into passive-aggressive resistance that almost led to his departure from the games studio. It got to the point where I was so fed up with working at a corporation like this that I was ready to quit Konami altogether, he explained.There was just zero motivation from the start. It was like, what do I have to do here, do I have to start beating people up?HIDEO KOJIMA, 1999After talking with an older employee who took the lead, other developers at Konami started to change gears. However, it wasnt until the iconic exclamation mark pop-up was implemented that everyone was on board.Once we got a working build running, and they saw that exclamation mark pop up when the enemy gets surprised, that sold them on the concept, Kojima explained. They all changed their tune then: This is gonna work!Nowadays, Kojima is working on a number of awesome-looking projects including Death Stranding 2, the Xbox horror game OD and even a return to the Metal Gear stealth genre. Additionally, the game designers amazing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is getting a massive remake, although no release date is known at the time of writing.Metal Gear SolidPlatform(s):Game Boy Color, PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 3Genre(s):Action, Adventure, ShooterSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

By all appearances, New York designer Ghislaine Vias and husband Jaimes Arts and Crafts cottage in the Hudson Valley seems stylistically aligned to the 43 acres of bucolic idyllcomplete with forested pockets and babbling brooksthat it has anchored since 1927. Purchased in early 2022, a newly painted exterior was the easiest way for Vias, the AD PRO Directory member, to give the aging house a fresh look. While her choice of monochrome white emphasizes the homes provincial charm, once you step inside, all preconceived notions of the countryside aesthetic take a hike.The homeowners, interior designer Ghislaine Vias (left) and husband Jaime Vias, a graphic designerDespite ascribing to no color palette in particular, no style of art specifically, and bearing no loyalty to anything other than the sentimental value of travel souvenirs and furniture already in the familys possession (chalk the latter up to the mindset of downsizing empty nesters like these former Bucks County, Pennsylvania, residents and parents of two grown daughters), the home looks and feels intentional in all of its whims and weirdness.Homeowner and interior designer Ghislaine Vias installed Mad Plaider, a palm green tartan wallpaper she designed for Wolf Gordon, in the living room of the Hudson Valley Arts and Crafts cottage she shares with her husband, Jaime. The Flow lounge chairs by Luke Pearson are covered in Sir Stripe A-Lot in the color Sheepish by Ghislaine Vias for HBF Textiles. Artist Bethani Blake painted the piece above the fireplace, titled Magical Girls. Of such decorative mashups, Vias believes that one must possess a certain amount of audacity to seek accord among the inherently discordant.I acknowledge that sometimes I like things that are a little freaky, says Vias. From a vaguely sinister bunny-eared figurine made by a student at Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), where Viass youngest daughter goes to school, to entryway photographs of life-sized gnomes engaged in horticultural maintenance, to a powder room hung with vintage oil-painted portraits of women (Ive given them all names, too, like Pamela and Olivia, says the designer), Vias considers the eccentric art collection the soul of the house.The kitchen is the largest room in the house, and feels like a stylistic departure considering its strong black (featuring IKEA cabinets) and white color blocking. The wooden barstools are by David Chipperfield, and the kitchen island was custom made to fit the set. An interpretive portrait of Abraham Lincoln by SCAD alum Marcus Kenney presides over the space.A Big Sur table from Crate & Barrel provides an earthy foil for the Tom Dixon Peg chairs in Fluoro, which Vias claims shes loved every day for 10 years. Here, they set a tonal color palette for the dining room, where a wall-mounted assemblage of travel souvenirs is thematically red. Superman by Adam Lowenbein in the corner; Nosfertube candelabras on the table.For all of their uneasy gazing and silent discernment, artful visages are a key element in the decor. Since familiarity is an undisputed hallmark of an inviting home, Vias has included a few faces that are instantly recognizable. For example, an interpretive portrait of Abraham Lincoln by SCAD alum Marcus Kenney presides over the kitchen, the largest room in the house characterized by tidy black-and-white colorblocking and right angles aplenty, a departure from the seeming spontaneity of the rest of the house. In the stairwell, a multimedia work the homeowners acquired on a trip to Pakistan, Girl Without a Pearl Earring by Abil Aslam, is a mosaic rendering of the famous Vermeer oil vignette in metal eyelets. Against a backdrop of unorthodox palm-green plaid wallpaper, the portrait finds