Bang For Your BuckHope you've got lots of spare time, because the next wave of Xbox Game Pass titles for January has 14 games coming to the serviceThat might be too many games...Image credit: Microsoft News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Crikey, if you're someone that likes to play as many Xbox Game Pass titles as possible, the second January wave will certainly test you.We're a good bit into the second half of January now, and Xbox has finally confirmed the rest of the games that will be coming this month, as well as one that'll be arriving in February, so let's just jump straight in! Kicking things off today through the Ultimate and PC tier on cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S is Lonely Mountain: Snow Riders, a low-poly snowsports game that can be played in 8-player multiplayer. Then, on January 22, there's a whole bunch of games coming. Flock is another multiplayer game "about the joy of flight and collecting adorable flying creatures" which will be available on console through the Standard Tier now, alongside Capcom's Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, a unique strategy action game.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Magical Delicacy, a food themed pixel art platformer, is due out on the same day, also on console through the Standard tier, as well as The Case of the Golden Idol, a narrative puzzle game set across 40 years in the 18th century. Also coming on January 22, is Gigantic: Rampage Edition, a 5v5 MOBA hero shooter that you can get through Ultimate, PC Game Pass, or Standard. Chill open world, island exploration game Tchia will be coming to Game Pass Standard on the same day on Xbox Series X/S, and Starbound, aTerraia-esque game where you play as a bounty hunter already available on PC Game Pass, is coming to cloud and console through Ultimate and Standard. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.A few days later on January 28 you'll be able to play Eternal Strands, a brand new elemental RPG from industry veterans that have worked on games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Watch Dogs, and Assassin's Creed (this one's available day one through Ultimate and PC Game Pass, on cloud, console, and PC). The same day will add Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, an "action-packed, third-person shooter and trap defense game", also available day one on Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and available to play on cloud, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Lastly on January 29 is Shady Part of Me, a game where you play as a "little girl and her shadow" that sets out to "overcome emotional struggles through surreal dreamscapes" - this one's on every Game Pass tier, on cloud, console, and PC.Jump forward a day to January 30 and you've got Sniper Elite: Resistance on day one, via Ultimate and PC on cloud, console and PC, a game where you quite simply snipe bad guys. January 31 then sees the arrival of Citizen Sleeper 2 day one, a dice-driven RPG with a "human and heartfelt sci-fi world", available on Ultimate and PC across cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.And finally (woof), there's Far Cry New Dawn coming to cloud, console, and PC, across all tiers on February 4. This is the one set in a "transformed, vibrant, post-apocalyptic Hope County, Montana, 17 years after a global nuclear catastrophe," which only feels slightly on the nose given recent political events.Happy playing, folks!

Ninja Five-Two.Konami has announced that GBA action platformer Ninja Five-O will be launching on Switch in just over a month's time, on 25th February 2025.Pre-orders are live on the eShop right now, priced at USD $24.99 / GBP 19.99 (or your regional equivalent). The physical version is being handled by Limited Run Games, though it's already sold out.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Keep it up!Balatro has now officially sold 5 million copies since its initial launch on 20th February 2024.This number is a significant increase over the 2 million units previously reported in August 2024. The reason for this will likely be two-fold: since then, the game has been released on mobile devices and also received multiple awards at The Game Awards 2024; a one-two punch that would have no doubt boosted sales quite nicely.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

President Donald Trump is trying to halt the flow of funding for EV charging infrastructure from two programs that Tesla has benefitted from the latest example of how Elon Musks political interests seem to be at odds with his car companys goal of advancing sustainable energy.Its not a given that Trumps gambit will succeed. But if it does, Tesla could be cut off from two sources of funding that the automaker has tapped the past two years to build out its market-leading EV charging network.In one of the myriad executive orders Trump signed on the first day of his second term, he declared that [a]ll agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds from programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He specifically calls out stopping funding for EV charging stations thats been