Chris Kerr, News EditorJanuary 15, 20251 Min ReadImage via Aonic / Mega FortunaAt a GlanceRichie Games currently has over 10 million monthly active users and has delivered 200 million downloads.Turkish mobile tech company Mega Fortuna has received a $10 million investment from Aonic. The deal includes an option for Aonic to acquire the entire share capital of Mega Fortuna for $70 million.Mega Fortuna was established two years ago and is billed as a mobile gaming discovery and loyally platform. Its flagship product, Richie Games, allows mobile players to earn real-world gift cards as they discover new games.Richie Games currently has over 10 million monthly active users and has delivered 200 million downloads. Mega Fortuna CEO eyhmus lker said the investment round will allow the company to scale its vision."This milestone is a testament to the exceptional talent, dedication, and innovation of the entire Mega Fortuna team," said lker in a press release. "In just two years, we've built Richie Games into a platform that is transforming how players engage with mobile gaming. None of this would have been possible without the incredible teamwork and passion of our people."Aonic has invested in Mega Fortuna around one month after it received 152 million in funding to support its studios and finance more acquisitions.The Swedish video game conglomerate noted that its mobile tech businesses performed "strongly" in 2024, helping the company deliver a consolidated revenue increase of 73 percent.Despite that upswing, Aonic sanctioned layoffs at VR studio nDreams and confirmed 17.5 percent of employees could be made redundant.The company said nDreams needed to adapt in a "challenging VR games market." Those redundancies were announced less than a year after Aonic purchased the UK studio for $110 million in what it described as a "landmark" deal.Read more about:M&AAbout the AuthorChris KerrNews Editor, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, andPocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.See more from Chris KerrDaily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inboxStay UpdatedYou May Also Like

Theres a general sense of doom on the TikTok feeds these days, and no wonder: it looks like the video service may be banned in the US as of January 19th. TikTok creators are offering satirical goodbyes to their Chinese spies and wondering how quickly they can download the several hundred or thousand videos they have up on the service.TikTok itself apparently doesnt like the idea of allowing its creators to bulk download their videos. You can download in TXT or JSON format a certain amount of your data, which, according to the support page, may include but is not limited to your username, watch video history, comment history, and privacy settings. When I tried it, it did not include my videos.You can also share individual videos the same way you can any file but if youve got a library of a couple of hundred or more TikTok videos, thats going to be quite a job. In that case, its a lot better to have a bulk download strategy.To find out how to do that, I went into TikTok and waded through a group of videos offering different methods for downloading your content. I tried several of the methods and found two that worked relatively painlessly: one is easier but not free and the other is a bit complex but completely free. (Both, incidentally, need to be done on a computer rather than a phone.)A caveat before I begin: not being an actual TikTok creator, I only had two published TikTok videos on my account, which I had made as an experiment some time ago. As a result, it didnt take much time for me to download them using either method. If youre a true TikTok creator, expect downloads and conversions to take some time.The easy way: use Repurpose.ioSeveral people recommended an app called Repurpose.io. This is not a free app it costs $35 a month or $349 a year. For a short time, Repurpose.io was offering free downloads from TikTok to Google Drive and Dropbox but had to withdraw the offer due to high demand. However, you still get to download 10 videos for free over 14 days, so you can try it out first.Repurpose.io lets you distribute your content on different platforms: you simply tell it where to upload the videos (besides TikTok, it will pull data from Instagram, YouTube, Zoom, and a number of other services) and where you want it to send them (besides Instagram and other services, you can save them to Dropbox, SoundCloud, Google Drive, and other apps). You can schedule regular transfers, repurpose only future content or all existing content, and even create clips (if, for example, you are sending YouTube videos to TikTok).The Repurpose.io app is not free but does make it easy to transfer your TikTok videos to another platform. Screenshot: Repurpose.ioWhen I tried it, Repurpose.io easily picked up my two TikTok videos and transferred them to my Google Drive in a couple of minutes. While it should take a lot longer if you have, say, several hundred videos, the interface keeps you up to date on which videos have been transferred and how many are left.The paid app allows you to transfer an unlimited number of published videos to up to five different accounts. It could make a lot of sense if you are a dedicated TikTok video creator and are thinking of moving your videos to another service.The interesting way: use the DevTools consoleIf you dont mind playing a little with code, theres a free way to do it as well. A consultant named Joanne Moxam has published a handy step-by-step YouTube video on how to use Chromes browser console to save all your links in one fell swoop, move the data to a spreadsheet, and then use an online tool to bulk download your videos.Below, Ive summarized the steps that Moxam suggests (which I successfully tried). She strongly recommends that you do this by using the Chrome browser.Go to your Profile page (by clicking