solidarity in its spin on a classic.Most PopularMotoringThe 17 New Cars Were Most Excited About in 2025By Brett BerkHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCelebrity LifestyleThe Beatles Behind the Scenes: 15 Photos of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr at HomeBy Michael Gioia Perhaps the most aesthetically quiet space in the house, the primary bedroom features two birdhouses by Upstate artist Dan Ladd. Their spherical form is echoed by the Artemide Castore Tavolo lamp, but is also a handcrafted foil to the sleek manufacturing. Charcoal drawing by Saskia Vias.Formerly a closet, the primary bath is now painted in fresh mint green and outfitted with a skirted cabinet that reminds Vias of the flouncy trim on a can-can girls skirt. Ruvati bathroom sink; vintage mask.Such mashups strike Vias as comical, and she believes that one must possess a certain amount of audacity to seek accord among the inherently discordant. Though Vias never intended for the widespread plaid to convey an iota of, as she calls it, stuffy library, she wasnt opposed to conjuring a cozy, insular feeling suitable for the sylvan setting. So while it appears that you can take the plaid out of the study (after all, the pattern, dubbed the Mad Plaider, may qualify as a contemptuous take on tartan), you cant deny its essential nature. Most interesting to me is to pull from something historic and look at it through a more contemporary lens, says Vias.In that case, you might consider the entire cottage a kind of 1,600-square-foot cabinet of curiosities, an Italian Renaissanceera tradition of collecting objects for purposes of flaunt, delight, or intrigue. Here, such bibelots include a zoos worth of animal figures, some even serviceable, like a Seletti white-resin monkey swinging in the kitchen with a working light bulb in its grip, or a life-size pig table by Moooi in the entryway, poised to collect keys and mail. To underscore the siren-hued Tom Dixon chairs in the dining room, a wall-mounted assemblage of travel souvenirs is obligingly red, and comprises a fly-swish procured during a trip to Africa, as well as a weathered barber pole that appeals to the designers affection for candy striping.Most PopularMotoringThe 17 New Cars Were Most Excited About in 2025By Brett BerkHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCelebrity LifestyleThe Beatles Behind the Scenes: 15 Photos of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr at HomeBy Michael Gioia In the den, the most used room in the house, a painting by the designers frequent collaborator Mark Mulroney provides a view into the designers dark side with an arched painting called Look That Way, which depicts a subversive medley of fleshy tree limbs oozing grubs, an ominous vice grip, and an apple showing signs of rot. Striad lounge chair by Herman Miller. Sculptures by Ashley Benton.In the den, Viass favorite painting could be considered a mini freak show within the house-wide attraction: On a wood canvas provocatively (and intentionally) shaped like an arched church window, Mark Mulroneys Look That Way depicts a subversive medley of fleshy tree limbs oozing grubs, an ominous vise grip, and an apple showing signs of rot. Im not 100% sure why I like this stuff. My children are like, Youve scarred us for life, says Vias. Oh well. Theres always therapy.A newly painted exterior was the easiest way for Vias to give the aging Arts and Crafts cottage a fresh look. The monochrome white emphasizes the homes provincial charm, while the door paint (Baby Chick by Benjamin Moore) hints at the playfulness awaiting inside.This guest bedroom features a mixed bag of travel souvenirs, from a painting of a young girl by Pakistani artist Hala Nasir, a plaid study by Saskia Vias (the youngest daughter and a student at SCAD), and a pig cabinet by Seletti. The metal art over the bed is called Circles of Race by Sumbal Sultana.Most PopularMotoringThe 17 New Cars Were Most Excited About in 2025By Brett BerkHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCelebrity LifestyleThe Beatles Behind the Scenes: 15 Photos of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr at HomeBy Michael Gioia A powder room is hung with vintage oil-painted portraits of women. Ive given them all names, too, like Pamela and Olivia, says the designer. The custom avocado-shaped mirror plays off the green paint, Talipot Palm by Sherwin-Williams.Guest room featuring Untitled by Syed Shoaib Mahmood above the bed. IKEA Lisabo desk in ash and Emeco Alfi chair.Electric Orange by Benjamin Moore provides the focal point of this guest bath, as the vibrant hue emblazons a vintage Dutch hanging cabinet and creates the appearance of a vanity nook.Most PopularMotoringThe 17 New Cars Were Most Excited About in 2025By Brett BerkHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCelebrity LifestyleThe Beatles Behind the Scenes: 15 Photos of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr at HomeBy Michael Gioia Purchased in 2022, the home anchors 43 acres of bucolic idyll in the Hudson Valley.

