Where you place the products will matter too. MacMurray advises placing a small air purifier, like the Levoit Core Mini ($50) in the offending closet. If you dont have an outlet in there, hanging activated charcoal bags inside can help too. Theyre fantastic for absorbing odors and moisture in spaces with no ventilation, she says. By using both an air purifier and charcoal bags, you should start noticing a difference.Our experts have another strategy: blocking the aromas before they get in. For the cigarette smoke, Id try to seal up the front door with a door sweep and weather stripping to try to block it out, says Laura Fenton, the author of the Substack Living Small and book of the same name.There are some vents filters that can help too. Kuo notes the brand Lisol offers one that can be cut to size and there are products that have activated charcoal too. Just make sure air can still flow through. It's not a good idea to seal off the vents, as it can disrupt air circulation, Fenton notes.You might also ask your neighbors if theyre experiencing similar issues. This can help pinpoint the source. The neighbor may be unaware that they are negatively impacting other apartments, Fenton says.It's worth asking neighbors in the building if they are experiencing similar odor issues as well.Photo: draganab/Getty ImagesIf multiple apartments are experiencing the same problem, it may give you more leverage when talking to the landlord. Under NYC law, smoking or vaping in common areas of a building with three or more unitsincluding stairwells, hallways, and lobbiesis prohibited. I always say to ask questions of your landlord because so many of us who rent dont ask enough of them, Deane says.Hopefully these interventions help you breathe easier. But if the problem persists to the point where youre scrolling for new listings, note that some NYC buildings have smoke-free policies in their listings and might be worth seeking out.

Mark Zuckerberg can see the finish line. He is so close to getting what he has wanted for years. The U.S. government is trying to give him the greatest gift he could possibly imagine: A TikTok ban. This would be U.S. intervention against the most credible competitor Meta has seen in years, and U.S. intervention to kill a superior product to the benefit of an American company.On Joe Rogan last week, Zuckerberg said that the U.S. government should be defending its companies, not be the tip of the spear attacking its companies. And yet, in this case, the U.S. governmentthe Biden administration that he has been railing against as he pivots to MAGAhas squarely aimed its spear at Metas biggest, most credible competitor in a move that would greatly benefit Zuckerberg and his company.Everything that Zuckerberg is doing right nowMetas shift rightward; its dehumanizing of immigrants and LGBTQ+ users and employees; its move away from diversity-focused hiring; his trips to Mar-a-Lago; removing tampons from the mens bathrooms at Meta offices; the inauguration partyshould be seen in the broader context that Meta would benefit enormously from a TikTok ban and that Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as president on Monday, is the one person who, at this point, credibly has the ability to reverse a ban.Zuckerbergs very public pledge of fealty to Trump has multiple purposes, of course. Trump previously threatened to put Zuckerberg in jail, and he is obviously cozying up to an administration that he hopes will not regulate his companies. But a TikTok ban is the biggest potential prize. Trump has Zuckerberg by his apparently very masculine balls, and is positioning himself as being the ultimate decider on what will happen to TikTok.Zuckerbergs political persuasions and positions have always shifted with whatever suits his companies most at that moment in time, which is something that became more clear as I went back through many hours of Congressional testimony and political speeches that Zuckerberg has given over the last few years. One thing that has not changed, however, is Zuckerbergs obsession with using the specter of Chinese internet dominance and competition to both avoid consequences for his own company and to lay the groundwork for government regulation on Chinese platforms like TikTok.Meta has denied directly lobbying on the TikTok ban, but the company spent a record sum lobbying in 2024, including on Homeland Security topics. In March 2022, the Washington Post reported that Meta paid a firm called Targeted Victory to push the narrative that TikTok is dangerous to children. And Zuckerberg himself has spent the last five years painting a picture to Congress that his monopolistic company faces great competition, actually, from Chinese companies and more importantly from China itself. This story has served Meta extraordinarily well, as he has been able to distract from Metas myriad privacy violations and monopolistic actions by saying it would be worse if China wins. Meta is not a monopoly, he says. It is a company fighting on behalf of America against China and Chinese companies for the soul of the internet.Zuckerberg made this argument most clear at a speech at Georgetown University in 2019.The larger question about the future of our global internet. You know China is building its own internet focused on very different values, and its now exporting their vision of the internet to other countries, Zuckerberg said. Until recently, the internet in almost every country outside of China has been defined by American