People have been keeping personal diaries for several millenniums, but free smartphone apps now let you capture much more than words.

MacworldAt a glanceExpert's RatingProsHigh capacity15W Qi2 wireless charging padInformative displayConsHigh priceOur Verdict The pillar design of the Nexode Qi2 Power Bank has its advantages, especially when using the Qi2 charging slot. The performance is faultless and the informative display is equally impressive.Price When ReviewedThis value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefinedBest Pricing TodayPrice When Reviewed125,99 EuroThe pillar design of the Ugreen Nexode Qi2 Power Bank is reminiscent of a skyscraperalbeit a squat one. It offers an impressive 20000mAh battery capacity in a small footprint. And just like a skyscraper, it has something on top: a 65-degree tilting Qi2 wireless charging station provides additional convenience and flexibility when charging.A striking feature is the large display, as we have seen in other Nexode power banks. The screen provides informative information about the connected interface and the charging power. However, this only applies to the three interfaces and not to the Qi2 charging port.Thomas Bergbold There is also a large percentage display and the estimated duration of how long the power bank can deliver energy at that power, or how long it will take until the Nexode power bank is charged. Incidentally, this took around 1.5 hours in our test.Thomas Bergbold Speaking of power, the Nexode Power Bank can deliver a maximum of 145W. In detail, this is a maximum of 15W at the Qi2 charging station, 100W at the first USB-C port, 45W at the second USB-C and 22.5W at the USB-A. The Nexode Power Bank can be charged itself via USB-C1 with 65W and USB-C2 with 45W.Four devices can be charged simultaneously. As expected, the charging time is faultless. An iPhone 15 is charged by 50% within 30 minutes on the USB-C and 32% on the Qi2 charging port. The 11-inch iPad Pro also charges at 36% and the MacBook Air M3 at 36%. You can also use the power bank as a desktop charging station when you connect a high-powered USB-C wall charger to the USB-C port on the back of the power bank.Thomas Bergbold What you rarely hear from manufacturers is the life expectancy of the battery. Ugreen specifies 1,000 charging cycles, after which the battery will still have 80% of its original capacity. The cells used are of type 21700, so theoretically a repair should be possible.To prevent damage to the battery and the connected devices, Ugreen has installed appropriate protective circuitsfor example, for temperature, voltage and current. Another interesting feature is protection against deep discharge, which is something you rarely find. And while were on the subject of protection, proper rubber feet not only provide good protection for furniture, but also ensure a secure stand.See how it compares to the best MacBook Powerbanks weve tested.PriceThe Ugreen Nexode Qi2 20000mAh Power Bank 140W costs $179.99 / 179.99. The price is high but is explained by the useful Qi2 charging slot. If you dont need this, you are better off with the otherwise comparable Nexode 130 watt power bank that we reviewed previously.Thomas Bergbold Should you buy the Ugreen Nexode Qi2 Power Bank?If your MacBook urgently needs power, but the socket is far away, the Ugreen Nexode Power Bank comes into its own.The upright design is ideal for a standing desk. And at the same time, the iPhone is also supplied with power via the Qi2 charging slot. Its practical that you can tilt the Qi2 charging station to see the display. With a full capacity of 20000mAh and a maximum output of 145W, the Nexode Qi2 145W Power Bank wont run out of steam any time soon.