Skip The BooksDon't go into Wolf Man expecting everything to be explained with a "library montage", as its director wanted to "keep things more mysterious""Exposition is such a tricky thing to handle."Image credit: Universal News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 15, 2025 The latest entry in the updated Universal Monsterverse, Wolf Man, might not lay everything out for you when you see it in cinemas.A lot of big movies these days definitely have a big issue with explaining everything that happened so the audience can understand the whole thing, but that's often the detriment to the quality of the film. Wolf Man director Leigh Whannell is hoping to do away with that typical use of exposition in his version of the 1941 classic monster movie, which is due out this week, January 17. The director recently spoke with GamesRadar about the upcoming film, where he explained that he "wanted to focus on the family" more instead of explaining how werewolves work or anything like that.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "I didn't want that scene where they discover a dusty book in the basement like, 'Here's the rules'," Whannell explained. "The library montage, you might call it... where you figure everything out. Exposition is such a tricky thing to handle, and how much you want to explain to people. A lot of times you might do a test screening and people tell you they want more, but my personal preference is to keep things more mysterious."The director cited the works of David Lynch as a point of inspiration, not for their content necessarily, but how unwilling they are to explain anything. "They're like these puzzle boxes and [Lynch] deliberately avoids explanations. I find that makes the film stay with me, because nothing was spoon fed. I can walk away and live with the movie, and interpret it, then I'll get online. I'm like anyone else, I've googled 'What does Mulholland Drive mean?' I'm seeking an answer, and I think that's what he wants with his movies. I'm not saying these are David Lynch movies that I'm making, but I like being sparing with that stuff."This is Whannell's second time making a monster movie for Universal, having previously released the quite good The Invisible Man back in 2020. Now we just have to see if he can go two for two on monster movies!

Emulation explanation.2024 was a big year for Nintendo's emulator takedowns, with the likes of Yuzu and Ryujinx both biting the dust after facing the company's wrath. Now, at a recent lecture hosted by Japans Association of Copyright for Computer Software, Nintendo lawyer Koji Nishiura has explained the technicalities of when an emulator is considered illegal and why the Big N has so many in the crosshairs.As reported by Denfaminicogamer, Nishiura the deputy general manager of Nintendo's IP division and patent attorney explained that there's a difference in legality between the emulator itself and its uses: "While you cant immediately claim that an emulator is illegal in itself, it can become illegal depending on how its used" (translated by Automaton).Read the full article on nintendolife.com

If youve ever applied or thought of applying for a job via LinkedIn, youll know that the experience can be immediately disheartening: Openings that look interesting typically can see hundreds or thousands of applications in a matter of hours data that LinkedIn, a social network for the world of work, proudly exposes in its own version of building up viral hype. But you may as well be throwing a penny into a giant fountain for luck to keep your application from drowning in that noise.Now LinkedIn has built an AI product to throw job seekers a lifeline, of sorts. A new Jobs Match tool will give its 1 billion users who are currently applying for jobs on its platform at a rate of 9,000 applications per minute immediate advice on whether a particular job opening