on your personal icon in the top-right corner).Bring up the browser console by hitting the F12 key. (If youre on a Mac, you may need to use Fn-F12.) Youll see a window open on the right filled with code; if youre not used to that, dont let it bother you you wont have to deal too much with it. Just make sure that the menu at the very top (which will say Elements / Console / Sources) has Console underlined.At the bottom of the console, where there is a single >, paste in the following:let goToBottom = setInterval(() => window.scrollBy(0, 400), 1000);According to Moxam, this scrolls all your videos down to the bottom, making them part of a single window so they can be selected.At the bottom of the console (at right) is a space where you can paste your code. Screenshot: TikTokNote: you may see a warning not to paste code into the console that you dont understand; youll be asked to type allow pasting and hit Enter first. Go ahead; I used both of these codes without an issue.Now enter the second code, which will automatically select and download a CSV file of your links to all the videos in your profile to your computer. Its a bit long: heres a link to Moxams code. The resulting file will be called my_data.csv.Import the CSV file to a spreadsheet.Now you can use the links to do a bulk download of your videos. Moxam recommends a free online service called TOKdownload, which is what I used.Copy the links from the spreadsheet and paste them into the designated field. (Note: since I was only downloading a couple of videos, I had no problems; as Moxam suggests, if youre dealing with large numbers, you may want to download in batches of 50 or so in order to not overwhelm the app.)Click the Download button.The online TOKdownload app can download your videos in MP4 format. Screenshot: TOKdownloadThe app will download and process the links both as the videos and covers. It could take a while.Once its done, youll get buttons to Download All Videos and Download All Covers. Click on the former, and you will get a zip file containing MP4 files of your videos.If youre still unsure of yourself, you can go through Moxams video shes slow and careful in her instructions. And make sure to also check her associated webpage for any updates.Backups are always a good ideaThere are a number of mobile apps available as well that will let you download and save your TikTok videos. If you dont have access to a computer and must use your phone, you may find them useful, but I tried a couple and found them awkward to use, usually limited to one video at a time, and (unless you were willing to pay) ad-heavy.However you do it and even if there should be some kind of last-minute reprieve for TikTok it is always a good idea to back up your online videos, especially if they are either personally significant to you or represent creative work that you will want to hold on to and look back on in the years to come.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 was a smash hit for developer Saber Interactive and publisher Focus Entertainment, selling 4.5 million copies in just over a month. Indeed, Space Marine 2 has done so well it changes everything for Saber Interactive, Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN soon after the game came out.But via new financial results we now know just how much money it has made for Games Workshop, the British company behind the tabletop hobby upon which Space Marine 2 is based. Reporting results for the first half of its financial year ending December 1, 2024, Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree hailed the success of Space Marine 2, which contributed significant royalty revenue to the business.In fact, licensing revenue from royalty income increased in the period by a whopping 18 million (approx. $21.9 million) to 30.1 million (approx. $36.7 million). Earned income, which is the key figure here, was 26.1 million (approx. $31.8 million), up from 5.9 million (approx. $7.2 million), an increase Games Workshop said was mainly from Space Marine 2. 98% of Games Workshops total licensing revenue came from PC and console games (Space Marine 2 launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S).A win all round, then. As you'd expect, Games Workshop is on the hunt for the next blockbuster Warhammer video game, but Rountree also expressed a degree of caution on potential future video game success, admitting hits like Space Marine 2 are few and far between.Heres the statement:During the period, our licensing partners launched two new video games; Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, a third person shooter for PC and console and Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, a combat racing game. Established games continue to contribute, alongside royalty income earned following the success of Space Marine 2. We recognise that successes like these for Warhammer are not a given in the world of video games. Clearly we are looking for the next one. We remain cautious when forecasting royalty income.So, where could this big Warhammer video game hit come from? It seems inevitable that Saber Interactive will get the chance to continue the Space Marine story with Space Marine 3, and indeed has said it has ideas for a third game.In the shorter term, Bulwark Studios turn-based tactics game Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus II looks set to scratch a very different itch. There are also rumblings that Creative Assembly is finally giving Warhammer 40,000 the Total War treatment, something fans have hoped for for years.As for Space Marine 2, Saber continues to update the game with cosmetics, new Operations, and new weapons. Season 3 is set for launch this spring.IGN's Twenty Questions - Guess the game!IGN's Twenty Questions - Guess the game!To start:...try asking a question that can be answered with a "Yes" or "No".000/250Wesley 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.