Generative AI (genAI) is seemingly everywhere these days and Windows is certainly no exception.The OS itself now has Copilot on its taskbar, and new PCs ship with a dedicated Copilot AI key on their keyboards. Microsoft is adding more and more genAI features as time goes by and its increasingly hard to search the web without getting a genAI answer from Google and other search engines.Ive heard from people who love the technology, and Ive heard from people who cant stand it. Me, Im right here in the middle: I keep experimenting with it, but articles like this one are 100% written by a real-life human. Personally, I want to see genAI features when I choose certainly not all the time, everywhere on my computer.Plain and simple, you might occasionally use genAI tools to get work done, but that doesnt necessarily mean you want to be bombarded with it everywhere. Thats what these tips are all about: easy ways to eliminate the AI elements integrated throughout Windows and Chrome or whatever other web browser youre using. Its your computer, your workday, and your online experience.Time to take back control.Want more Windows PC tips? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter. Plus, get free Windows Field Guide downloads as a bonus when you sign up!The Windows AI asteriskFirst, a quick bit of pertinent perspective: Despite all the hype, most Windows AI features arent actually doing anything in the background. They usually dont do anything at all, in fact, until you click a button to summon them.For example, the Microsoft Paint app has a built-in AI image generator tool. It does nothing whatsoever unless you open Paint and click the Image Creator button on the toolbar. Then, it will generate an image for you.If you dont want to use that image feature, just dont click that button. If you dont want to see the button, dont launch Microsoft Paint. Most genAI features in Windows are exactly like that so far.But there are some AI features that are getting awfully insistent. So lets get out the proverbial weedwhacker and trim them back.Windows AI elimination step #1: Start with GoogleMost genAI features lay low unless you go looking for them; Googles AI answers are an in-your-face exception. Youll often get answers written by Googles Gemini AI just when searching Google, whether you want them or not.There are many ways to avoid AI answers on Google. Heres a quick list:After searching for something on Google, click the Web category. Youll only see web links.Add the text -ai to any search to hide AI answers.Install the simple Hide Google AI Overviews Chrome extension to hide AI answers. This extension should work on other Chromium-based browsers like Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi. Its available for Firefox, too.You can also create a custom search engine in Chrome to default to Google web searches. Heres a guide to getting rid of Gemini with a custom search engine in Chrome on both computers running Google Chrome and Android phones.Windows AI elimination step #2: Hide CopilotMicrosofts Copilot AI chatbot app now comes pinned to the taskbar by default in both Windows 10 and Windows 11. Its just one click away.If you dont want it down there, getting rid of it is easy and the latest version of Copilot makes it even easier: Just right-click the Copilot taskbar icon and select Unpin from taskbar. Thats it.Copilot doesnt actually do anything until you open it and ask it a question, so it wont do anything on your PC as long as you leave it closed. You can also opt to completely uninstall it, though, if you like: Just open the Start menu, search for Copilot, then right-click the Copilot shortcut and select Uninstall.You can now unpin Copilot like any other app with just a right-click.Chris Hoffman, IDGWindows AI elimination step #3: Reclaim the Copilot keyAll on-screen implementations aside, many new laptops now come with an actual physical Copilot key on their keyboards. That key will launch Microsofts AI chatbot and its easy to accidentally tap. But you can stop it.To do so, open the Settings app on your Windows 11 PC, select Personalization, and then choose Text input. Scroll down to the Customize Copilot key on keyboard option. You can set it to Search to use it as a search key instead, similar to whats present on Chromebooks.(You can also make it launch a different app like the ChatGPT app, for example if youd prefer.)Windows lets you transform a Copilot key into a Search key in a few clicks.Chris Hoffman, IDGWindows AI elimination step #4: Tackle the toolbarIf you prefer using Microsofts web browser, youll notice it has a big Copilot AI chatbot icon right on its toolbar. You can get rid of that, too.To remove Copilot from Edges toolbar:Click the menu button at the top-right corner of the Edge browser window and select Settings.Click Copilot and sidebar in the left pane.Click the Copilot app under App and notification settings.Turn off the Show Copilot option.You can use Edge without the Copilot icon on your browsers toolbar.Chris Hoffman, IDGWindows AI elimination step #5. Total Recall removalWhile Ive mentioned that most AI features on Windows dont do anything unless you launch them, the one exception is the Windows Recall feature which runs in the background and saves snapshots of your PCs screen so you can search your PC usage later. Bear in mind, this is only on new Copilot+ PCs, and its disabled by default. Also: Your Recall data is never sent to Microsoft its processed entirely on your PC.At the moment (in January 2025), Recall is only available in Insider versions of Windows 11. Of course, it will almost certainly come to all Copilot+ PCs at some point this year.You can check whether the Recall feature is active on Windows 11 by opening the Settings app, selecting Privacy & security, and clicking Recall & snapshots under Windows permissions. From here, you can turn off Save snapshots if you dont want the AI-powered Recall feature capturing snapshots in the background.Dont see anything about Recall & snapshots in the Settings app? That means your Windows PC doesnt have Recall. Most Windows PCs dont!Recall only runs in the background if you choose to enable it.Chris Hoffman, IDGChoose your own AI adventureRemember: AI doesnt have to be all or nothing. You might prefer a traditional Google search experience and a Copilot-free Windows desktop, but you might still launch the ChatGPT app now and then or use whatever AI tools your workplace provides.The choice is yours and now, you know exactly how to make it happen.Lets stay in touch! Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter. Youll get three new things to try every Friday. Plus, Ill send you free in-depth Windows Field Guides as a special welcome bonus.