platforms with free expression values. But theres no guarantee that those values will win out. A decade ago almost all of the major internet platforms were American. Today, six of the top 10 are Chinese and were beginning to see this in social media too.While our services like WhatsApp are used by protesters and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy protections, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these same protests are censored even here in the US, he added.A few days after Zuckerbergs Georgetown speech, Zuckerberg had a seven-hour hearing before the House Financial Services Committee in which he stated that an entire cryprocurrency system Facebook was spinning up called Libra was so incredibly important to U.S. financial and cultural dominance that if Congress imposed restrictions on it, Xi Jinping would win. (Libra, later called Diem and then sold to Silvergate Bank in 2022, is now dead.)I think there are completely valid questions about how a project like this would impact Americas financial leadership, our ability to impose sanctions around the world, our oversight of the financial system in a lot of places, Zuckerberg said. And I just think that we need to trade off and think about and weigh any risks of a new system against what I think are surely risks if a Chinese financial system becomes the standard.This general reasoning from Zuckerberg prompted Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to say that youre painting this as if we dont do it, China will do it. I think youll be hard pressed to find somebody who is more of a hawk on China in this committee. So I agree with that. What I dont think is the right frame is If Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook dont do it, then Xi Jinping will. Like, this isnt Mark Zuckerberg versus Xi Jinping Facebook doing this, frankly, I dont trust it and I dont believe the American people trust it.This endeavor of watching Zuckerbergs old testimony made clear that he lied repeatedly on Joe Rogan last week on all sorts of things. For example, he practically begged Congress to regulate Meta in July 2020during the Trump administrationwhile groveling about how seriously the company takes things like COVID misinformation and election integrity. On Rogan, he suggested such concerns were foisted upon him by the media and the Biden administration. Zuckerberg also seemed dumbfounded on Rogan that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Elizabeth Warren were interested in his company, which again, notoriously attempted to launch an entirely new global monetary system with Libra.We had organizations that were looking into us that were, like, not really involved with social media, Zuckerberg told Rogan. Like, I think, like, the CFPB, like, this financial I don't even know what it stands for. It's the, it's the financial organization, that Elizabeth Warren had set up. And it's basically like, we're not a bank.During another Congressional hearing in 2018, Zuckerbergs prepared notes said Break Up FB? U.S. tech companies key asset for America; break up strengthens Chinese companies. And, again, in 2020 he told Congress: If you look at where the top technology companies come from, the vast majority a decade ago were America. Today, almost half are Chinese Facebook stands for a set of basic principles. Giving people voice and economic opportunity. Keeping people safe. Upholding democratic traditions like freedom of expression and voting and enabling an open and competitive marketplace. These are fundamental values for most of us, but not for everyone in the world. Not every company we compete with or the countries they represent. As global competition increases, there is no guarantee that our values will win out.Meta, and, specifically, Instagram Reels, would be the most obvious beneficiary of a TikTok ban. TikTok has now what Facebook once had, and which Instagram has but is losing: Deep cultural relevance and a generation of users who love it. Facebook and Instagram still have billions of users, but AI spam, a terrible algorithm that seemingly universally surfaces cringe, and a huge number of bots and people who post like their brains are made of mashed potatoes have made both Facebook and Instagram feel like platforms that people remain on begrudgingly, not because they actually want to be there.Zuckerbergs general narrative that Meta faces intense competition from China and that Chinese social media companies cannot be trusted persisted across all of his Congressional hearings, and he has repeatedly used the specter of China exporting its cultural values via social media as a shield to deflect from his own companys monopolistic tendencies, its privacy violations, and its harms against children. He has used this not only to avoid regulation of his company and his platforms, but also to seed the ground for what ultimately became the TikTok ban. Zuckerberg can see the prize. The question is whether, by kissing Trumps ass, he will actually finally get it.Jason is a cofounder of 404 Media. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Motherboard. He loves the Freedom of Information Act and surfing.More from Jason Koebler