is worth their time to apply.Alongside this, its launching a recruitment AI agent aimed at smaller businesses, a synthetic version of the recruitment managers and teams that larger businesses typically use to devise job applications, tap qualified candidates, and triage applications. Both are free to use that is, you dont have to be one of LinkedIns paying users to use it.Notably, both products were built by LinkedIn on top of its own AI technology and its own first-party LinkedIn data though, over time, it might incorporate other data sources, Rohan Rajiv, a director of product management, said in an interview with TechCrunch. This is in contrast to a number of launches in the last couple of years that have seen LinkedIn building by leaning hard on technology from OpenAI, the AI startup backed to the hilt by Microsoft, which also owns LinkedIn.LinkedIn has a long history of building AI tools for its platform, but these have been focused on areas like algorithms and connection suggestions, as well as tools to manage and build its database. These predate the development of generative AI and the wave of consumer services that have sprung out of it.A lot of what LinkedIn has launched on the AI front in the last couple of years has been around tapping generative AI to juice activity on the site: products to help people start conversations with each other; come up with insightful content for their feeds and profiles, help write ads, and more, all powered by OpenAI.The tools being launched today, which will give those filling jobs a better funnel of suitable applicants and help those looking for work better filter for jobs they are more likely to fit, also are meant to help with juicing activity, but in less public ways.Rajiv noted that there are now 5 million people who have turned on Open to Work on their profiles, up 40% from a year ago, with 67 million users looking for jobs each week. On the small business side, some 2.5 million are using LinkedIn to fill roles. Thats to say nothing of the huge number of people who have lost their jobs as the economy continues to correct in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic more than 152,000 in the tech sector alone were laid off in 2024, according to the Layoffs.fyi tracker.Yet LinkedIns job seeking figures are relatively tiny considering the site has more than a billion registered users. Indeed, it runs the risk of losing momentum on its recruiting business because of how painful it is to use, both among those looking for jobs and those trying to fill them, said Rajiv.[Theyre] spending three to five hours a day sifting through applications, and finding that less than half of the job applications submitted are actually meeting the required criteria, he said. This is completely broken, and we know that.So while LinkedIn has built a number of products specifically for premium users, to encourage more people to pay for the service, now its swinging in the other direction. Its taking two premium tools respectively AI tools for looking for jobs and AI agents to help with recruitment and making versions of them usable for everyone.It will be worth watching to see what the uptake is like, and whether it boosts the number of people using the platform to recruit (which is still a paid service) and look for work. At a time when the company is also being scrutinized over how it gathers and uses data, this gives LinkedIn an anchor to argue that its also providing some utility.

From the visionary mind behind Cloud Atlas and Babylon Berlin comes Das Licht (The Light). Dive into the trailer now and experience the haunting beauty of a mystery waiting to unfold!The VFX are made by:RISE (VFX Supervisor: Jonathan Heine)Director: Tom TykwerRelease Date: March 20, 2025 (Germany) Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025The post Das Licht (The Light) appeared first on The Art of VFX.