This is todays edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of whats going on in the world of technology.China wants to restore the sea with high-tech marine ranchesA 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 PonsfordThis 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 2025Generative 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 ODonnellFast-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-readsIve 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 moonFalling 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 LAResidents 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 personalIncluding reminding you about walking the dog. (Bloomberg $)5 Inside the $30 million campaign to liberate social media from billionairesFree Our Feeds wants to restructure platforms around open-source tech. (Insider $)6 How to avoid getting sick right now You probably already own one of the best defenses. (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 endDont 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 languagesThey 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 dayIf 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 storyI took an international trip with my frozen eggs to learn about the fertility industry September 2022Anna Louie SussmanLike 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 thingsA 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!

After four years of planning, TSMC is now finally going to make older iPhone processors in the US, but it's not and never will be a true return to American manufacturing.TSMC's Arizona facility will soon begin shipping A16 processors for AppleIt was back in 2020 when pressure over taxes made firms look again at manufacturing in the US, and TSMC announced it would build a processor plant in Arizona. By 2022, that expanded to plans for a second plant and Tim Cook pledged that Apple would use processors made in Arizona.Now after reportedly starting its first production run in September 2024, TSMC USA is about to reach a key milestone. According to Nikkei Asia, Apple is now in the process of officially certifying and verifying the processors. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

As we kick off the Get Lectured Spring 2025 academic term, its time to choose the best Fall '24 architecture school lecture poster! Revisit the top designs from our series and vote for your favorite graphic creation below.In our last reader poll for Spring '24, the East Los Angeles College Architecture Department poster won first prize, followed by the Pratt Institute School of Architecture poster in second place and Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture's design coming in third.Check out the 18 posters we've featured throughout the Fall '24 term.Voting closes on Tuesday, January 28, at noon Pacific Time. The lecture posters with the most votes will be announced on Wednesday, January 29. Have fun and spread the word!Want to share your school's latest lecture series and be included in the current Spring 2025 series? Send us your poster design and event details.Loading