WastedMassive GTA 5 Liberty City modding project bites the dust after "friendly takedown" chat with Rockstar, dev says there's "no negativity" between it and Take-Two"We appreciate all the support that the project has received."Image credit: Rockstar Games. News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on Jan. 16, 2025 A massive modding project which had brought a full re-creation of GTA 4's Liberty City to GTA 5 has gone the way of most pedestrians who cross a street Michael, Franklin, or Trevor happen to driving down. After a conversation with Rockstar Games, which the mod's developers have stated wasn't "a DMCA, rather a friendly takedown", it's been pulled from the internet.Dubbed the 'Liberty City Preservation Project', the mod was released to the public over the holidays, having been in the works since 2018. It looked pretty damn cool, and had clearly had a bunch of effort put into the details of the version of LC it let you fly out to from Los Santos and wreak havoc in.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Anyway, late yesterday, one of the lead developers on it - Nkjellman - posted this message in the Dirscord server of World Travel (that's the team behind the mod): "Due to the unexpected attention that our project received and after speaking with Rockstar Games, we have decided to take down the Liberty City Preservation project. We appreciate all the support that the project has received, and we look forward to continuing to pursue our passion for modding the Grand Theft Auto series."Bummer, right? Rockstar's got a weird history when it comes to its attitude to modding, having done plenty of stuff like this before, so it's not exactly out of the blue, but it sucks people can no longer download the thing this group of modders worked on, even if we've obviously got to take them at their word here that they were the ones who made the call and respect that choice.In a follow-up post put up on the server after the team "noticed a lot of misconceptions and theories surrounding our latest announcement", Nkjellman explained: "This isnt a DMCA, rather a friendly takedown, mutually agreed upon by all parties involved. There is no negativity between us and Rockstar Games/Take-Two Interactive."They added that the World Travel Discord server which was being used as the place players could download LCPP from "will be kept for future projects and community mods", but links to download the mod won't be allowed to be shared on it. The also advised against trying to get the mod via "unofficial links", since these could well contain malware or viruses.Previously, when it decided to release the LCPP to the public, the group said it was banking on Rockstar having changed its approach to mods since acquiring modding team Cfx.re, but, alas, it seems that's sadly not been the case.So, you'll have to find something else GTA-ish to play while you wait for GTA 6 to drop.

2 soon.They only went and did it!Yes, finally we can all relax and enjoy Nintendo's new hardware: Switch 2 is real, it's been officially revealed, and it's looking a bit sexy.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

SpaceX caught the Starship rockets Super Heavy booster for a second time, after it launched the upper stage into space on Thursday during a seventh test flight of the system. Soon after the successful catch, SpaceX representatives reported the ship was lost after the company lost contact about eight and half minutes into the flight. The ship had successfully separated from the booster and had started its own rocket engines to ascend to orbit before it appeared some of those engines gave out. The company then saw its link to the telemetry coming off of the ship disappear, and a few minutes later SpaceX confirmed that the ship had suffered an anomalywith that upper stage during the end of its ascent burn in space.The company pulled off the first booster catch which involves articulated arms on the launch tower snatching the rocket stage out of the air as it uses rockets to slow its descent in October 2024. A second attempt to catch the booster in November was called off due to a communication problem.The rocket SpaceX sent up on Thursday was upgraded in multiple ways compared to prior test flights. The company hoped to test out a number of different heat tiles on the ship section, which protect it from the forces of re-entry. The launch tower was also outfitted with radar sensors to more accurately locate the booster during the catch process.This story is developing

Boston has notoriously bad traffic, but does it have to be that way? Economists, planners, transit advocates, and politicians in Massachusetts are closely monitoring whats happening in New York, now that congestion pricing has gone into effect. Many view congestion pricing in Boston as a potential panacea for resolving what amounts to the fourth worst traffic problem in the world. Were looking very closely at what New York City is doing with congestion pricing, Brian Kane, executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, told WBUR this week. Im not saying thats going to happen in Massachusetts any time soon, but I do think we have a real world example of what could potentially happen if its allowed to continue after Inauguration Day, Kane said. That I think will be a good test to see if it could work here.Congestion pricing, or congestion relief, seems to be clearing up Manhattan gridlock, making for a more pleasant pedestrian and cycling (and driving) experience. It will unlock money for capital improvements to the subway. Many New Jersey commuters have come on board: Those who rely on Port Authority Bus Terminal to get to work say commutes have been cut substantially. Could Boston be next? If so, how would congestion pricing work in the City on a