We all want to protect our phones from the inevitable drops, scratches and tumbles of daily life, but what if your phone case could protect more than just your device? The best eco-friendly phone cases offer a great blend of durability and sustainability, helping to reduce plastic waste and better the planet.Made from natural materials like biodegradable plastics, recycled ocean waste or even sustainable bamboo, eco-friendly and compostable phone cases prove that you dont have to sacrifice style or protection to go green. Theyre designed to safeguard your device while actively combating plastic pollution, making them a win-win for both you and Mother Earth.Whether youre looking for something sleek and minimal or bold and artistic, theres an eco-friendly option out there that will fit your style. Instead of a standard plastic case, you can choose one thats both practical and planet-friendly. Eco-friendly phone case FAQs What makes a phone case eco-friendly? A phone case can be considered eco-friendly when its designed to protect not just your phone but also the planet. What sets these cases apart is the use of sustainable materials like biodegradable plastics, recycled plastic waste or even natural materials like bamboo or flax straw. Instead of contributing to plastic pollution, these materials break down naturally over time, or are made from recycled content that reduces waste. Eco-friendly cases can also go a step further by being compostable, meaning you can toss them in a compost bin at the end of their life and theyll decompose into the earth without leaving harmful residues. Plus, many brands behind these cases focus on sustainable practices, like reducing carbon emissions during production or offering recycling programs for old cases.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/accessories/best-eco-friendly-phone-cases-150016494.html?src=rss

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Mickey 17 Directed by Bong Joon Ho, Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, an employee with the job to die and be reborn every time his life is in danger. The sci-fi drama cast also includes Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, and Mark Ruffalo. Featuring music by Jung Jaeil, it has cinematography by Darius Khondji, as created from Edward Ashtons novel Mickey 7.DNEG, Framestore, Rising Sun Pictures, and Turncoat Pictures did the VFX work. Production VFX Supervisor is Dan Glass. The film will be released in 2024.The post Mickey 17 Official Trailer appeared first on Vfxexpress.

The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half-hour awards favorite, is a film about human creativity. Ironically, its biggest scandal surrounds artificial intelligence.Brady Corbets epic follows Hungarian Jew Lszl Tth, played by Adrien Brody, as he flees the Nazis and picks up his architecture practice in the United States. Eventually he manages to bring his wife, Erzsbet, played by Felicity Jones, to join him. Both characters frequently speak in Hungarian throughout the film. That dialogue, it turns out, may have been supplemented by an AI speech tool.In an interview with RedShark News, The Brutalists editor, Dvid Jancs, revealed that the film had employed Respeecher, an AI voice editing tool. Cinephiles online blew up, with some even planning to boycott the film. Corbet is now on an oddball apology tour, clarifying just how AI was used by the production. But he shouldnt have to be. The mass freakout fundamentally misunderstands what film editing actually looks like, and how films stay on budget.What is artificial film editing?Jancs is a native Hungarian speaker; he knows how difficult the language is to replicate. Thats true even for Brody, whose mother is in fact a Hungarian refugee. While producers coached Brody and Jones intensively, they used the AI tool Respeecher to insert some of Jancss own pronunciations into the dialogue.In the RedShark interview, Jancs acknowledges how commonplace these types of audio edits are. You can do this in [Avid] Pro Tools yourself, but we had so much dialogue in Hungarian that we really needed to speed up the process otherwise wed still be in post, he said. Thats what the naysayers misunderstand: Film editing is fundamentally artificial. For years, filmmakers have been manipulating dialogue through creative splicing and re-creation. Editing tools have gotten increasingly more sophisticated. Now theyre just labeled with AI.Jancs also said in the interview that generative AI helped create the architectural images featured in the final sequence of the film. Corbet later clarified: Judy Becker and her team did not use AI to create or render any of the buildings. All images were hand-drawn by artists. Remember that The Brutalist, a sprawling cinematic epic of proportions rarely produced in the current film market, was made for a mere $10 million. For reference, the film in which Brody had his breakout, Academy Award-winning role, The Pianist, cost $25 million moreand that was 22 years ago. Hand-drawing all images on The Brutalists budget, even if modulated or inspired by AI, is impressive.But cinephiles online couldnt take it. One viral X post says Jancs is just looking for an excuse to avoid paying visual artists and suggests it amounts to the erasure of a fundamental aspect of . . . acting. Many have said its hypocritical to use AI in a film about the humanity of art; others say Brody should be disqualified from Oscar contention.Whos afraid of the big bad AI?The film industry has a good reason to be fearful of AI. Feature films are being created out of thin air, with no craft behind them. Their quality is still low, but its a daunting sign of whats to come. Some Hollywood studios began collecting body scans of actors, worrying many that extra work would evaporate. Contracts reached in the 2023 Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Writers Guild of America strikes both included AI clauses.But this fear of human replacement has turned AI into a technological boogeyman. The words artificial intelligence are enough of a dog whistle to stir outrage. But lets face it: Hollywood can and will adapt to AI, and there may even be some benefits. These critics are merely burying their heads in the sand instead of properly appraising which applications are helpful and which arent.The Brutalist controversy will eventually pass, though the commotion could be a blow to the films Oscar chances. What will linger is this culture of AI hysteria.

