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I dont know if anyone else has noticed this but everything seems to be going down the tubes quite fast. And not fun tubes, like at a waterpark. The ending in shit kind. The issues are complicated, the reasons diverse, but there are a few culprits who have been making themselves extremely visible.Alongside those holding political office, tech gragillionnaires (I had to invent a new number) like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg obviously wield huge global influence with their computers and numbers and whatnot. There has been a lot written about them and there will be more, as they continue to shape the world and win favour with Donald Trump. Big, scary, probably ruinous things lie ahead. But Im here to discuss the smaller part. The insult to injury, the sprinkling of salt in the wound.Whether I am engaging with the news, or with Musk tweeting constantly like a man with no job or friends, or with Zuckerbergpainfully cringe.I knew that one day we might have to watch as capitalism and greed and bigotry led to a world where powerful men, deserving or not, would burn it all down. What I didnt expect, and dont think I could have foreseen, is how incredibly cringe it would all be. I have been prepared for evil, for greed, for cruelty, for injustice but I did not anticipate that the people in power would also be such huge losers.Ive always been someone who cannot tolerate embarrassment. I hate being embarrassed more than just about any other emotion and Ive always skipped content based on cringe humour like Meet the Parents, Borat or Nathan for You. It makes my skin crawl and it makes the contents of my stomach try to crawl out of my mouth. But I cannot skip world events.Nor can I skip Musks clear desperation, even as he holds this much wealth and power in his hands, to be thought of as cool. There are endless examples of him embarrassing himself while attempting to be funny or to gain respect. Unfortunately, while you may be able to buy power, its impossible to buy a good personality. Watching his Nigel-no-friends attempts to be popular, his endless pathetic tweets that read as though they come from the brain of an 11-year-old poser, has made me start to believe we should bring back bullying. If yet another humiliating report in the last couple of days is to be believed, he appears even to have lost the respect of some of his gamer audience, who the report claims suspect that he may have been lying about his achievements in hardcore gaming (cursed sentence).Zuckerberg is a different kind of cringe but cringe all the same. His cringe moments drip through more sparingly but, when they do, my body tries to turn inside out at my bellybutton. His physical makeover for Maga reasons, performing music because no one will stop him, trying to look cool on a surfboard all these are extremely difficult to watch. He has been trying to suck up to Trump, going on Joe Rogans show to say society has been neutered and companies need more masculine energy.Putting on what is clearly a bro disguise to join the boys club and sit at the big boy table it should feel humiliating. This came as Zuckerberg rolled back hate speech and factchecking rules at Meta, in a clear swerve to the right before Trumps inauguration. What could be more masculine and cool than selling out vulnerable communities and women to impress the alpha male?Climate crises keep coming, genocides continue, women keep getting murdered, art is being strangled to death by AI, bigotry is on the rise, social progress is being rolled back AND these men insist on being cringe? Its a rotten cherry on top. This combination of evil and embarrassment is a unique horror, one that science fiction has failed to prepare us for. The second-hand embarrassment we have to endure gets even more potent when combined with other modern influences on young men, like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate.Peterson is a big voice in mens rights well, a small Kermits voice in mens rights and hes also an embarrassment. So much so that he has his own Know Your Meme page, which covers that time hereportedly retweeted an image from a fetish film, apparently believing it was a Chinese communist sperm extraction facility. He deleted it shortly afterwards.Tate is facing human trafficking charges but rose to fame as a voice for young men, a misogynist in bad outfits who does really cool things like smoking cigars, wearing sunnies inside and trying to drag human rights back 100 years.Living your life to impress other men by hating women is one of the most embarrassing things I can imagine. Looking up to any of these men for how to live your life is even sadder.Ive worked hard to keep these kinds of men out of my personal life, to keep them away from me, out of my goddamn sight. Now they are in my face daily, not only influencing the world for the worse but making me nauseous at how uncool and pathetic they are, on top of their other sins. Its too much, I cant take it, there needs to be a change.Its time for us to start getting revenge on the nerds.Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney

Image: NintendoAs exciting as new console launches are, it's become increasingly difficult in recent years to secure certain systems on release. Sony's PlayStation 5 was hugely impacted by this coming off the pandemic, so how will it be for Nintendo's Switch successor this many years on?Bloomberg has released a new report about the possible shipment data for the Switch 2 in the first year of its life, and according to Robin Zhu - an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, Nintendo's supply chain is ready to sell more than 20 million units in 2025.In comparison, the original Switch shifted around 15 million units in its opening year, but the Switch 2 launch will now be nearly a decade later. During the Switch's beginnings, the company was also still recovering from its troubled Wii U generation all while extending the life of its 3DS just in case.Now that the Switch has proven itself (shifting over 146 million units globally), there's likely a lot more confidence within Nintendo about the system's successor - so if this figure from Bloomberg's source is accurate, hopefully, it means we don't have to worry as much about acquiring these new hybrid units when the release date is announced and pre-orders go live.Of course, one thing we also don't know just yet is the price of the Switch 2 - which will likely be a deciding factor for many fans. There have already been all sorts of price estimates and predictions based on the rumoured technology inside of Nintendo's new hardware, so hopefully the upcoming Direct presentation confirms this. Official details, rumours, leak historyFollowed by a hands-on tourEvery confirmed Switch 2 gameAre you hoping to pre-order or generally just purchase a Switch 2 in the first year of its life? Let us know.[source bloomberg.com, via bsky.app]See AlsoShare:01 Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related ArticlesNintendo Asks Wii U Owners To Refrain From Using "Unauthorised" Online ServicesUpdate: Pretendo respondsNintendo Breaks Silence On 'Switch 2' Image And Video LeaksThe "official" announcement will take place this fiscal yearRumour: 'Switch 2' Will Reportedly Be Officially Revealed This ThursdayThough software won't be the focus

After two years of relatively muted investment activity, it seems that VCs are starting to pour capital into startups at pandemic-era levels once again. But a closer look shows that they arent really.In the fourth quarter of last year, investors funneled $74.6 billion into U.S. startups, a substantial increase from the average of $42 billion invested in each of the previous nine quarters, according to PitchBook data released on Tuesday.While these funding levels were previously seen only during the peak of the ZIRP era (end of 2020 through 2021), the reality is that this recent increase in venture capital funding is disproportionately benefiting a select few companies. In fact, $32 billion, or 43.2% of Q4 investment activity, was invested in precisely a handful of colossal-sized deals:Databricks: In December, the data analytics company raised $10 billion at a $62 billion valuation.OpenAI: The ChatGPT maker secured $6.6 billion at a $157 billion valuation in early October.xAI: Elon Musks xAI thats developing a generative AI foundational model called Grok, which landed $6 billion from investors in December.Waymo: Self-driving car developer that operates robotaxi services in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix secured a $5.6 billion Series C in November led by parent company Alphabet and joined by a whos who of Silicon Valley venture firms.Anthropic: In November, the generative AI model developer raised $4 billion from Amazon.Without these megadeals, Q4 investment activity would have mirrored the previous two years average of $42 billion. This stark concentration of venture capital investment highlights the widening gap between a few well-funded companies and the broader startup ecosystem.Whether 2025 will see a continuation of the high venture capital investment levels observed in Q4 of last year remains to be seen. However, most venture capital funding will probably continue to flow toward a small cohort of the most promising AI companies.