Hill?The Wu administration is using the No. 28 bus for a fare-free bus pilot program, which could be expanded with congestion pricing. (IliketrainsR211T/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)I think Greater Boston is about ten years from a congestion pricing system, said Chris Dempsey, a Boston planner and partner at Speck Dempsey, who previously helmed Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA), a local riders alliance. Dempsey also teaches in Harvard GSDs real estate program and prides himself on never having owned a car.I dont think anything is going to happen quickly here, but I do think that the progress, and what I would call success in New York is very helpful and beneficial to the conversation here, Dempsey told AN. All the technology is in place. You could basically snap your fingers and do peak and off-peak pricing overnight, if you wanted to. What were missing is the politics to make it happen. Politics, and other factors, are indeed at play, just like New York. Former Boston City Council President and District2City Councilor Ed Flynn, and others, say the additional tax may be burdensome, especially to the working class and seniors in a city thats already expensive. I think its unfair to have this type of commuting and add a tax to people struggling to make ends meet, Flynn told AN. Congestion pricing is inequitable. It would negatively impact working families and communities of color.Yay or Nay?Theresa Carr, a planner at Nelson\Nygaard with an economics degree, has been studying congestion pricings feasibility in Boston for decades. Previously, Carr has conducted congestion pricing studies for Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and other cities. She also thinks Boston is ripe for following New Yorks footsteps. Sustainability, equity, climate resiliency, you name it. Congestion pricing pays dividends, Carr said. She alsobelieves congestion pricing in Boston could fill a widening hole in funding for mass transit in the city. As a transit planner, I am always trying to make mass transit competitive with driving, Carr told AN. This is where we need to consider economics, because it ultimately comes down to peoples willingness to pay for that competitiveness, right? Also, the T has a hole in funding, and I know the Millionnaires Tax will help with that, but theres so much more revenue we need to invest in transit. And congestion pricing can help with that enormously. It will benefit drivers, too, because it will make their commutes way more predictable.View of downtown Boston from South Station sidewalk (Sharon Hahn Darlin/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0)Joe Poirier is an associate of Carr and previously studied congestion pricings feasibility in Seattle. Congestion pricing is such a massive revenue generator, which cannot be understated, Poirier added. Poirier said too that, as many commuters shift over from gas guzzling cars to electric vehicles, and revenue from the gas tax shrinks, congestion pricing can make up for that shortfall. If gas tax revenue keeps falling, he said, theres going to be an even bigger hole in funding for fixing roads. Revenue from congestion pricing can help with that.Flynn, whose district includes Downtown Boston, the South End, Chinatown, South Boston, and other neighborhoods, sees things differently. Many of our commuters are hotel workers, janitors, nurses, and teachers, so I dont think we should make it harder for them, Flynn said. Our city is already facing shortages in public safety and traffic enforcement. Its not hard to imagine the labor and skills well lose if we burden commuters who drive into the city and provide these services, he said. Likewise, Flynn raised concerns about the MBTA, which is riddled with financial problems, and whether or not the T can handle the influx of riders congestion pricing would create. We have a struggling MBTA system. Many people need their cars because the transit system doesnt run 24 hours, Flynn said. Late night train service is non-existent, and bus service is limited and infrequent. Low income workers and first responders that work between midnight and morning have no choice but to drive into Boston so I think wed be hurting them the most. If congestion pricing forces people off roads onto our already fragile public transit system, the T is unlikely to perform effectively.Howd We Get Here?Talks about congestion pricing in Boston date back to the early 2000s, around the time then Mayor Bloomberg and his planning tsar Dan Doctoroff were weighing its application in New York. It was in 2005 when Paul Scapicchio, a former Boston City Councilor who represented East Boston and Chinatown, first floated the idea, which he continuously advocated for.T4MA took the baton from Scapicchio when, around 2017, Dempsey started courting then Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, who historically had been opposed to congestion pricing. Governor Baker was a skeptic of increased tolling his entire political career, Dempsey said, but he eventually endorsed the concept of high-occupancy toll lanes (HOT), where you pay dynamic prices to move more quickly on free lanes.HOT lanes decreased traffic congestion, and many enjoyed the new capital it brought for infrastructure improvements. Things seemed to be going in the right direction for Bostons pro-congestion pricing bund until COVID-19 happened, when other things took priority for Governor Baker. Our momentum was totally killed by COVID, Dempsey