More good news for those looking to exit Metas social app ecosystem in favor of a more open alternative: An independent developer is building a photo-sharing app for Bluesky called Flashes. The soon-to-launch app is powered by the same technology that underpins Bluesky, the AT Protocol, and has been built using code from the developers earlier Bluesky client, Skeets.When launched, Flashes could tap into growing consumer demand for alternatives to Big Techs social media monopoly. This trend has led to the adoption of open source, decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky, among others, including the recently launched Pixelfed mobile apps, built on Mastodons ActivityPub protocol. Its also, in part, whats fueling TikTok users shift to the Chinese app RedNote ahead of the U.S. TikTok ban that is, U.S. users are signaling that they would rather use a foreign adversarys app than return to Meta at this point.ScreenshotImage Credits:Flashes/Sebastian VogelsangFlashes itself is based on Berlin developer Sebastian Vogelsangs earlier app, Skeets, his initial foray into creating consumer-facing apps for the growing social network, Bluesky, which now tops 27.5 million users.While Bluesky offers its own official mobile client, Skeets differentiated itself by focusing on the needs of iPad users as well as customized accessibility features for blind and low-vision users, as thats one of Vogelsangs areas of expertise. Late last year, Vogelsang also realized there was potential to build apps using this same codebase that would cater to Bluesky users more interested in visual content, like photos and videos. Because Bluesky already supports this type of media, it was only a matter of reconfiguring the Skeets app so its design and user interface would look more similar to other photo-sharing apps, like Metas Instagram. I thought about the idea of having one base social graph and then having just different apps pick from that graph whatever they want to display, Vogelsang told TechCrunch. I found it very intriguing, because before we had these separated networks. He says Flashes could help pull in new potential Bluesky users who have yet to join the social network because they never saw themselves as a Twitter person. This may give them an entry point into the network, into the whole protocol, Vogelsang said.However, the developer stresses that Flashes is not meant to be an Instagram clone, nor will it offer all the same features.At launch, Flashes will support photo posts of up to four images and videos of up to 1 minute in length, just like Bluesky. Users who post to Flashes will also have their posts appear on Bluesky and comments on those posts will also feed back into the app as if it were just another Bluesky client. It will also support Blueskys direct messages. To make this work, Flashes simply filters Blueskys existing timeline for posts with photos and video posts. (In the future, Vogelsang also plans to add metadata to Flashes posts so Bluesky users would have a way to keep their feeds on Blueskys main app from being flooded with photo posts if that became a problem.)Flashes didnt take too long to build because it was able to reuse Skeets existing code. The app will also be able to market to Skeets existing user base, who have now downloaded the app some 30,500 times to date.Vogelsang says hes now working to integrate subscription-based features from both his apps so users dont have to pay twice for the premium features, like Skeets bookmarks, drafts, muting, rich push notifications, and others specific to Flashes. (Both apps are free to use without a subscription, we should note.) Later, Vogelsang says he wants to launch a video-only app, too, called Blue Screen. The developer expects to be able to launch Flashes to the public in a matter of weeks with a TestFlight beta arriving ahead of that. Interested users can follow Flashes account on Bluesky for further updates.

After shedding its writers and directors back in 2023, the all-new Marvel Studios series starring Charlie Cox and Vincent DOnofrio reprising their roles as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, and Wilson Kingpin Fiskfinally hits the streamer March 4.