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ALLIANZ STADIUM, TORINO, ITALY - 2025/01/12: Jake Paul looks on during the Kings League world cup ... [+] nations final match between Brazil and Colombia . Brazil wins 6-2 over Colombia. (Photo by Marco Canoniero/LightRocket via Getty Images)LightRocket via Getty ImagesIf youre eagerly awaiting Jake Pauls first MMA bout, you might not want to hold your breath. According to Donn Davis, the owner of the Professional Fighters League, who signed the YouTuber-turned-boxer to an MMA contract, Pauls MMA debut wont come before the fall of 2025.Davis was interviewed by MMA Fightings Mike Heck and covered a variety of topics. Particularly important, Davis said this about Pauls debut with the promotion:I just talked to Nakisa [Bidarian] (Pauls partner with MVP Promotions) an hour ago, PFL founder Donn Davis said. Two things are happening: Jake is super successful in boxing. Whether you love Jake or hate Jake, we can all agree that guys the man when it comes to generating attention, revenue, and viewership with his boxing career. Its more successful than it was when we signed him. On the boxing side, that has delayed MMA because hes killing it in boxing. So will MMA happen with the PFL? Yes, it will. Has it been delayed? Yes, it has. My guess is the fall of this year, but I dont think its going to be before that. Hes got so many things going on in boxing.Here is a look at the entire interview.Credit to Davis for being transparent and not making promises that might not be kept. Paul is in a great position.He can do whatever he wants and take any fight that he believes is in his best interest. As Davis said, at this point, Paul is having so much success in boxing, unless the perfect opportunity in MMA comes along, it could be very difficult to pull him into the PFL Smartcage.MORE FOR YOUTruthfully, because Paul has had almost no mixed martial arts training, the matchmaking for his first MMA fight will have to be carefully crafted.Paul did call out Nate Diaz, and there was reportedly a $10 million offer made to the UFC legend. However, it is unlikely Paul climbs into the cage with a seasoned mixed martial artist. If he does, hes probably fighting someone who isnt going to take him down.I dont think its Nate Diaz or bust, Davis added. I think there are other opportunities. It matters. The opponent matters. The opponent always matters. Jake is brilliant at picking opponents. Of course, it matters who the name and the opponent are, but I think theres a broader set than Nate Diaz. How big is that set? Maybe four or three; its not a lot, but I think its bigger than Nate.Perhaps the best thing the PFL can do is to sign someone they can build to become Pauls MMA opponent. The ideal path is to have that fighter grow his social media presence while consistently calling Paul out.Here comes the hard part: he needs to keep winning and doing it impressively. He needs to go viral in ways that the casual fan can understand.Thats not likely to come to fruition in 2025. Without that scenario or the emergence of an ideal big name, it might be tough to lure the Problem Child away from the boxing ring.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsIt features a pair of electrifying performancesIt really cares about the mindset of its charactersThey gave Eggers a real budgetRobert Eggers latest movie, Nosferatu, has become something of a box office phenomenon. Retelling the classic vampire story has resonated with audiences, but this is not Eggers first time adapting historically important works of fiction.Two years beforeNosferatu, Eggers made The Northman, which is the story of a young boy who is banished from his kingdom following a coup against his father. The film is adapted from the same source material asHamlet, and it really leans into the period-specificity of its Viking-era setting. Here are three reasons you should check it out:Recommended VideosTHE NORTHMAN - Official Trailer - Only In Theaters April 22The Northmanis great actors getting the chance to flex their muscles, but Alexander Skarsgard and Nicole Kidman are particularly excellent. Skarsgard is the ideal muscle-bound brute, a man who has worked his whole life toward a singular goal and is willing to achieve it at any cost.RelatedKidman plays his mother and reveals herself to be much more than a wronged woman trapped in a terrible marriage to her husbands killer. The agency she displays complicates the world of The Northmanand fundamentally challenges the nature of the quest that has defined the entire film.Focus FeaturesOne of the most amazing things about Eggers movies generally is the way he works to ground the audience in how his characters see the world. This movie, which takes place in the 9th century, centers on a protagonist who thinks about the world in a fundamentally different way than