Cinema 4D Speed Hacks: 5 Must-Know Tips V2In a previous video, I gave you 5 simple but powerful tips to speed up your Cinema 4D workflow and save you valuable time on your projects. Today, were going for V2, with 5 brand new C4D hacks to speed up your work!These 5 Cinema 4D Shortcuts Will Save You Hours of WorkGet this free model, used in the tutorial, in our freebies section.Head to the FreebiesWhat Cinema 4D Quick Tips will we learn about?In this tutorial youll learn:How to select hard-to-reach objects, like ones hidden behind other objects or behind glass. If you want to highlight this object you can hold down Ctrl and right-click while hovering over it. A dropdown menu will show up and include everything that is behind where you clicked. This is a fast way to select an object that is behind a pane of glass or obscured by anything!If youve ever wanted to move a Cinema 4D parent object but dont want the children to move or rotate you can easily and temporarily disconnect the parent/child relationship by simply holding down the number 7!If you have a massive scene or a very small scene and your objects get cut off in a very strange way you are probably reaching the end of where your scene is being calculated. This is the clipping area. You can easily change the clipping in C4D by hitting Ctrl+d to open your settings. Then under display, you can change the View Clipping setting to Large for a huge scene or Small for a tiny scene. This will solve your issue!Learn how to drag ANY parameter onto your Viewport as a HUD slider. Its super useful and a great way to quickly animate any property without digging around in your hierarchy.And for the final tip, Ill show you how to store any object selection with the Selection Object. Its another really hidden but powerful workflow item you should know about.I hope these tips help you in your work!Want More Quick Tips?If you want more of these, head to our YouTube channel, leave a comment, and subscribe!Leave a Comment and Subscribe Here

The Orchestra Park | HoliThe Orchestra Park lies in Kunshans Huaqiao Economic Development Zone, located between two high-density residential neighborhoods and alongside the convergence of two rivers. Covering 8,500 square meters, this project integrates natural preservation and urban functionality. Designed by SoBA (Soft Build Architects), the park transforms an underutilized urban lot into a public space that serves as both a natural retreat and a recreational hub for residents of all ages. Combining cultural heritage with ecological sensitivity, The Orchestra Park offers a space that addresses community needs.Orchestra Park Technical InformationArchitects1-4: SoBALocation: Kunshan, Suzhou, ChinaArea: 8,500m2 | 91,490 Sq. Ft.Completion Year: 2023Photographs: HoliInspired by this cultural heritage, our design incorporates smooth lines and natural forms that reflect the rhythms of the music. The parks layout uses curves inspired by these instruments, blending recreation with a three-dimensional representation of the music, offering residents a harmonious mix of nature and culture. SoBA ArchitectsOrchestra Park PhotographsAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliAerial View | HoliPlayground | HoliOrchestra Park Design PhilosophyThe parks design preserves mature camphor and dawn redwood trees while addressing the challenge of incorporating modern amenities such as a skateboarding area and restrooms. Its transformation into a green space reflects an effort to create an environment that meets the needs of its users. This project demonstrates the potential of urban design to turn vacant spaces into community assets.At the heart of The Orchestra Park lies a connection to Kunshans cultural identity. The park draws inspiration from the Jiangnan Silk and Bamboo music tradition, an art form recognized as part of the citys intangible cultural heritage. Known for its graceful melodies played on instruments like the bamboo flute and erhu, this musical tradition informs the parks flowing lines and rhythmic forms. These design elements create a spatial experience that echoes the elegance and fluidity of the music.SoBAs design philosophy, characterized by Soft Build, prioritizes agility, sensitivity, and inclusiveness. This approach is evident in the parks layout, reflecting silk and bamboos symbolic forms. By combining cultural motifs with functional design, the architects have crafted a space that integrates cultural and natural elements. The parks circular jogging path, inspired by the curves of musical instruments, connects adjacent residential areas and unifies its various spaces.Architectural and Landscape FeaturesThe riverside greenbelt preserves the sites natural woodland and vegetation. Mature trees and undulating terrain remain intact, creating a serene environment that contrasts with the urban surroundings. Adding a waterside viewing platform and winding exploration paths under the natural canopy invites visitors to engage with the landscape. Sound-interactive installations enhance the sensory experience, making the greenbelt a place for relaxation and discovery.The layered design of the greenbelt balances open and dense areas, ensuring an environment that changes with the seasons. The integration of natural elements and functional spaces provides residents with a space to connect with the natural world.In contrast to the greenbelt, the recreational