TikTok was set to be banned from the US within a matter of days, but Congress may be about to grant it an extension of 270 days.In related news, Chinese officials have denied a Bloomberg report that Bytedance is considering selling its US operations to X owner Elon Musk The story so farThe saga began back in 2020, when then-president Trump announced that he would ban TikTok from the US unless the app was sold to a US companyby September of that year. The deadlinewas twice extendedbefore it was quietly allowedto lapse with no action.However,Congress picked things upin 2023, with a new law intended to either banTikTokfrom the US, or to force the sale of the app to an American-owned company.Bytedancetook the US government to court, arguing that the threatened ban would be unconstitutional, interfering with a First Amendment right to free speech.That case was heard last month, with thejudges unanimously rejectingthe constitutional argument. The last hope was a bid for a Supreme Court injunction, but that now looks unlikely to be granted.TikTok may get a 270-day extensionA senator is now trying to pass a new law to give the company more time to reach a deal to sell to a US company.Senator Edward J. Markey announced his plan to introduce legislation, the Extend the TikTok Deadline Act, to delay the deadline by which ByteDance must sell TikTok or face a ban by an additional 270 days.He said theres too much at stake to allow the ban to be implemented on Sunday.As the January 19th deadline approaches, 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.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.Its not yet known whether Markey has sufficient support for the bill to pass.Chinese officials deny Elon Musk reportBloomberg yesterday reported that the Chinese government is considering an offer from Elon Musk.Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involvesElon Muskacquiring the US operations ofTikTokif the company fails to fend off a controversial ban on the short-video app, according to people familiar with the matter []Senior Chinese officials had already begun to debate contingency plans for TikTok as part of an expansive discussion on how to work withDonald Trumps administration, one of which involves Musk.However, The Independent reports that this has been denied.In response to the reports, a TikTok spokesperson said: We cant be expected to comment on pure fiction.Photo byVisualsonUnsplashAdd 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 15, 2025Ravie LakshmananBlockchain / CryptocurrencyCybersecurity researchers have identified infrastructure links between the North Korean threat actors behind the fraudulent IT worker schemes and a 2016 crowdfunding scam.The new evidence suggests that Pyongyang-based threamoret groups may have pulled off illicit money-making scams that predate the use of IT workers, SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) said in a report shared with The Hacker News.The IT worker fraud scheme, which came to light in late 2023, involves North Korean actors infiltrating companies in the West and other parts of the world by surreptitiously seeking employment under fake identities to generate revenue for the sanctions-hit nation. It's also tracked under the names Famous Chollima, Nickel Tapestry, UNC5267, and Wagemole.The IT personnel, per South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), have been assessed to be part of the 313th General Bureau, an organization under the Munitions Industry Department of the Workers' Party of Korea.Another notable aspect of these operations is that the IT workers are routinely dispatched to China and Russia to work for front companies such as Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silver Star, both of which were previously subjected to sanctioned by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in September 2018.Both entities have been accused of engaging in and facilitating the exportation of workers from North Korea with the goal of generating revenue for the Hermit Kingdom or the Workers' Party of Korea and obfuscating the workers' true nationality from clients.Sanctions were also imposed against Yanbian Silverstar's North Korean CEO Jong Song Hwa for his role in controlling the "flow of earnings for several teams of developers in China and Russia." In October 2023, the U.S. government announced the seizure of 17 internet domains that impersonated U.S.