we do today.He believes in Valhalla, and his goal is not his own survival but a relentless quest to avenge the wrongs he believes were done to his father. The Northmannever winks at its audience or points out how strange this worldview might seem. Instead, it takes his perspective quite seriously, understanding that its different from ours but totally real to him.Focus FeaturesAsNosferatumight make clear, few filmmakers know how to make the most of the money theyre given quite the way that Eggers does. With The Northman, he got the chance to make a real action epic, and he didnt let that opportunity go to waste. There are riveting fight sequences, including a climactic one that takes place against the backdrop of an erupting volcano.The fights inThe Northmancan be brutal, but Eggers paints on the widest canvas of his entire career. Was it foolhardy to give a director this strange this much cash? Maybe, but were sure glad Focus Features gave it to him.Editors Recommendations

more like co-pay-a-lot Home Microsoft 365 plans use Copilot AI features as pretext for a price hike "Classic" plans without AI or price increases are only for current subscribers. Andrew Cunningham Jan 16, 2025 2:49 pm | 113 Credit: Microsoft Credit: Microsoft Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreMicrosoft has two announcements for subscribers to its Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans today. First, you're getting the Copilot-powered AI features that Microsoft has been rolling out to businesses and Copilot Pro subscribers, like summarizing or generating text in Word, drafting slideshows in PowerPoint based on a handful of criteria, or analyzing data in Excel. Second, you'll be paying more for the privilege of using those features, to the tune of an extra $3 a month or $30 a year.This raises the price of a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription from $7 a month or $70 a year to $10 and $100; a family subscription goes from $10 a month or $100 a year to $13 a month or $130 a year. For current subscribers, these prices go into effect the next time your plan renews.Current subscribers are also being given an escape hatch "for a limited time." "Classic" Personal and Family plans at the old prices with no Copilot features included will still be offered, but you'll need to go to the "services & subscriptions" page of your Microsoft account and attempt to cancel your existing subscription to be offered the discounted pricing.Microsoft hasn't said for how long this "limited time" offer will last, but presumably it will only last for a year or two to help ease the transition between the old pricing and the new pricing. New subscribers won't be offered the option to pay for the Classic plans.Subscribers on the Personal and Family plans can't use Copilot indiscriminately; they get 60 AI credits per month to use across all the Office apps, credits that can also be used to generate images or text in Windows apps like Designer, Paint, and Notepad. It's not clear how these will stack with the 15 credits that Microsoft offers for free for apps like Designer, or the 50 credits per month Microsoft is handing out for Image Cocreator in Paint.Those who want unlimited usage and access to the newest AI models are still asked to pay $20 per month for a Copilot Pro subscription.As Microsoft notes, this is the first price increase it has ever implemented for the personal Microsoft 365 subscriptions in the US, which have stayed at the same levels since being introduced as Office 365 over a decade ago. Pricing for the business plans and pricing in other countries has increased before. Pricing for Office Home 2024 ($150) and Office Home & Business 2024 ($250), which can't access Copilot or other Microsoft 365 features, is also the same as it was before.Andrew CunninghamSenior Technology ReporterAndrew CunninghamSenior Technology Reporter Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue. 113 Comments

All of North Korea's troops in Kursk could get wiped out by April, given current losses, a think tank said.Analysts cited casualty reports from Ukraine and South Korea, estimating 92 losses per day for Pyongyang.Still, the estimated 12,000 troops sent by North Korea are a small fraction of its total military strength.If North Korea's current casualty rate holds, it would take three more months for Pyongyang to lose all of its estimated 12,000 troops deployed to fight Ukraine, per an estimate by researchers from the Institute for the Study of War.Analysts at the Washington-based think tank cited casualty reports from Ukraine and South Korea, as well as Russian military bloggers who said that North Korean troops were actively participating in significant combat in December."North Korean have therefore likely suffered roughly 92 casualties per day since starting to participate in significant