AwardsThe EE BAFTA Film Awards 2025: The Special Visual Effects NomineesBy Vincent Frei - 15/01/2025 The BAFTA nominations are here! A special shout-out to the incredible talent behind this years Special Visual Effects nominees. From jaw-dropping worlds to seamless artistry, these teams are redefining whats possible on screen!Dont miss the winners reveal during the BAFTA ceremony on February 16! Vincent Frei The Art of VFX 2025

Creative Dock Group (CDG) has acquired Berlin-based design company nFrontier GmbH.As a venture builder, CDG designs, builds, and scales products and services for corporations. It hopes integrating nFrontier will support its expansion into hardware production by accelerating time-to-market and shortening customer innovation cycles.According to the corporate venture firm, the acquisition has already caused some customer development cycles to fall from 30 to 4 months.nFrontier CEO Daniel Buening said the company is thrilled to be the newest member of the Creative Dock family. He believes the move will provide a launchpad for future growth and a strong home to fulfill our mission of designing, developing, building, launching and scaling hardware products from the ground up.Buening founded the innovation studio alongside Dr. Stephan Beyer and Pervin Adiyaman in 2020 to help companies develop and launch new products. A key goal is to increase the adoption of emerging technologies like industrial 3D printing.nFrontier has supported clients ranging from automotive manufacturers Motherson and BMW, to Railroad equipment manufacturer Vossloh, and leading aerospace company Airbus. CDG also boasts an extensive customer list, including leading sportswear brand Adidas, cybersecurity software provider Avast, and global tobacco company JTI.Our manufacturing & FMCG customers are looking for an iterative and agile approach to developing and commercializing physical products in order to compete in the global marketplace, added CDG Executive Chairman Martin Pejsa. He explained that while innovation acceleration has been seen in digital technology, we need to transfer this speed to hardware.Daniel Buening, CEO nFrontier. Photo via nFrontier.Creative Dock Group acquires nFrontierCDG hopes that incorporating CDGs expertise in hardware prototyping, iteration, and pre-production will enable it to accelerate physical product launches. It draws inspiration from the e-mobility, space, and aerospace technology sectors to drive impossible speed in product development.This new investment doubles the firms presence in the hardware space, having previously prioritized digital products. These offer faster go-to-market strategies and more rapid scalability.However, CDG believes the landscape is changing, as developments in CNC machining, robotics, and additive manufacturing unlock new opportunities for hardware companies. Such advancements facilitate flexible, faster, and more precise product development. CDG believes this technology allows companies to meet evolving market needs and increase productivity.nFrontier is no stranger to additive manufacturing technology. Its three co-founders previously held executive positions at BigRep, a Berlin-based large format 3D printer OEM. Beyer served as BigReps CEO, while Buening held the Chief Innovation Officer position and Adiyaman ran corporate administration.In 2021, leading 3D printing firm Stratasys became a founding partner of the industrial design specialists Emerging Technologies Center (EmTeCe) in Berlin. The agreement sought to develop EmTeCe into a leading technology innovation facility where hardware and software applications are developed for clients.Notably, Stratasys supplied a set of its FDM, PolyJet, and P3 Programmable Photopolymerization 3D printers. Artificial intelligence, extended reality, artificial intelligence, robotics, generative design, drones, and quantum computing technologies have also been integrated into the innovation hub.More recently, the 2023 IAA Mobility motor show in Berlin saw nFrontier showcase its PYLO airbag-equipped bicycle helmet and UILA electric vehicle (EV) concept. The safety-optimized helmet features a 3D printed nylon structure designed to absorb deep impacts to a higher level than conventional polystyrene alternatives. It also features what was said to be the worlds first face shield airbag designed for a bicycle helmet.UILA was introduced at Formnext 2022. 3D printing was used in the production phase of the small EV and cargo bike crossover. Additive manufacturing reportedly reduced costs and improved manufacturing sustainability. This included the use of Stratasys powder-based Selective Absorption Fusion (SAF) system and 3D printers from California-based Origin One.The UILA EV being unveiled at Formnext. Photo via nFrontier. 3D printing acquisitionsBusiness acquisitions continue to dominate the 3D printing headlines. Doubts loom over Nano Dimensions M&A activity. Last year, the Israeli micro-3D printing specialist agreed to acquire Desktop Metal for $183 million. A $115 million deal was also agreed for FDM 3D printer manufacturer MarkforgedYoav Stern, former Nano CEO, previously highlighted the long-term value creation and profitable growth these transactions would deliver. However, activist shareholder Murchinson Ltd. does not share these views, having called Nano Dimensions acquisition offers overpriced and misguided.In December 2024, Murchinson succeeded in removing Stern from the companys Board of Directors. Later that month, the ardent consolidation advocate was removed as Nano Dimension CEO. This has cast doubts over whether the company will finalize the acquisition agreements. As a result, Desktop Metal filed two lawsuits against Nano Dimension, alleging a failure to make reasonable best efforts to secure timely regulatory approval for the merger.Elsewhere, the European Commission (EC) recently approved US chip design software provider Synopsys Ansys acquisition. The US chip design software provider agreed to acquire the engineering simulation specialist last year. However, the EC has found that the $35 billion cash and stock agreement could stifle global competition in the optics, photonics, and register-transfer-level (RTL) power consumption analysis software markets. Therefore, both firms have agreed to sell overlapping business operations to EC-approved buyers, actions which would see EC approve the merger.Who won the 2024 3D Printing Industry Awards?All the news from Formnext 2024.Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to keep up with the latest 3D printing news.You can also follow us on X, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry Youtube channel to access more exclusive content.Featured image shows nFrontiers Emerging Technology Center team. Photo via nFrontier.