said.South Station is one of the Ts most vital hubs. (IliketrainsR211T/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0)Incumbent Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey took office in 2023. Healey previously said she opposed congestion pricing but eventually changed her tune in 2024 when she created a task force responsible for generating transit revenue. The T has a $700 million funding gap, and the task forces job was finding ways to rectify that, which put congestion pricing back on the table.Congestion pricing was subsequently endorsed by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu after Healeys announcement, although Wu has concerns thanks to shaky MBTA leadership. Boston City Councilor At-Large Ruthzee Louijeune is also a strong proponent of congestion pricing. In response, Boston Herald pundits dismissed the idea as woke after Wus endorsement, much like what Joe Borelli did in New York.Borelli, a New York City Councilmember from Staten Island, has fought hard against congestion pricing, and continues to fight it hard. (But not as hard as Vickie Paladino, a Queens lawmaker who recently encouraged people to sabotage congestion pricing by aiming lasers at the sensor boxes.) New York conservatives have opined against congestion pricing for the supposed hardship it would mean for motorists. Dempsey however disagrees, and believes motorists have much to gain from the system. Anyone who drives into the city for work actually stands to benefit the most from congestion pricing, Dempsey told AN. Because congestion pricing creates much more predictability in your commute as a motorist. It can literally shave hours from your drive, giving you more time at home and with family.Flynn recognizes the need for reducing traffic but doesnt think congestion pricing is the right solution. Instead of a fee on our drivers I think its critical we invest in a more reliable public transit system, Flynn said, and increase bus routes and frequency to incentivize people to take transit.How Will It Work?On January 14, Governor Healey released a landmark $8-billion transportation plan which is meant to stabilize the MBTAs troubled finances and supercharge other transportation investments. Transit advocates had long awaited the plan because, previously, Healey said she may include resources in the budget for planners to study congestion pricings implementation in Boston, although the eventual budget inevitably had no such language.Like New York, it seems that constraints at the state level hinder congestion pricings employment in Massachusetts. In many ways, Boston could easily copy New York Citys playbook, Dempsey said, precisely because both cities are tightly governed at the state level, but there would need to be some differences in approach.Dempsey noted that there are two types of congestion pricing: Theres whats called cordon pricing and corridor pricing. Cordon pricing is what New York implemented, where 60th Street became a line, or a cordon, where tolls are extracted using sensor boxes (designed by Dattner Architects). Corridor pricing is a bit different, Dempsey said, and is probably the kind of system that would work best in Boston, which has a different urban layout than New York. Corridor pricing would mean sensor boxes installed above lanes on key arteries which feed into Bostons CBD like the Tobin Bridge, as opposed to a line like Manhattans 60th Street, although Dempsey said the project isnt advanced enough yet to know what the boundary would be, or where exactly the tolls should go.Moreover, Bostons subway system isnt as robust as say New Yorks, so instead of moving people onto trains, many Boston commuters would take bus service to avoid tolls. The added revenue congestion pricing unlocks could help Mayor Wu expand her fare-free bus pilot program, which is currently underway in Roxbury, among other benefits. Urban design aside, however, political bottlenecks are the real issue at hand.View of downtown Boston (SounderBruce/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)As a planning consultant, I can confidently say Mayor Wu is the best transportation mayor in the entire country, Dempsey said. She is a transit rider herself, and she understands how important transportation is for equity. But ultimately, I do really think that this is going to require state leadership. Because today, the city does not have the power to do tolling itself, right? And so the state, at a minimum, would have to give the city power to do this. And I just dont see that happening right now. Nevertheless, Dempsey remains optimistic. I get why people are skeptical in Greater Boston, Dempsey said, but polls show that approval for congestion pricing is always very low before its implemented, just like what we saw in New York. Dempsey pointed to a similar instance that occurred in Stockholm when the Swedish government held a referendum on keeping congestion pricingthe public voted overwhelmingly to retain it because of the capital improvements it untapped, and better commutes.For now, it seems as though congestion pricing is on the Massachusetts Governors backburner, but that could change after a positive phone call with the New York Governor. So for many, now is a good time to start thinking about congestion pricings feasibility in Boston, and whether or not its a good fit. The Massachusetts Governor is waiting to see what happens in New York, Dempsey said, and to gauge the political temperature from Governor Hochul.