There are certain social media rules we can all agree on: Ghosting a conversation is impolite, and replying k to a text is the equivalent of a backhand slap (violent, wrong, and rude). But what about the rest of the rules? When can we really remind someone of our old Venmo request? What happens when someone tries to flirt with you on LinkedIn?Fortunately, terminally online writers Delia Cai and Steffi Cao are here to answer all your digital quandaries, big or small. Welcome to Fast Companys advice column, Posting Playbook. This week, Steffiexplores what to do when a former employer keeps popping up in your feed.I keep seeing social media content from my former employer, where I had such a horrible experience. I dont even follow themit just comes up. What should I do?Felt this question in my soul. Not only are we fighting for our lives to avoid exes, soured friendships, lurking managers, and well-meaning parents on our social media feeds, we have to contend with the fact that companies also have voice-driven social media presences, and in their bid to lock in on the attention economy, we get their content on our feeds. The algorithm has definitely fed me content from a former employer that I absolutely hated working at, and it bums me out every time I get it on my feed. You were just trying to doomscroll, and now you have to relive the memory of an uncomfortable work environment because someone in the social media marketing department is sending out content into the void in their bid to hit their target KPIs.All you can do for this situation is block and mute. Ban all mentions of the company, avoid watching the content of former coworkers who still post the name. Frankly, thats all you can do to draw digital boundaries. Beyond that, you will need to turn inwards, whether thats in the form of a journal, a therapy session, or a night out with friends you made outside of work. A terrible workplace can truly be so mentally and emotionally corrosive, and it sucks to see reminders of a time you felt so defeated or angry for most of your waking hours, but its important to remind yourself of the other aspects of your life that are fulfilling and exciting. You should log off, sure, but its possible that other reminders will crop up, whether its running into the person who made your life miserable IRL, seeing the name of the company when youre managing your investments, or reading a headline about them in the news.The fact is that you can block the mentions, but you still need to deal with the root problem, which is processing whatever happened that made you have such a knee-jerk reaction to glancing upon the company name during your scrolling session. Companies have such an overarching presence in this country, so its important that you are able to make life easier for yourself by doing things that help you heal and serve as a reminder of the wonderful things in your life outside of your previous work. Hopefully you have a job that fulfills you now, hobbies that excite you outside work, or a support system that understands how messed up your old job was. And this is true of seeing any old pain echoed onto new posts. When you see that ex-boyfriend, ex-friend, annoying ex-manager crop up, its important to have something you know you can lean on.Is like-reacting to texts with no response rude?I personally dont like-react to anything except logistics because I do think it feels like a cold reaction (imagining giving someone a thumbs-up when they tell you theyre getting engaged or something), but I dont take it personally when someone does hit me with one. Of course, this has been a social media etiquette question since the heart button was rolled out, but I think weve collectively settled on the golden rule of intent versus impact. Anyone that is over 40 years old? Not rude. Anyone that generally texts with periods? Not rude. Anyone who doesnt have Twitter or TikTok downloaded on their phone? Not rude. Someone who usually types in all lowercase with exclamation points, but their syntax has suddenly changed for this heated conversation? Rude. Someone who saves their contacts with emojis? Rude.

Swiss studio Herzog & de Meuron has created the Pharma Research and Early Development Centre in Basel, as part of a wider campus it has masterplanned for pharmaceutical company Roche.Unveiled in 2014, the development has also seen Herzog & de Meuron renovate a historic office building designed in 1937 by Swiss architect Otto R Salvisberg and construct office blocks and a pair of triangular skyscrapers called the Roche Towers.Herzog & de Meuron has completed the Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) CentreThe Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED) Centre is made up of four blocky buildings at the centre of the site, including a convention centre, an office and two towers containing laboratories. According to the studio, these are the world's first high-rise laboratories.Taking cues from the work of Salvisberg, Herzog & De Meuron designed the quartet of buildings as a deliberately simple series of white volumes. They step upwards in height from the three-storey convention centre to the 23-storey laboratory to mediate between the surrounding neighbourhood and the neighbouring triangular towers.The centre comprises four white buildings that step upwards in height"Building on the early concepts of noted Swiss architect Otto R Salvisberg, the progenitor of the overall 'white building' motif and original campus masterplan, the pRED Centre buildings integrate into the surrounding urban grid," explained the studio."The four buildings rise from west to east from a height of 18 metres to 114 metres, providing a sense of scale related to the adjacent residential neighbourhood," it added.Read: Cylindrical Bertrand Goldberg building at risk of demolition in IllinoisThe separate blocks of the pRED Centre are united by what the studio calls the "avenue", a network of glazed corridors with planters that overlook social and garden spaces.While central cores provide lift circulation through the laboratory blocks, the more open-plan areas are connected via spiral staircases, with a glazed link bridge connecting the two buildings on their 13th floors.The separate blocks are united by corridors with planters"On ground level, the four buildings are connected by the 'avenue', a large, covered boulevard and a plug-in point for numerous special services from lobbies, conference space and offices to dining and social spaces," said Herzog & de Meuron."The areas between buildings offer generous green filters and paths, providing distinct views and relationships with the street and nearby parks and opening up the site to become an active part of urban life," it added.Spiral staircases connect the open-plan interiorsExternally, the two lower blocks are defined by ribbons of glazing alternated with horizontal bands of white concrete panelling, intended to mirror the nearby low-rise buildings by Salvisberg in the 1930s.The two taller blocks are fully glazed and constructed using a closed-cavity facade system that allows for maximum daylight while maintaining clean, controlled conditions in the laboratories.Elsewhere in Switzerland, Herzog & de Meuron recently completed a children's hospital in Zurich that is modelled on a small town among a tree-filled landscape and designed to improve patient wellbeing. Its other recent projects include an arched apartment in Austria and an infinity pool that "blends into the waters" at Lake Como.The photography is courtesy of Herzog & de Meuron.The post Herzog & de Meuron completes blocky high-rise laboratories in Basel appeared first on Dezeen.