Every yearThe Architects Newspaper seeks to celebrate the best companies, contractors, and consultants that are moving the AEC industry forward, and the search is now officially underway for 2025. This annual program, ANs Best of Practice Awards, is open for entries until March 28, 2025 at midnight ET. Best of Practice looks into the breadth and merit of firmsincluding architects, contractors, sustainability and facade consultants, engineers, fabricators, interior designers, developers, and landscape architectsto spotlight those who not only champion an aesthetic vision, but also social and sustainable goals. To participate in this program is to join the ranks of honored companies that are moving the needle in the design worldboth in terms of the offices own design and culture and the companys design output overall. Winners receive a trophy commemorating the award, and both winners and runner-ups are featured online, on AN social media channels, and inANs Best of 2025 print issue, promoting the honored practices to ANs audience of over 1 million readers.All types of AEC companies based in North America are celebrated. The architect, interior designer, and landscape categories are each subdivided by seven regions (with some additionally divided by size), while the rest remain non-regional. The full list of 2025 categories are:Architects (Small, Medium, Large, Extra-Large and New firms)Acoustic Consultant/EngineerDeveloperFabricatorFacade ConsultantGeneral ContractorGraphic Design & WayfindingInterior DesignerLandscape ArchitectLighting DesignerMEP EngineerPhotography StudioRender & VisualizationStructural EngineerSustainability ConsultantTechnologyGet started on applications now to take advantage of the reduced Early Bird entry fee, offered until February 28, 2025. To uplift new companies of all kinds, AN also offers an additional discount for firms founded within the last five years with the code EMERGING. Learn more about the submission process and details here, and stay tuned for the upcoming 2025 jury announcement.