Outgoing United States president Joe Biden has signed a cyber security executive order (EO) promising to build on the foundational steps taken earlier in his administration by ordering additional actions to improve the US cyber security.In one of his last official acts before the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump next week, Biden detailed actions intended to improve accountability for software and cloud service providers, strengthen the security of US government IT infrastructure, promote security modernise security best practice, promote innovation, and address malicious cyber threats to the US and by extension her allies emanating from other jurisdictions.Significant malicious cyber-enabled activities pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, said Biden, presenting the EO to Congress.He wrote: These campaigns disrupt the delivery of critical services across the nation, cost billions of dollars, and undermine Americans security and privacy. More must be done to improve the nations cyber security against these threats.Among some of the provisions of interest to the security industry are the imposition of new reporting requirements on software suppliers to the US government, including the introduction of secure software development attestations, to be overseen by the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).The order also requires federal government bodies to adopt industry best practice, especially in identity and access management (IAM) to improve threat visibility and strengthen cloud security, and to implement strong authentication and encryption across its infrastructure.It also supports the modernisation of said infrastructure and where it supports critical government work, and enforces the use of cyber best practice in areas such as zero-trust, endpoint detection and response (EDR), encryption, network segmentation, and phishing resistant multifactor authentication (MFA), as well as around procurement and use of government contractors.Elsewhere, it calls on the government to accelerate research at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and security, and post-quantum encryption.Finally, the EO sets out additional steps to combat cyber threats, providing that any property or interests in property in the US are blocked and may not be transferred or paid to any individuals determined by the US government to be complicit or to have engaged in malicious cyber activities.Illumio public sector chief technology officer Gary Barlet, who previously held US government CIO posts at multiple organisations, said: Bidens executive order introduces several promising proposals that could significantly enhance the nations cyber security posture, including stricter software requirements, guidance on leveraging artificial intelligence for cyber defenses, and the adoption of endpoint detection and response tools.Its encouraging to see a focus on addressing critical issues that align with the pressing need to counter nation-state threat actors, and Im particularly encouraged by the emphasis on collaboration, which will be essential to the success of these measures.However, with Bidens time in the White House now measured in hours, Barlet said that the success of the EO would depend on policy priorities set forth by the incoming Republican administration.The next administration has an opportunity to bring renewed focus and energy to government technology. By building on the existing foundations and progress, we could see meaningful progress in federal cyber security posture and collaboration efforts that lead to impactful results, he said.Echoing his actions in the wake of his 2016 victory, Trumpis expected to sign a pile of new EOs after taking office on 20 January, many of them likely to focus on issues such as immigration that activated his voter base in November.Whether or not Trump will take any immediate action on cyber security remains to be seen, and speaking to journalists before Biden signed the order, Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, said Bidens team had not discussed the content of the EO with Trumps transition team in advance, but that they were open to such discussions once Trumps team is in place.According to reports, Trump is close to picking cyber veteran Sean Plankey to run CISA, replacing the outgoing Jen Easterly.Plankey, who currently works with post-quantum encryption firm Indigo Vault, among other things, served in security roles at the Department of Energy (DoE) and was director for cyber policy on the National Security Council during Trumps first term. He has also worked in security roles in Americas armed forces, including naval intelligence and the Coast Guard.Neuberger said she hoped that the broad brush aims of the EO were bipartisan enough that they should be taken forward by the next president.Read more on US tech policy under TrumpPresident-elect Donald Trump's tech policy team at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will strongly influence the administration's direction on AI.A proponent of AI's use in HR, Keith Sonderling has been nominated by president-elect Donald Trump for the No. 2 position in the Department of Labor. Few government programs have affected US IT workers as deeply as H-1B. As Trump takes office, his administration must weigh worker concerns against Elon Musk's agenda.