made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) grant program.Those agencies are supposed to submit a review of processes, policies, and programs for issuing grants, loans, contracts, or any other financial disbursements within 90 days of the date of this order, all agency heads shall submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the National Economic Council (NEC). The order also states that agencies cannot disburse more funds unless the Director of OMB and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy have determined that such disbursements are consistent with any review recommendations they have chosen to adopt.Musk has long claimed that Teslas mission is accelerating the transition to sustainable energy. But he is now officially working with the second Trump administration, which took big swings at sustainable energy on its first day. Trump has already signed orders halting federal leases for offshore wind development, pulling the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, and is trying to reverse other Biden administration EV policies.Tesla was recently part of a group that won a $100 million award from the CFI program to build out charging infrastructure for heavy duty electric trucks across Illinois, as TechCrunch first reported last week. The company was hoping to secure around $40 million from the groups original funding request of $126 million. Tesla has also repeatedly sought around $100 million in CFI funding to build a truck-charging corridor between northern California and southern Texas, but that application has been passed over multiple times.Teslas CFI award in Illinois is a small portion of the nearly $2 billion the Department of Transportation has allocated over the last two years. Tesla has won a much greater share of grants from the NEVI program which doles out smaller amounts of money to states, which, in turn, use those funds to offer grants to build charging infrastructure. Tesla had won around 13% of all NEVI awards by the middle of 2024, and was using those millions to further build out its Supercharger network, which is now open to almost all competing EVs.Trump could slow or stop the flow of future spending from these programs, according to Martin Lockman, a fellow at Columbia Law Schools Sabin Center for Climate Change Law. He might especially be able to do so if his administration is successful in its promised legal fight over the Impoundment Control Act, which limits the presidents ability to stop Congress from spending money thats been appropriated.Theres a lot of wiggle room here, and the Trump administration will certainly do everything that it can to delay spending under these bills, he said.It is not clear that Trump can legally stop the funding of awards that are already under contract, though.People who have contracts today have rights under those contracts, and the President cant take them away, he said. But, Lockman cautioned, if agencies feel enough pressure from Trump, they could violate the terms of those contracts and potentially the laws that established the funding programs in the first place and refuse to give out the money. In that situation, the companies, state and local agencies, or other entities who won awards from NEVI or CFI would have to fight to get them fulfilled.If the new administration wants to make people fight for their contracts in court, that would certainly be a huge barrier to building EV infrastructure, he said.

An ongoing service interruption at government contractor giant Conduent sparked outages across several U.S. states, leaving residents without access to some benefits and support payments.A person familiar with the incident told TechCrunch the outage was caused by a cyberattack. Conduent spokesperson Sean Collins acknowledged the companys outage was ongoing, but declined to answer questions or rule out a cyber incident.We are currently experiencing a service interruption affecting some applications while we have restored service over the past few days. The Conduent technology team is working hard to resolve any remaining issues, said Conduents spokesperson.Wisconsins Department of Children and Families told residents in a social media post January 17 it was unable to process child support payments across the state for much of the week. The department said four states, including Wisconsin, were affected by the outage at Conduent. Department spokesperson Gina Paige said its service was restored January 19, but deferred comment on the cause of the outage to Conduent.Oklahoma Human Services, which manages the states food assistance program, told residents in a social media post on January 9 that Conduents customer service line was hit by the technical outage. Spokesperson Casey White told TechCrunch the states systems are working as expected and that it experienced no outages related to security at Conduent.In June 2020, Conduent confirmed a ransomware attack several days after reporting a service interruption. The Maze ransomware gang took credit for the breach, and subsequently published various documents stolen from the companys systems.Contact Zack Whittaker on Signal and WhatsApp at +1 646-755-8849. You can also share documents securely with TechCrunch via SecureDrop.