-based IT services companies so as to defraud businesses in the country and abroad by allowing North Korean IT workers to conceal their true identities and locations when applying online to do freelance work.Among the domains that were confiscated included a website named "silverstarchina[.]com." Secureworks's analysis of historical WHOIS records has revealed that the registrant's street address matches the reported location of Yanbian Silverstar offices located in the Yanbian prefecture and that the same registrant email and street address were used to register other domain names.One of those domains in question is kratosmemory[.]com, which has been previously used in connection with a 2016 IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign that was later found to be a scam after the backers neither received a product nor a refund from the seller. The campaign had 193 backers and raised funds to the tune of $21,877."The people who donated to this campaign have not gotten anything that was promised to them," one of the comments on the crowdfunding page claims. "They have not received any updates as well. This was a complete scam."The cybersecurity company also noted that the WHOIS registrant information for kratosmemory[.]com was updated around mid-2016 to reflect a different persona named Dan Moulding, which matches the IndieGoGo user profile for the Kratos scam."This 2016 campaign was a low-effort, small monetary-return endeavor compared to the more elaborate North Korean IT worker schemes active as of this publication," Secureworks said. "However, it showcases an earlier example of North Korean threat actors experimenting with various money-making schemes."The development comes as Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. issued a joint warning to the blockchain technology industry regarding the persistent targeting of various entities in the sector by Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) cyber actors to conduct cryptocurrency heists."The advanced persistent threat groups affiliated with the DPRK, including the Lazarus Group, [...] continue to demonstrate a pattern of malicious behavior in cyberspace by conducting numerous cybercrime campaigns to steal cryptocurrency and targeting exchanges, digital asset custodians, and individual users," the governments said.Some of the companies targeted in 2024 included DMM Bitcoin, Upbit, Rain Management, WazirX, and Radiant Capital, leading to the theft of more than $659 million in cryptocurrency. The announcement marks the first official confirmation that North Korea was behind the hack of WazirX, India's largest cryptocurrency exchange."This is a critical moment. We urge swift international action and support to recover the stolen assets," WazirX founder Nischal Shetty posted on X. "Rest assured, we will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of justice."Last month, blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis also revealed that threat actors affiliated with North Korea have stolen $1.34 billion across 47 cryptocurrency hacks in 2024, up from $660.50 million across 20 incidents in 2023.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

You hear this mantra in cybersecurity over and over again: Its not if, its when. Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and all manner of incidents abound, it seems like disaster lurks around every corner. The prevalence of these incidents has shifted the CISOs emphasis from prevention to resilience. Yes, even the most prepared enterprises can still get hit. What matters is how they bounce back.Todays CISO role has disaster recovery baked into the job description. How can they cultivate that skillset and use it to guide their organizations through the fallout of a major cybersecurity incident?Defining Critical Disaster Recovery SkillsDisaster recovery has become an essential part of the CISO role. In cybersecurity, we live in the world of incidents, whether it's someone clicking on a phish or someone plugging in a USB drive, or someone who's conducted fraud against your company, Ross Young, CISO in residence atventure capital fund Team8, tells InformationWeek.Incident response and disaster recovery go hand in hand. Some of the best CISOs are some of the best understanders of disaster recovery efforts and apply those in their own security response plans, says Matt Hillary, CISO at compliance automation platform Drata.Effective disaster recovery requires both technical skills and human skills.Related:On the technical side, CISOs must understand how each part of the technology stack is used in their organizations and how that technology impacts the CIA triad: confidentiality, integrity, and availability.A lot of that technical work is going to be driven down to the engineering level. Ideally, the CISO will have done the right work to bring in the right talent and drive the technical remediation, says Marshall Erwin, CISO at Fastly, a cloud computing services company.CISOs also need to be able to put themselves in the mindset of attackers to understand their goals and what they could be doing once inside the network. You can say, Team, here's where we need to be looking, here's where we need to point our lens and our forensic skills to identify what an attacker did to be able to make sure that we kicked them out and have cleaned up our internal network, says Erwin.But human skills are equally important. CISOs need to be able to communicate effectively across multiple teams and with C-suite peers to lead an effective response.What you feel you need to do from a security investigative perspective might be the opposite from [what] business resilience folks want to