fighting in early December 2024," they wrote in an assessment published on Thursday.The think tank said that "the entirety of this North Korean contingent in Kursk Oblast may be killed or wounded in roughly 12 weeks (about mid-April 2025) should North Korean forces continue to suffer similarly high casualty rates in the future."The analysts wrote that Pyongyang's losses will likely involve more wounded troops than those killed in action, which they said is "typical or armed conflict.""And it is unclear if or when injured North Korean soldiers return to combat," the think tank's assessment said.A South Korean lawmaker, Lee Sung-kwon, said on Monday that Seoul's intelligence service estimated that about 300 North Korean soldiers had been killed in action in Kursk, with another 2,700 wounded.Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in early January that North Korean losses in Kursk had reached up to 3,800 wounded or killed."12,000 has arrived. Today, 3,800 killed or wounded," he told podcaster Lex Fridman.The US also gave its estimate for North Korean casualties in December, saying that Pyongyang likely suffered 1,000 killed or wounded in its first week of engaging in significant combat."We now assess that North Korean forces are conducting massed massed, dismounted assaults against Ukrainian positions in Kursk," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on December 27.Russia's defense ministry press team did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.Western and South Korean intelligence officials have said that the roughly 12,000 North Korean troops deployed in Kursk are likely from the Storm Corps.The elite branch of soldiers is considered North Korea's version of special forces, and estimates have varied as to how many are fielded by Pyongyang. One of the highest counts, by South Korea's Defense Ministry in 2022, put the Storm Corps at up to 200,000 strong.Questions remain as to whether Kim Jong Un may send more troops to Russia's aid if manpower on the frontline runs dry. Quantity has been vital for both Ukraine and Russia from troops to artillery to ammo as the war looks to drag into its fourth year.North Korea has an estimated 1.2 million soldiers in its armed forces, though they have barely any combat experience. Pyongyang is known to instead often rely on its troops for building infrastructure projects.Still, Zelenskyy warned in early January of the possibility that North Korea could send up to half a million troops to aid Russia. But Pyongyang isn't giving its troops away for free Kim is receiving food, technological expertise, and economic assistance from Russia in exchange.Ukraine and South Korea reported in November that Russia was also paying Kim a stipend for each North Korean soldier deployed in Kursk. Seoul's intelligence said at the time that the cost was about $2,000 per man.

Through word of mouth on film Twitter (RIP), many cinephiles got Paddington-pilled and were all in when Paddington 2opened, and are now excited for the much-delayed stateside release of Paddington in Peru. So why is it so hard for American fans to get their paws on Paddington merch? The first two films, both directed by Paul King, adapted English author Michael Bonds kid-lit classic tales about a lost bear from darkest Peru having endearing adventures in London. It sounds like hyperbole to call them two of the greatest films ever made,but Paddington 2 holds the title of the best-reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes; it even dethroned Citizen Kane. It was only brought down to 99% thanks to a bad review that was dropped to be contrarianwhich deserves the hardest of hard stares from Paddington himself. So yes, its that serious. Since the release of the two films, fans have embraced Kings films as modern classics. Those raising a lil cinema nerd brood have had kids growing up on the franchise for about a decade, all while that other iconic British bear over at the Mouse HouseA.A. Milnes Winnie-the-Poohhas struggled with making a cinematic impact outside of merchandising. As Paddington became a huge part of pop culture zeitgeist, Disney took note and put out the live-action hybrid Christopher Robin film after its attempt at an animated feature length animated Winnie the Pooh film fizzled. (Beyond Disney, the character is now out for thrill kills thanks to the public-domain Blood and Honey horror series). But as we mentioned, Pooh remains visible because of merchandising; he and his friends are everywhere even if the IP movies and shows have mixed results with longevity. Meanwhile, Paddington has achieved cult status thanks to the King films knack for tapping into the timeless appeal of found-family themes and slapstick whimsy. It can make the toughest of men cry, as seen in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, the meta film starring