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhat's the deal?The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet is on sale for $140. You can save $50 on this kids tablet right now at Amazon.ZDNET's key takeawaysThe Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet is available for $190.Designed for older children aged six to 12, this kids' tablet features a slimmer design, better performance, strong parental controls, and a free screen repair or placement within two years of purchase.While it's better than other Amazon Fire Kids tablets, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet doesn't outperform an iPad -- but it's also a fraction of the iPad's price.What makes a good tablet? It's easy to draw up criteria of features to look for: A fast processor, user-friendly platform, portability, and battery life, to name a few. What makes a good kids' tablet? Amazon appears to be in the running to figure that out, and they're on track to nail the formula.I've been testing the new Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet since it was announced last year during Amazon's Devices and Services event. This is the latest generation of the Fire HD 10 Pro, a kids' tablet aimed at children from six through 12.Also: The best tablets for kids, according to parentsThe Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet promises a 25% faster performance than the Fire HD 10 Kids, a longer battery life, and a higher-quality front-facing camera at 5MP, up from 2MP. details View at Amazon Why choose a Fire tablet? Many parents get their kids an older-generation iPad, like the 9th-gen iPad, as their first tablet. If you have a younger kid and are afraid an iPad won't hold up to their handling, consider an Amazon Fire Tablet.Since my oldest of three is in second grade, I've tried several Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids tablets. iPads are great, and my husband and I each have one. But ever since my iPad screen got cracked by a cheap case a couple of years ago, I'm less than enthused about giving an eight-year-old such a fragile tablet. Maria Diaz/ZDNETThis is why I prefer Amazon Fire Kids' tablets for my little ones. Plus, Amazon replaces them if they break within two years. They're also eligible for trade-ins when you want to upgrade to a new device you're buying on Amazon.Also: The best Amazon deals right now: January 2025At the ripe age of eight, my oldest is craving "big kid" devices. I'm not one to get my kid a smartphone just yet, but we had considered graduating her with a big kid tablet in the form of an iPad this Christmas.I thought the problem was in the other two: a kindergartner and a toddler who lacked an understanding of personal property or space. It felt like the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet was built for this reason, but after almost a year of testing, my oldest was the one to break her tablet's screen. Maria Diaz/ZDNETMy kid's bad habit of leaving the tablet on the floor was finally curbed when I accidentally tripped over it and cracked the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet's screen. After quelling the tears, I contacted Amazon customer service to see what could be done. A representative instructed me to send the tablet in to assess whether the screen could be replaced or if a new tablet was necessary. In the end, Amazon sent us a new Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet to replace the broken one, with the whole process taking under two weeks.Also:The best iPad cases for kids you can buyThis bigger, 'Pro'-level tablet has been the perfect upgrade from the smaller Fire 8-inch model, which is cloaked in a chunky protective case. Aside from having a larger 10-inch display, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet is protected by a slim case that is more kid-friendly than kid-proof, as Amazon's listing describes. Maria Diaz/ZDNETLike other Fire Kids tablets, the Fire HD 10 Pro kids tablet also includes the Amazon Kids+ subscription. This can be renewed after one year, but the timer resets whenever you buy a new Fire Kids tablet or another device that includes the subscription.The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro has proven to be faster than both generations of our Fire HD 8 Kids tablets. Since the older ones were passed down to a five-year-old and a three-year-old, that hasn't been a problem, but the eight-year-old who owns the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro definitely noticed the difference. Maria Diaz/ZDNETThough my firstborn is getting on in years and looking for more grown-up tech, she is still eight. In almost a year of use, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro has been dropped countless times and stepped on at least a dozen times. Like the older models, it has remained completely unaffected, except for the abovementioned event (which was promptly resolved by Amazon).Also: I used Amazon's Echo Show 21 as my smart home hub - and it's almost perfectI appreciate that Amazon's Kids Tablets have strong parental controls. I can easily control what my kids watch, approve their app and purchase requests, and set up time limits from the app on my phone. When it's time for bed, and my kids are stalling on their tablets, I can quickly access the app on my phone and block them, which oddly results in fewer groans than if I decide to take them away. Maria Diaz/ZDNETAside from access to thousands of apps and games, Amazon also has collaborative games that kids can play with others. My kids and I often play Sketch 'n Guess, a virtual word-guessing game in which one person draws something and the other tries to guess it. I play from my phone, and the kids play from their tablets.Like Sketch 'n Guess, there's also Memory Match, Jigsaw, Chess, Checkers, Dessert Decorator, Chain Reaction, and more "Play Together" games included with Amazon Kids+. Even my five-year-old can play since the games can be read out loud what the kids can't read.ZDNET's buying advice Maria Diaz/ZDNETIf you're trying to choose between an iPad or a Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet, much will depend on your kid's age and how they will use it. Amazon has refined the Amazon Kids platform into a kid-friendly user experience that doesn't feel childish for older kids but that younger kids can still navigate.Also, This tablet solved