British architect Dennis Crompton, best known as one of the founders of the experimental collective Archigram, has died at the age of 89.His collaborator Peter Cook announced the news of his death on 21 January in an Instagram post, in which he described Crompton as "Archigram keeper of the flame".Crompton was born in Blackpool in June 1935 and decided he wanted to be an architect at 12 years old.He went on to study architecture at Manchester University, becoming a founding partner of Archigram in 1961 with Cook, Warren Chalk, Ron Herron, David Greene and Michael Webb.Archigram was known for its experimental projects such as Instant CityArchigram was originally founded as a magazine, but it later evolved into a collective known for its radical architectural concepts informed by emerging technologies.Though Archigram never completed a building as a group, the collective rose to prominence throughout the 1960s and informed the work of architects including Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano and Norman Foster.Influential Archigram didn't complete a buildingIn an exclusive Dezeen video series with Archigram in 2020, Crompton said he believed that many of Archigram's ideas could have been physically realised."There is a practical side to what Archigram members do, it's not just highfalutin, funny, pretty colourful drawings and so on," he said in the video."Had all been well, we would have built a building in Monte Carlo in the 1970s. As it happens, in 1974, there was a tremendous international financial crisis and our clients suddenly weren't able to continue with the project, so it was cancelled."Read: "There is a practical side to Archigram, it's not just funny drawings," says Dennis CromptonArchigram was eventually disbanded in 1975, prompting Crompton to establish Archigram Archives, which he continued to curate for the rest of his life.In 1994, he and Herron used the archive to assemble the landmark exhibition called Archigram: Experimental Architecture 1961-74, held in Vienna.Archive now located in M+ museumToday, the archive, which comprises tens of thousands of drawings and models produced by the group, is owned by the Herzog & de Meuron-designed M+ museum in Hong Kong, which acquired it in 2019.At the time, Crompton welcomed the move, after he had been keeping the group's work under beds and in "various cupboards"."Now it will be all together in a place which is young and enthusiastic," he said.Aside from his work for Archigram, Crompton was a teacher at the Architectural Association (AA) and Bartlett School of Architecture in London.Crompton's passing follows the recent death of Colin Fournier, associate member of Archigram, in 2024 and his co-founders Chalk in 1988 and Herron in 1994.Earlier this year, the industry also lost the Japanese architect Hiroshi Hara, who died aged 88. The architect was best known for designing Osaka's Umeda Sky Building and the Kyoto Station.The post Archigram co-founder Dennis Crompton dies aged 89 appeared first on Dezeen.

I know next to nothing about skateboards, except that one (and only) time I got on one, I fell down and nearly broke something. So after that incident, I was relegated to just watching my neighbors skate and over the years would occasionally catch it on YouTube for some tournaments. I see the boards though as pretty cool, especially the ones that have been artistically designed (which is most of them).Designer: Zieta StudioIf youre like me and you think skateboards are cool, particularly the longboards, then youll be interested in this piece called Bolid. Well, its not a longboard that you can actually use but rather, it uses the design of one as the basis for this structural mirror. This was originally designed for Italian brand Pirelli but soon you can have one in your home if you want to display a longboard that stands as an actual mirror. Bolid is made with the FiDU proprietary technology, using sheets of steel to create your desired longboard shape. So you have an oblong and dynamic shaped object with two versions. The silver innox version has aluminum trucks and white wheels while the emerald green finish has green or black wheels. You can mount it on your wall or just place it against the wall, although the latter will have the risk of it falling over and maybe breaking. So its safer to just have it permanently fixed on your wall or you can just leave it lying around and hope that no one would think that they can actually skate on it. While its a sculptured mirror, you probably wont be able to use it as a full mirror given its shape and the polished surface finish. Sure theres still some reflection that you can look at but you best stick to your actual mirror if youre trying to put on make up or you want to look at your entire fit. This is more of an aesthetic piece of furniture for those that want to have longboards propped against their walls just for the vibe. Even the product photos show Bolid as more of a piece of art that you can display in your home rather than an actual mirror. As they say, this design actually defies classification.The post Bolid is a longboard-shaped structural mirror that gives cool vibes first appeared on Yanko Design.