Nicolas Cage as himself who is hired to hang out with Pedro Pascal, whose crime-lord character is the actors biggest fan. Paddington 2 gets a memorable on-screen moment that bonds the two characters together.With all the acclaim and accolades why is it still so hard for U.S. fans to find a decent Paddington Bear stuffed animal, or any really good merchandise, three movies deep? We cant help but wonder if Paddington is being gate-kept. Sure, there are versions of the bear on Amazon, but theyre mostly the book variant and very rarely from the movie. If youre looking for a huggable, near-1:1 size bear, youll have to visit the official Paddington store at Paddington Station in London. And its been this way since at least Paddington 2 when I was looking for one as a childless adult millennial toy collector. The one I managed back in 2018 well, it looks like an eight-inch basic bear with a fragile felt hat and coat, much like these examples found online: YOTTOY/Amazon Despite the 2020 Nickelodeon Adventures of Paddington animated series, the third reboot since the 70s and 90s shows, Paddington continued to grow mostly through word of mouth since there was no merch pushed for visibility. The Nickelodeon series had a limited toy run that evaporated, and good luck finding the seasons on DVD. That series coincided with the popularity skyrocketing for another lockdown favorite: Bluey. In fact, my husband and I got into Bluey when filmmaker Duncan Jones recommended it on Twitter; we then got our other film nerd friends into the animated Ludo Studio series by letting them know that it had the energy and heart of Paddington. It kept us from losing our minds at home during the pandemic, and if not for Paddington Im not sure wed be living in the era of Bluey right now. It paved the way for Blueys takeoverwhich, by the way, includes loads of merch and accessories for all ages. And yet for Paddington? Youll have to work really hard to find something good. Now that I have a child, Im even more pressed to find something good. I did prepare; I bought the soft Paddington rattle in 2021 from Barnes and Noblebut how can it be 2025 and its still one of the few toys you can find? Its my babys favorite, but in order to have a Paddington under the Christmas tree for her first holiday, I had to order from the Paddington store online and thought if I bought the Paddington in Peru releases theyd be the best. They were not what Id hoped for, in part because they were so small for what they cost (and oof, the UK postage price was rough). To use another pop-culture example for a character that originates from outside the U.S., Totoro stuffed animals are also hard to find, and retailers who sell the official Studio Ghibli ones charge exorbitantly for them. But at least theyre accurate to their animated looks, in addition to being huge. Paddington is, understandably, also a hot commodity in the UK, to the point that counterfeit makers have taken notice. The Independent reported on a recent crackdown in which nearly 2,000 items were seized near places where the films were shot. On Reddit, you can find complaints from all over about how hard it is to track down the perfect Paddington bearthey really do seem to be only available in London. The best I could do this Christmas was the internationally shipped bear and some pieces from the H&M Paddington Bear childrens clothes collection. Baby Gap also released a kids clothing line, but it was available first in the U.K. and far more expansive; heres what you can get stateside. Both adorable drops feature the classic childrens book Paddington. Its dire for kids, but its even more ridiculous for adults. If you have the money you can get a coat (for about $600) or some shirts from Rowing Blazers. The company also had some neat hats, including one that read Please look after this bear. Thank you, but its sold out. Out of Print has some shirts, and the Oodie is releasing comfy-looking oversized Paddington blanket sweatersbut again, its the book version of Paddington only. Thankfully streaming is exposing the wonders of Paddington to wider audiences; the films are consistently atop the charts on Netflix and Disney+. Perhaps the present merch logjam can be traced back to the films complicated journey through different U.S. distributors: Studio Canal originally had a deal with the Weinstein Company but withdrew from that, and then Paddington 2 was released through Warner Bros. The third film, directed by Dougal Wilson, is a Sony Pictures release. If excitement can be drummed up with Paddington in Peru, the demand could change with upcoming films. Paddington 4 is in the works ahead of the characters 70th anniversary (bring back Paul King) and there better be way better merch widely available by then. Paddington in Peru opens February 14. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.