zone incorporates activities and facilities. Leveraging the sites natural topography, the designers transformed the outlines of Jiangnan silk and bamboo instruments into three-dimensional forms. This area features a skatepark, climbing structures, a fitness playground, and an open-air theater designed to encourage activity and interaction.A musical fountain plaza and bamboo grove pathways enhance the parks identity, combining cultural elements with recreational features. A small music classroom provides a space for education and cultural engagement. This combination of features ensures that The Orchestra Park appeals to various age groups, encouraging exploration and social connection.Critical Reflection and Broader ImpactThe Orchestra Park provides a green space in a densely populated area. By addressing the communitys diverse needs, the park serves as a gathering place that encourages social interaction and promotes an active lifestyle. Its integration into the urban fabric makes it a reference for developments that balance ecological preservation with urban functionality.This project offers insights into the importance of cultural and ecological sensitivity in design. SoBAs approach to preserving the sites natural features while incorporating modern amenities demonstrates the potential for harmony between built and natural environments. The parks design is a study for architects and planners aiming to create spaces that resonate with their cultural and environmental contexts.Orchestra Park PlansSite Plan | SoBAAxonometric | SoBAAxonometric | SoBASection | SoBAFloor Plan | SoBAFloor Plan | SoBAOrchestra Park Image GalleryAbout SoBACredits and Additional NotesLead Architects: Wang Ruo, Tang HaiyinArchitecture and Landscape Design Team: Liao Zhexuan, Li Chuanzhang, Yiqing Wu, Yuan Wang, Xiao Yunxuan (Intern), Zihao Chen (Intern)Construction Documentation Local Design Institute: Jiangsu Aoyang Ecological Garden Co., Ltd.Clients: Peoples Government of Huaqiao Town, Kunshan City

The Cornwall Congregational Church in Cornwall, Connecticut, was erected at 8 Bolton Hill Road in 1842, replacing the colonial-era meetinghouse which had first stood on Old Meetinghouse Hill at Cornwall Center. When members of the church split into two separate congregations due to religious differences, the original congregation moved to South Cornwall in 1790. Another Congregational church was built in North Cornwall for the other group. This wonderful Greek Revival church reflects the enormous popularity the style in the first half of the 19th century. The structure rests on a stone block foundation and is sheathed with clapboard siding. The building incorporates a central entry of paired doors with a Greek Revival surround, flanked by 20/20 windows. The street elevation of the building is dominated by a monumental portico with pedimented gable, broad frieze and fluted Doric columns. The showstopper is the two-stage square belfry, each stage Doric columns and pilasters. The church is active today as the United Church of Christ and is often utilized for town events.

With the 19 January 2025 ban on TikTok just days away, American social media users and businesses are facing up to the fact that the video-sharing platform may go dark across the US at the weekend, with some now considering other alternatives at the last minute.On Friday 10 January, a last-ditch attempt by TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, to stave off a ban at a hearing before the conservative-majority United States Supreme Court, saw the justices divided on issues such as the applicability of the First Amendment of the US Constitution to TikTok, and national security concerns.In the hearing, the court appeared to reject the premise that a ban would infringe on TikToks First Amendment free speech rights and those of its US users who number about 170 million or 50% of Americans focusing instead on the need to regulate Chinese control of the application.These arguments hinge on the fact that TikTok may transfer data on its users preferences into China to fuel the algorithm that pushes new content to them, but under Chinese law, its parent can be made to hand over this data to the Chinese government if asked. This point proved a major factor in moves to drive networking supplier Huawei out of western networks in the late 2010s.Lawyers for the platform told the court that TikTok holds data on US users in an Oracle-owned datacentre located in northern Virginia, a few miles down the road from the Supreme Court.At the time of writing, the Supreme Court had yet to issue a formal opinion on the matter, although there are four obvious options on the table: to uphold the ban or not under the First Amendment; to issue a stay of execution and delay the 19 January deadline, which would align with president-elect Donald Trumps views; or to simply do nothing.Meanwhile, on Monday 13 January, Democratic senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts announced he planned to introduce legislation to delay the ban by 270 days.TikTok creators and users across the nation are understandably alarmed. They are uncertain about the future of the platform, their accounts and the vibrant online communities they have cultivated, said Markey.These communities cannot be replicated on another app. A ban would dismantle a one-of-a-kind informational and cultural ecosystem, silencing