take, says Mandy Andress, CISO at Elastic, an AI search company. How do you navigate, communicate, and find the compromises.Related:A lot of that work is best done in advance of an actual incident. CISOs can add their voice to disaster recovery plans to ensure the security perspective is in place before an attacker gets inside.In the heat of a cybersecurity disaster, CISOs also have a responsibility to their team. They need skills to get them through the incident response process.It seems like every incident I've ever seen, it always happens on a Saturday when everybody's at their kids baseball game or something else. It's the most inconvenient time possible. How do you keep the positive moral? says Young.Remaining calm and decisive in the midst of a stressful situation that can last days, weeks, or even months is necessary and not without its challenges. I think there is a lot of bravado sometimes in the security community, says Hillary. I don't know if it's a mask or if it's something else that leads us to not being as human as we need to be. And so just to continue to be humble, teachable, and learn throughout that incident.Cultivating Disaster Recovery SkillsWhile people may have different career paths that lead them to the CISO role, theyve most likely worked through cybersecurity incidents along the way.Related:Incidents are frequent enough that you're going to have that experience at some point in your career and develop that expertise organically, says Erwin.While trial by fire is an excellent teacher, there are other ways that CISOs can shore up their disaster response and recovery toolboxes. Industry conferences, for example, can offer valuable training.When I was the CISO of Caterpillar Financial, I went to FS-ISAC [Financial Services-Information Sharing and Analysis Center], and they had a CISO conference where they did tabletop exercises simulating an insider threat, Young shares.CISOs can lead their own tabletop exercises at their enterprises to better understand the holes in their incident response plans and areas where they need to strengthen their own skills.Other leaders within an organization can be valuable resources for CISOs looking to cultivate these skills. One of my closest peers that I usually go to is someone who's over on the infrastructure team, says Hillary. Any kind of disaster impact or availability incident that they experience on their end, they have a plan for, they have a really good, well-exercised muscle within the organization to recover.CISOs can also look outside of their organizations for ways to sharpen their skills. Hillary shares that he always looks at other breaches and outages. I usually ask myself two questions. How do I know that this same vector isn't being used against my company right now? How do I know this same incident that this other company is experiencing can't happen to us? he says. So, it helps drive a lot of preventative measures.Navigating DisasterIn a world of third-party risk, human error, and motivated threat actors, even the best prepared CISOs cannot always shield their enterprises from all cybersecurity incidents. When disaster strikes, how can they put their skills to work?It is an opportunity for the CISO to step in and lead, says Erwin. That's the most critical thing a CISO is going to do in those incidents, and if the CISO isn't capable doing that or doesn't show up and shape the response, well, that's an indication of a problem.CISOs, naturally, want to guide their enterprises through a cybersecurity incident. But disaster recovery skills also apply to their own careers.I don't see a world where CISOs don't get some blame when an incident happens, says Young.There is plenty of concern over personal liability in this role. CISOs must consider the possibility of being replaced in the wake of an incident and potentially being held personally responsible.Do you have parachute packages like CEOs do in their corporate agreements for employability when they're hired? Young asks. I also see this big push of not only CISOs on the D&O insurance, but they're also starting to acquire private liability insurance for themselves directly.Andress shares that she is seeing CISOs be replaced less often. More often it's a recognition of underinvestment. And so, what I see more of is an increasing investment in the security program after an event or incident occurs, she says.After each incident, CISOs have the opportunity to learn about the strengths and weaknesses in the enterprises security and incident response plan, as well as in their own skillsets.For Andress, one of the biggest lessons has been to focus on the people involved in incident response. Everyone's looking at the technology. Everyone's looking at communication plans, but there're people working a lot of hours. How do we make sure that they're taking breaks? Getting rest. Getting fed, she says. If you want to have a strong and successful response making sure that you're focusing on not just the technology and the process aspects but really focusing on the people as well.