Artificial Intelligence Newsletter Fox News AI Newsletter: AI health tech will transform your fitness routine Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents By Fox News Staff Fox News Published January 15, 2025 12:40pm EST close US company using 'secret weapon' for its artificial intelligence Fox News chief national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports on what the United States and Israel are doing to stay ahead of adversaries in A.I. on 'Special Report.' Welcome to Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.IN TODAYS NEWSLETTER:- Best cutting-edge health and fitness tech from CES 2025- Nvidia pushes back on Biden admin's 'misguided' AI order- Biden White House announces 'final rule' on AI chip exports before Trump hand-off, drawing industry blowback ISleePad (ITRI)FUTURE HEALTH TECH: CES 2025 has once again showcased a remarkable array of health and fitness technology that promises to transform our well-being.'UNPRECEDENTED AND MISGUIDED': Tech giant Nvidia is pushing back on a new executive order by the Biden administration that seeks to preventartificial intelligence technologies developed in the U.S. from falling into the hands of adversarial countries.'CHIP' ON THEIR SHOULDER: The Biden White House on Monday announced its "final rule" placing export controls on artificial intelligence chips before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next week, drawing swift condemnation from industry leaders who argue the Democratic administration is effectively undermining America's leadership in the emerging technology. FILE - Amazon Web Services data center is seen on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Boardman, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)'LEAD THE WORLD': President Biden on Tuesday signed an ambitious executive order that he says will keep both national security and climate change in mind while fast-tracking the build-out of large-scale artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN: A select group of tech industry titans and venture capitalists will gather in Washington, D.C., this week to welcome the incoming Trump administration and celebrate new opportunities for global innovation in artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship.CUTTING-EDGE HUMANOID TECH: Chinese startup Pudu Robotics has unveiled its latest creation, the D9 humanoid robot, designed to revolutionize the way we work and interact with machines. D9 humanoid robot (Pudu Robotics)FOLLOW FOX NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIASIGN UP FOR OUR OTHER NEWSLETTERSDOWNLOAD OUR APPSWATCH FOX NEWS ONLINEFox News GoSTREAM FOX NATIONFox NationStay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future with Fox Newshere. This article was written by Fox News staff. Related Topics

Production Perig - stock.adobe.cNewsCyber security dovetails with AI to lead 2025 corporate IT investmentCyber security and GenAI top enterprise IT investment plans for 2025, whether singly or together, according to research from Enterprise Strategy GroupByBrian McKenna,Enterprise Applications EditorPublished: 15 Jan 2025 15:26 Cyber security, whether singly or in tandem with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), dominates enterprise IT investment plans in 2025, according to Informa TechTargets Enterprise Strategy Groups annual spending intentions research.The research, based on responses from 1,351 IT and business professionals worldwide, found that cyber security outpaces all other categories of initiative, with a dramatic expansion of AI and analytics also climbing in importance. The majority of the organisations surveyed 28% of which came from the EMEA region expect to maintain or increase their spending across all major technology categories in 2025, with cyber security most likely to see spending increases, followed by customer experience and application development.Around three-quarters of respondents in EMEA and North America said they would increase IT investment overall in 2025 compared with 2024. The research was carried out in the third quarter, which is when many organisations are working on their investment plans for the next year.Generative AI vied with cyber security as an area for investment, with security being an area to which GenAI is being applied more and more. Data management emerged as a related area, for which GenAI leads the investment pack.In terms of business initiatives, cyber security (49% overall) was well ahead of efforts to reduce costs (36%), improve data analytics and business intelligence (35%), and increase automation of business workflows (35%). Cyber security was top in EMEA (44%) and North America (51%), which might indicate the direction of travel for EMEA. Again under the heading of business initiatives, improving operational resilience against cyber attacks stood at 29% for North America and an almost identical 28% in EMEA.Among the most important IT initiatives for the year, strengthening cyber security tools and processes outdistanced all others by a wide margin at 27% overall (25% for EMEA, 30% for North America), followed by the use of AI and machine learning (16%), and using data analytics for real-time business intelligence and customer insight (14%).Within cyber security, the survey revealed that zero-trust network access (ZTNA) tops organisations plans for most significant cloud security investments in 2025. Firewalls (including next-generation firewalls) are the top target for network security investments, while multifactor authentication is the top identity-related security technology.In terms of cloud investment planning, respondents identified ZTNA as one of their most significant planned cloud security investments in 2025 (48% versus 41% in 2024). This was followed by cloud data security and data loss prevention (38%), and application programming interface (API) security (37%).The growth of API usage in recent years to support modern applications and connect various systems and services has sharpened this focus, according to the authors of a report based on the research, Bill Lundell and Christian Perry. This is because API-reliant microservices ecosystems can be complex and difficult to fully secure.The rise of AI more generally is stark, as shown by the surge of organisations identifying AI as a technology initiative thats become significantly more important to their future (44% versus 28% last year). It now ranks closely alongside cyber security (59%) and cloud (38%).As the AI locomotive steams ahead, organisations are rapidly circling budgets around GenAI technologies to accelerate automation and eliminate inefficiencies across nearly all elements of their IT and business environments, said Lundell and Perry.GenAI continues to rise as a target for significant spending, with 53% planning investments in 2025 (up from 46% in 2024).The dominance of GenAI over other technologies as an investment target in the information management space is another clear indication that organisations are prioritising the technology regardless of their existing AI strategies, said Lundell and Perry. 53% are planning GenAI investments in data management in 2025, up from 46% in 2024.Read more about cyber security investment plans for 2025Cybersecurity investments are set to increase in 2025, according to Enterprise Strategy Groups annual spending survey, and data loss prevention is leading the priority pack.10 cyber security predictions for 2025: AI will still be a hot topic this year, but dont miss out on other trends, including initial access broker growth, the rise of vCISOs, tech rationalisation and more.The basics drive 2025 identity security investments: New identity security tech might steal headlines, but it seems the basics get the most attention from businesses.In The Current Issue:Interview: Wendy Redshaw, chief digital information officer, NatWest Retail BankPreparing for AI regulation: The EU AI ActDownload Current IssueThe UK government's AI plan covers all the bases but needs a dose of pragmatism Computer Weekly Editors BlogData engineering - TetraScience: From lab to enterprise, what scientific data teaches us CW Developer NetworkView All Blogs