my biggest problem as a smart home enthusiastThis tablet can handle multiple profiles, including young children, older children, and adults, so it can grow with the kids. However, it is still limited by its 3GB of RAM and slower processor than an A13 Bionic chip.An iPad has more high-end features, like a better processor and camera, and is a grown-up platform that is perfect for older kids, those who like to do more intricate play, like editing photos, and even those in the Apple ecosystem.Even if we are an Apple family, I'll continue getting my youngsters Fire kids tablets until they can appreciate the value of a device you can't walk on. When will this deal expire? While many sales events feature deals for a specific length of time, deals are on a limited-time basis, making them subject to expire anytime. ZDNET remains committed to finding, sharing, and updating the best offers to help you maximize your savings so you can feel as confident in your purchases as we feel in our recommendations. Our ZDNET team of experts constantly monitors the deals we feature to keep our stories up-to-date. If you missed out on this deal, don't worry -- we're always sourcing new savings opportunities atZDNET.com. Show more Featured reviews

Honor Magic 7 RSRPrakhar KhannaHonors collaboration with Porsche Design is expanding to the Magic 7 series. After launching the Magic 7 Pro in the UK and Europe, the company has announced the availability and price of the Honor Magic 7 RSR. It which will be joining the likes of the luxe Magic V2 RSR and the Magic 6 RSR in Honors Porsche Design series.The Honor Magic 7 RSR is heavily inspired from the Magic 7 Pro but its better in a few ways.First, it features a bigger battery than the global variant. You get a 5,850mAh cell with Honors third-gen silicon-carbon battery tech, which is similar to Magic 7 Pros China variant. For the unaware, the global model of the Magic 7 Pro houses a smaller 5,270mAh battery capacity.Second, theres a new design that looks sharper, bolder and features a redesigned camera module. The rear panel is said to be inspired from a real Porsche, while the camera housing is meant to resemble sports car headlights. In person, it looks gorgeous, especially in the Provence color that has a purple hue. The phone will also be available in Agate Grey color variant.Third, you get more RAM and storage. The Honor Magic 7 RSR will come equipped with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, which is double than than the Magic 7 Pro. But itll cost a lot more, too.MORE FOR YOUWhat Else Does The Honor Magic 7 RSR Offer?Honor Magic 7 RSR colorsHonorLike the Honor Magic 7 Pro, the Magic 7 RSR features a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED display with support for a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, a 4,320Hz PWM dimming frequency, a 5,000 nits of peak brightness for HDR-supported content, and Dolby Vision certification. It sports a proprietary NanoCrystal Shield for protection.The Honor Magic 7 RSR is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, also found on the recently-launched OnePlus 13. You get the same camera setup featuring a 200MP periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, a 50MP primary camera and a 50MP ultrawide sensor with a 122-degree field of view. It also sports the same IP68 and IP69 for dust and water resistance for added durability.The Honor Magic 7 RSR will go on sale in Europe next month, starting February 21, 2025. It will set you back at 1,799, which translates to approximately $1,850. Despite the luxe price tag, its cheaper than the Magic 6 RSR, which was priced close to $2,000. However, its still 500 more expensive than the 1,300 Magic 7 Pro in Europe.

What just happened? All of Google's AI features for Workspace are now available at no extra cost. This decision marks a significant shift from the previous model, where users had to pay an additional $20 per user, per month for the Gemini Business plan to access these capabilities. However, this change comes with a caveat. As Google integrates these AI features into the standard Workspace subscription, it's also implementing a price increase across all Workspace plans. Jerry Dischler, Google's president of cloud applications, said companies can expect to pay approximately $2 more per month per user for the AI-enabled Workspace compared to previous pricing. The base subscription price will increase from $12 to $14 per month.The newly included Workspace AI suite offers a range of tools designed to boost productivity and creativity. Users will now have access to email summaries in Gmail, generated designs for spreadsheets and videos, an automated note-taker for meetings, the NotebookLM research assistant, and writing tools across various apps. Perhaps most notably, users will also gain access to the Gemini bot, which Dischler describes as Google's most powerful AI tool to date.Dischler emphasized the strategic importance of this move, highlighting that Google's AI product is currently the most vertically integrated option available in the market. By making these features accessible to all users, Google aims to demonstrate the value of its AI capabilities on a broader scale. He noted that cost has been a significant barrier for companies considering AI adoption, and this decision directly addresses that concern.The integration of AI features is expected to have a profound impact on the development of Workspace apps. Dischler indicated that app roadmaps are already evolving, with new features set to be released at an accelerated pace.Other providers of AI-powered office suites have made similar moves. For instance, Microsoft announced late last year that its Copilot Pro AI features, which were previously a $20 monthly upgrade, would now be included in standard Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions, albeit with limited availability.This shift in pricing strategy reflects a broader trend in the tech industry. Giants like Google and Microsoft are prioritizing the widespread adoption of their AI tools, even at the cost of short-term revenue. The underlying strategy is to familiarize users with new ways of interacting with their products and potentially attract new customers. These companies are betting that the initial investment in rolling out these AI features will yield significant long-term benefits. // Related Stories