Here at ScreenCrush, were psyched for the return ofSeverance, the twisty streaming series about the lives of the employees at a mysterious company named Lumon Industries that uses a procedure called severance to wipeworkers memories when theyre on the clock, separating them from their consciousness and memories when theyre not at the office. Since it debuted on Apple TV+ in 2022, weve been patiently waiting for the return of the show for Season 2 and now its finally here.But maybe you didnt watch Season 1 when it premiered. Maybe youve heard all the talk about the show or you just got Apple TV+ and you want to dive in with Season 2. Or hey, maybe youve watched a lotof TV since 2022 (who hasnt?) and you just want to refresh your memory before the new premiere. Then you are the target audience for our latest video.In it, we recap all nine episodes of Season 1 ofSeverancein just 13 minutes. Well get you up to speed on Mark, Dylan, and the rest of the Lumon staff, the shows ongoing mysteries, and what to expect in Season 2.Watch our fullSeveranceSeason 1 recap below:READ MORE: 10 Squid Game Details You Might Have MissedIf you liked that video about Season 1 of Severance and what to expect from Season 2, check out more of our videos below, including including our full recap ofSquid GameSeason 1 ahead of Season 2,our review of NetflixsAvatar: The Last Airbender show, and our breakdown of what the ending ofLost really meant.Plus, theres tons more over atScreenCrushs YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe to catch all our future episodes.Severance Season 2 is set to premiere on Apple TV+ on January 17.Get our free mobile appThe 10 Biggest Unanswered 'Squid Game' Questions

Role Overview:As the Media Partnerships Coordinator at PR Volt, you will be pivotal in driving value for our clients by identifying and cultivating relationships with key media outlets and publishing partners. Your ability to uncover new opportunities and strategically align partnerships will contribute significantly to client success and the overall growth of the company.Key Responsibilities:Identify, research, and secure media partnership opportunities that align with client goals and enhance PR Volt's offeringsBuild and nurture strong relationships with media outlets, journalists, and other stakeholdersDevelop and maintain a database of potential and existing partnerships, ensuring all information is organized and up-to-dateAnalyze and evaluate partnership opportunities to prioritize those that offer the highest value for our clientsCollaborate with internal teams to ensure partnerships are leveraged effectively.Monitor industry trends and identify emerging opportunities to keep PR Volt ahead of the curveRequirements:To excel in this role, you should bring:At least 2 years of experience in PR, Communications, Media Relations, or a related fieldStrong research, interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with an ability to establish rapport with media stakeholdersA strategic mindset and the ability to evaluate opportunities based on client and company objectivesExcellent organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines asynchronously in a fast-paced environmentTech-savvy with experience using tools such as Airtable, Google Sheets, and AsanaSelf-starter mentality with a proactive approach to uncovering and securing new opportunitiesAvailability to overlap with morning US Eastern Time zone work hoursPreferred Qualifications:Knowledge of the PR, marketing, or media industry is a strong plusExperience in Content Writing would be a great advantage but not requiredExperience working in a media partnerships or business development role is preferred but not requiredBenefits:Fully remote position, offering the flexibility to work from anywhere in the worldIndependent contractor role with hours ranging from 20 to 40 hours per weekCompetitive pay based on deliverablesAn opportunity to make a meaningful impact at a fast-growing, innovative company

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. China wants to restore the sea with high-tech marine ranches A short ferry ride from the port city of Yantai, on the northeast coast of China, sits Genghai No. 1, a 12,000-metric-ton ring of oil-rig-style steel platforms, advertised as a hotel and entertainment complex. Genghai is in fact an unusual tourist destination, one that breeds 200,000 high-quality marine fish each year. The vast majority are released into the ocean as part of a process known as marine ranching.The Chinese government sees this work as an urgent and necessary response to the bleak reality that fisheries are collapsing both in China and worldwide. But just how much of a difference can it make? Read the full story.Matthew Ponsford This story is from the latest print edition of MIT Technology Reviewits all about the exciting breakthroughs happening in the world right now. If you dont already, subscribe to receive future copies. Fast-learning robots: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2025 Generative AI is causing a paradigm shift in how robots are trained. Its now clear how we might finally build the sort of truly capable robots that have for decades remained the stuff of science fiction. A few years ago, roboticists began marveling at the progress being made in large language models. Makers of those models could feed them massive amounts of textbooks, poems, manualsand then fine-tune them to generate text based on prompts. Its one thing to use AI to create sentences on a screen, but another thing entirely to use it to coach a physical robot in how to move about and do useful things. Now, roboticists have made major breakthroughs in that pursuit. Read the full story. James O'Donnell Fast-learning robots is one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies for 2025, MIT Technology Reviews annual list of tech to watch. Check out the rest of the list, and cast your vote for the honorary 11th breakthrough. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 US regulators are suing Elon Musk| For allegedly violating securities law when he bought Twitter in 2022. (NYT $)+ The case claims that Musk continued to buy shares at artificially low prices. (FT $)+ Musk is unlikely to take it lying down. (Politico)2 SpaceX has launched two private missions to the moon Falling debris from the rockets has forced Qantas to delay flights. (The Guardian)+ The airline has asked for more precise warnings around future launches. (Semafor)+ Space startups are on course for a funding windfall. (Reuters)+ Whats next for NASAs giant moon rocket? (MIT Technology Review)3 Home security cameras are capturing homes burning down in LA Residents have remotely tuned into live footage of their own homes burning. (WP $)+ Californias water scarcity is only going to get worse. (Vox)+ How Los Angeles can rebuild in the wake of the devastation. (The Atlantic $) 4 ChatGPT is about to get much more personal Including reminding you about walking the dog. (Bloomberg $)5 Inside the $30 million campaign to liberate social media from billionaires Free Our Feeds wants to restructure platforms around open-source tech. (Insider $)6 How to avoid getting sick right now The Atlantic $) + But coughs and sneezes could be the least of our problems. (The Guardian)7 The US and China are still collaborating on AI researchDespite rising tensions between the countries. (Rest of World) 8 These startups think they have the solution to lonelinessMaking friends isnt always easy, but these companies have some ideas. (NY Mag $) 9 Here are just some of the ways the universe could end Dont say I didnt warn you. (Ars Technica)+ But at least Earth is probably safe from a killer asteroid for 1,000 years. (MIT Technology Review)10 AI is inventing impossible languages They could help us learn more about how humans learn. (Quanta Magazine)+ These impossible instruments could change the future of music. (MIT Technology Review) Quote of the day If you can get away with it when its front-page news, why bother to comply at all? Marc Fagel, a former director of the SECs San Francisco office, suggests the agencys decision to sue Elon Musk is intended as a deterrent to others, the Wall Street Journal reports. The big story I took an international trip with my frozen eggs to learn about the fertility industry September 2022Anna Louie Sussman Like me, my eggs were flying economy class. They were ensconced in a cryogenic storage flask packed into a metal suitcase next to Paolo, the courier overseeing their passage from a fertility clinic in Bologna, Italy, to the clinic in Madrid, Spain, where I would be undergoing in vitro fertilization.The shipping of gametes and embryos around the world is a growing part of a booming global fertility sector. As people have children later in life, the need for fertility treatment increases each year.After paying for storage costs for six and four years, respectively, at 40 I was ready to try to get pregnant. Transporting the Bolognese batch served to literally put all my eggs in one basket. Read the full story.We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + We need to save the worlds largest sea star!+ Maybe our little corner of the universe is more special than weve been led to believe after all.+ How the worlds leading anti-anxiety coach overcame her own anxiety.+ Heres how to keep your eyes on the prize in 2025and beyond!

Holt Town project aims to deliver 20% genuinely affordable housingCGI showing how the scheme would look when builtStudio Egret Wests plans for 4,500 homes in Manchester have been recommended for approval ahead of a council meeting next week.The Holt Town regeneration will repurpose 74 acres of brownfield land within the city to deliver homes of all tenures, 20% of which will be genuinely affordable, including social rent properties.As well as low rise town houses and some taller residential buildings, Holt Town aims to provide a mixed-use area with 30,000 sq ft of commercial space and up to 50 new bars, shops and restaurants, 15 acres of green space, public and pedestrian amenities, a cultural hub and lido.The neighbourhood development framework (NDF) was produced by a team led by architect Studio Egret West, which won a competition to head the scheme in March 2024, and included planner Deloitte, digital engagement specialist Deetu, social value expert Hatch, transport engineer Hilson Moran, digital placemaking consultant MVRDV, and economic analyst Turley.Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said: Holt Town has huge potential and this is feeding our ambition to create a brand new woodland town the first of its kind in Manchester.This neigbourhood will represent a people first focus around active travel, green spaces, new play spaces for young people and a digital first approach that will better connect the community with local services.Following consultation, we are beginning to move to the early delivery phase for Holt Town a new town within the city of Manchester that will finally bridge the gap between the city centre, Sportcity and the Etihad Campus in east Manchester.In its consultation website, Manchester City Council said the carbon neutral scheme would bring 230m gross value added (GVA) to the Greater Manchester area anddescribed it a Wood Town, referring to its focus on sustainability and green spaces.It reported that positive feedback was received from its August to September 2024 public consultation.