If you've ever wanted to try Arch Linux but were afraid of the installation process, there's a handy script to help ease this task.

Get inspired by the innovative brand campaigns with stand-out results that won big at the annual TikTok Ad Awardsand learn who took home the top prize.

WTF?! OpenAI's latest AI model, o1, has been displaying unexpected behavior that has captured the attention of both users and experts. Designed for reasoning tasks, the model has been observed switching languages mid-thought, even when the initial query is presented in English. Users across various platforms have reported instances where OpenAI's o1 model begins its reasoning process in English but unexpectedly shifts to Chinese, Persian, or other languages before delivering the final answer in English. This behavior has been observed in a range of scenarios, from simple counting tasks to complex problem-solving exercises.One Reddit user commented, "It randomly started thinking in Chinese halfway through," while another user on X questioned, "Why did it randomly start thinking in Chinese? No part of the conversation (5+ messages) was in Chinese."The AI community has been buzzing with theories to explain this unusual behavior. While OpenAI has yet to issue an official statement, experts have put forward several hypotheses.Some, including Hugging Face CEO Clment Delangue, speculate that the phenomenon could be linked to the training data used for o1. Ted Xiao, a researcher at Google DeepMind, suggested that reliance on third-party Chinese data labeling services for expert-level reasoning data might be a contributing factor. // Related Stories"For expert labor availability and cost reasons, many of these data providers are based in China," said Xiao. This theory posits that the Chinese linguistic influence on reasoning could be a result of the labeling process used during the model's training.Another school of thought suggests that o1 might be selecting languages it deems most efficient for solving specific problems. Matthew Guzdial, an AI researcher and assistant professor at the University of Alberta, offered a different perspective in an interview with TechCrunch: "The model doesn't know what language is, or that languages are different. It's all just text to it," he explained.This view implies that the model's language switches may stem from its internal processing mechanics rather than a conscious or deliberate choice based on linguistic understanding.Tiezhen Wang, a software engineer at Hugging Face, suggests that the language inconsistencies could stem from associations the model formed during training. "I prefer doing math in Chinese because each digit is just one syllable, which makes calculations crisp and efficient. But when it comes to topics like unconscious bias, I automatically switch to English, mainly because that's where I first learned and absorbed those ideas," Wang explained.While these theories offer intriguing insights into the possible causes of o1's behavior, Luca Soldaini, a research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI, emphasizes the importance of transparency in AI development."This type of observation on a deployed AI system is impossible to back up due to how opaque these models are. It's one of the many cases for why transparency in how AI systems are built is fundamental," Soldaini said.