millions in the process.The stakes here are high. Thats why I will soon introduce theExtend the TikTok Deadline Actto extend the deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban by an additional 270 days.As Washington DC prepares to inaugurate president-elect Donald Trump for an historic and controversial second term on 20 January, the rumour mill surrounding TikTok has kicked into overdrive.Prominent among the stories doing the rounds this week is the possible sale of TikTok by ByteDance to X (Twitter) and Tesla owner Elon Musk, who is now positioned as a key ally of Trump and is to lead a government department aimed at cutting regulations and restructuring the US government. TikTok has derided this idea as pure fiction.Should TikTok go dark at the weekend, an outcome Computer Weekly understands that the platform is preparing for, the platform would be disabled for all US users, who will then be redirected to a website detailing the ban, and offered the option to download their data, according to The Information.Doing so in fact goes above and beyond the stipulations contained in the ban, which mandates only a ban on new downloads from mobile app stores enabling existing users to continue to use it for the time being.This approach would likely have been a temporary provision as the app itself would be unable to receive the same feature and security updates as it would in the rest of the world, rendering it unusable over time.Meanwhile, distraught US TikTok users are beginning to face up to the fact that they may be effectively left homeless on Sunday, and some are beginning to consider alternatives, including the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their location in the US.For those unwilling to use a VPN, in the short-term, the most viable TikTok alternative is likely Meta-owned Instagram, which has been trying to outcompete TikTok by prioritising video content Reels in its terminology without much success to date.However, Metas own approach to data privacy historically leaves much to be desired, and recent moves by Meta owner, billionaire tech baron Mark Zuckerberg, to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, and end protections against hate speech and harassment targeting LGBTQIA+ users, have been sharply criticised and will be a turn off for many.For at least half a million TikTok users, the alternative appears to be another China-owned app, RedNote known as Xiaohongshu, which translates to Little Red Book, a Mao Zedong reference, in China.NordVPNs Adrianus Warmenhoven said that RedNote might seem like a quick fix for TikTok users but also brings security and privacy risks, many of them exactly the same ones that have dogged TikTok.LikeTikTok, RedNote is subject to Chinese data laws, which may grant government authorities access to user data without the privacy protections expected in the US, said Warmenhoven.The platform collects extensive personal data, including location, browsing activity and device-specific information like IP addresses. It can also share this data with third-party service providers or government authorities, raising concerns about user privacy.A major red flag is the apps lack of transparency its terms and conditions are mainly in Mandarin, leaving non-Chinese-speaking users unclear about what data is collected and how its used. This makes it difficult for users to make informed decisions about their privacy.Beyond privacy, there are concerns about content censorship. RedNotes content moderation policies may align with Chinese government standards, potentially stifling free speech and exposing users to biased information.Given these risks, social media usersshould think twice before switching to RedNote. The same privacy, transparency and national security concerns that led to theTikTokdebate are likely to apply here, he added.According to Laura Kankaala, threat intelligence lead on F-Secure, agreed that Americans and others making the switch should be on high alert. She warned such apps are also targeted by scammers, and said it was a distinct possibility that new users may find themselves being exploited by malicious actors exploiting the hype.In terms of data, based on the now-viral byebyeChinese spy videos and memes,TikTokusers seem to be aware that their data is collected and used to target content tailored for them. The rule on the internet is that if something is free, your data and attention is the price. The same holds true forRedNote it will collect your data and use it to keep you engaged on the platform, she said.Kankaala added: Security checks are crucial. From a cyber security perspective, my advice to new users would be to check their privacy settings and ensure that they are not giving permission to share content publicly. Its also worth checking how visible their profile is and how easily people can discover them on the app.It seems that the default option for registering onRednoteis via a phone number and text message my recommendation is to set a strong and unique password for better account protection.Read more about TikTokThe US government takes aim at the viral video sharing applicationTikTok.Social media giant TikTok has completed the first of two datacentre builds it has under developmentin Ireland.Data protection regulators warn social media companies to take all necessary measures to protect childrens privacyafter fining TikTok over 300m.