The 13th A+Awards invites firms to submit a range of timely new categories, emphasizing architecture that balances local innovation with global vision. Your projects deserve the spotlight, so start your submission today!It is no secret that architectural design involves countless iterations of turning conceptual ideas into visual representations. These, in turn, eventually reach a point where they can be considered as works of art and architecture themselves. Countless architectural drawings and models have been exhibited in museums across the world, entire books have been created that showcase even the most abstract sketches and finally, renders are nowadays the bread and butter of architects in practice. this years A+Awards recognizes the significance of models and renders on par with architectural design itself, through the Architecture + Models & Rendering category, which celebrates the detailed craftsmanship and communicative power of architectural representation.Start SubmissionStill, the making of physical models has somewhat become extinct. Now, that the world is becoming increasingly digital, physical models are replaced with virtual walkthroughs, animations and even interactive design environments. Contrary to creating digital imagery or even hand drawings, physical model-making requires a lot of time, materials, planning and patience and often begs the question, is it a craft worth preserving? Below are some examples of incredible models built and unbuilt projects, old and new, conceptual and technical all showcasing the artistry, precision and storytelling power of physical model-making, reminding us of its enduring value in architectural representation despite the digital shift.Model + Concept: Tatlins TowerJuanCamacho, Tatlin 2, CC BY 3.0Lets begin with quite an unconventional project: Tatlins Tower is one of the most famous unrealized projects of the 20th century, initially aimed to be made of spiraling pieces of iron, steel and glass and serve as a monument that would challenge the Eiffel Tower. Even though the Tower itself was never built, there have been many models throughout the years, exhibited in Stockholms Museum of Modern Art, Moscows Tretyakov Gallery and the Pompidou Centre, all showcasing the ambition of the design. In 2011, the Royal Academy built another 1:40 scale model for a the Re-Building Tatlins Tower exhibition. The most impressive aspect was the construction process itself, since model-makers had to interpret the only two sources that were available to them: Vladimir Tatlins test models and his notes.Model +Materiality: Grafting New Context for Urban FragmentsBy JWCFinalist, Architecture +Models and Rendering, 12th Annual A+AwardsThis project suggests a new context for a neglected and isolated urban fabric for the city of St. Louis. The design is comprised of a lightweight architectural canopy that expands outwards across the highway and the abandoned ground, hosting an array of programs. The physical model has been meticulously crafted, showcasing not only the complex geometry of the structure but also the immediate context fundamental in the projects inception. Additionally, the physical model vividly conveys the canopys fabric materiality, achieving a level of realism and tactile authenticity that digital modeling would struggle to replicate.Model +Landscape: Residence in SikaminoBy Tense Architecture Network, Sykamino, GreeceThe field is elongated, rural, planted with olive trees. The land is dominant. How could a residence rise out of the ground; how could it be confined to a roof? The residence is its roof. A sixty meters long one. While approaching the plot, it can be perceived as a slightly elevated strip of earthy crust in front of the distant mountains of Euboea. It can be walked on. The roof is born from and returns back to the ground/Apart from its complicated geometry, this residence is seamlessly integrated into the landscape. The Greek Island terrain has always posed a great challenge for architects, whose designs have to constantly consider the rugged grounds and steep slopes. The physical model for the Sikamino residence, made of plaster and cardboard, captures both the unpredictable nature of the local terrain and successfully materialises the interrelation between the ground and the roof.Model +Fabrication: South HeXi Yuzui Financial District Tower (Runmao Tower)By Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Nanjing, ChinaThis 1,640-square-foot-tall tower will anchor a new financial district in Nanjing. Being part (and eventually the winner) of an international design competition, AS+GG put a lot of their effort into creating a physical model that would capture the projects ambition. The solid, polished aluminum, 1:500 scale model of Runmao Tower was engineered entirely in-house by Nick Berchtold. It was fabricated using both three and four axis CNC Machines, with 60 individual milled aluminum components being held together with 55 hidden screws and 48 hidden magnets.Model +Performance: Forest of JoyBy Studio Tip & CRAB Studio View this post on InstagramA post shared by @studiotip_Forest of Joy is a project that responds to the New London Awards open call for a Playable Structure that would be featured at Dulwich Picture Gallery. The design concept involved utilizing a re-use material pallet of industrial loose parts that were collected from all over London. The studios produced a series of child friendly models that were used in a free-play session and co-design workshop at the gallery, which eventually led to a design that encourages play, joy and fantasy. The model-making process was not treated as merely a representational development but rather as a performative process that explores and reiterates the playable sculpture sets.Model +Lighting: McMurty Building for the Department of Art & Art HistoryBy Diller Scofidio + Renfro View this post on InstagramA post shared by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (@diller_scofidio_renfro)This innovative new facility houses Stanfords Department of Art & Art History as well as the Art & Architecture Library and unites, within a 100,000-square-foot space, the making and studying of art under one roof. The model is made by an array of materials transparent and colored plexiglass, etched cardboard and thin wooden strips,evoking a sense of materiality and atmosphere. It is primarily a conceptual model that focuses on the composition of volumes as well as the way they operate with the immediate context.The 13th A+Awards invites firms to submit a range of timely new categories, emphasizing architecture that balances local innovation with global vision. Your projects deserve the spotlight, so start your submission today!Featured Image: South HeXi Yuzui Financial District Tower (Runmao Tower) by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Nanjing, ChinaThe post Architectural Role Models: 6 Times Architectural Models Outshine Constructed Buildings appeared first on Journal.

While indie developer Motion Blur has been relatively quiet about its upcoming title, Black Slate, since the games announcement back in July 2024, the studio has been showcasing the title at CES 2025, and you can check out below around 3 and a half minutes of gameplay footage.Going by the video, some of the influences of seminal games like Metal Gear Solid are evident, with quite a few of the titles designs seemingly coming right out of the pages of Yoji Shinkawas art book. The video also indicates that the games visual fidelity definitely a high priority oft he studio. There are lavishly-designed rooms with incredible levels of reflections all over the place.The video also gives us a brief look at what we can expect from Black Slate when it comes to gameplay. The game will be a third-person shooter where the player will make use of cover to take down enemies that range from regular soldiers to all-out demons with telekinetic powers.A variety of weapons are also shown off, from the humble assault rifle, to a strange gun that seems to shoot electricity.Black Slate will have players taking on the role of a military legend, according to the games original announcement, and will set out on a mission to uncover the truth about a cataclysmic event, and while theyre at it, also rescue a scientist that might be somehow linked to these events.Alongside Metal Gear Solid, the studio has previously also cited other games as inspiration, including The Last of Us and Uncharted, when it comes to how the games were developed, and how they influenced gameplay mechanics going forward.Black Slate is currently in development on PC, and doesnt yet have a release date. The game is being developed by making use of Unreal Engine 5.

Colossal BioSciences has raised $200 million in a new round of funding to bring back extinct species like the woolly mammoth.Read More

Sony donates $5m to support LA wildfire relief | News-in-briefDonation will go towards first responders, community relief, rebuilding efforts, and assistance programs News by Sophie McEvoy Staff Writer Published on Jan. 15, 2025 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Sony donates $5m to support LA wildfire relief