Construction 3D printing company Mighty Buildings is up for sale. The California-based firm, which 3D prints eco-friendly houses, announced the listing following a restructuring that also saw an undisclosed number of staff members laid off.According to a LinkedIn post by Jennifer A. Farley, the companys Chief People, Legal & Business Operations Officer, former Mighty Buildings employees with expertise in operations, supply chain, sales, engineering (structural & mechanical), quality, architecture, material science, finance, legal or HR in the US, Mexico or Europe, are now looking for work.This could be considered surprising for an entity that has raised over $150 million and attracted investment from more than 100 Silicon Valley and global shareholders.Rock Creek Advisors is managing the 4-week sales process, with a final term sheet deadline of February 14th, 2025, at 5 pm ET. While cash bids are preferred, the New Jersey-based investment firm will consider all reasonable offers.Mighty Buildings assets can be purchased as a package or individually, with patents, trademarks, expertise, manufacturing equipment, and strategic partnerships all up for grabs. Ultimately, the construction 3D printing specialist hopes to attract a partner or financial buyer capable of scaling the business and driving future commercial success.Mighty Buildings first 3D printed net-zero energy home. Photo via Mighty Buildings.3D printing sustainable homesFounded in 2017, Mighty Buildings launched from stealth mode in 2020 after developing proprietary construction 3D printing technology and raising $30 million in funding.Through its production-as-a-service business, the firm specializes in 3D printed homes that are efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. Its modular, 3D printed panels can be quickly assembled on-site, accelerating development times by 3X.Central to the companys extrusion-based production method is its in-house developed 3D printing material. Lumus, the latest generation of this composite stone feedstock, reportedly offers 80% lower CO2 emissions compared to conventional concrete. Mighty Buildings unique material can harden almost immediately after UV post-curing while still maintaining cohesion with its underlying layers. This freezing ability allows ceilings and overhangs to be fabricated without support structures.The companys automated 3D printers can run for 24 hours a day and assemble multiple buildings simultaneously. This process reportedly produces just 1% of the waste generated by conventional construction processes.Significantly, Mighty Buildings gained UL 3401 certification, an important construction safety qualification, before exiting stealth mode. This safety-mindedness has seen the firm prioritize the production of climate-resilient homes. These buildings can withstand 300 kph hurricanes, earthquakes, and up to two hours of exposure to fire.Mighty Buildings modular, 3D printed panels. Photo via Mighty Buildings. Mighty Buildings previous successMighty Buildings has raised substantial capital through several funding rounds. The latest, completed in September 2023, saw the firm raise $52 million to expand its construction 3D printing capabilities.This was co-led by Waed Ventures, the innovation-focused venture capital fund supported by Saudi Aramco, and US venture firm BOLD Capital Partners. Alongside them, nearly 20 investors participated, including Khosla Ventures and KB-Badgers, a South Korean fund centered on advanced manufacturing, automation, and sustainability.Previous funding rounds included $22 million in July 2021 and $40 million in February 2021. This capital was used to advance the companys carbon neutrality roadmap, generate new strategic supply chain partnerships, and expand its team.In addition to substantial financial backing, Might Buildings has several notable projects and partnerships to its name. Last year, the sustainable housing developer collaborated with manufacturing conglomerate Honeywell to integrate its eco-friendly Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) insulation into 3D printed buildings. LBAs global warming potential is 99.9% lower than conventional blowing agents. It also provides superior thermal insulation than foam alternatives, meaning the 3D printed homes require less energy for heating and cooling.Previously, Mighty Buildings delivered the first 3D printed net-zero energy home. Assembled from a set of 3D printed panels, the two-bed, two-bath house became the first addition to a new neighborhood in Southern California. This followed the companys plans to build a community of fifteen 3D printed eco-friendly houses near Coachella Valley.Featured image shows a render of Mighty Buildings proposed fifteen-strong 3D printed housing community. Image via Mighty Buildings/EYRC Architects. Additive manufacturing for constructionA recent UN Environment Programme report outlined that the construction and building industry is responsible for 37% of global greenhouse emissions. According to Mighty Buildings, $180 billion of cement is used annually for residential construction, while the US housing market is currently short 6.5 million homes. This has led to the growing adoption of construction 3D printing technology, which offers sustainability and cost benefits.Earlier this month, Harcourt Technologies Ltd (HTL.tech) completed Europes first 3D printed social housing project, utilizing technology compliant with the ISO/ASTM 52939:2023 standard. Based in Grange Close, Ireland, the homes were built using COBOD Internationals BOD2 3D construction printer. The project was completed in just 132 days, a 35% reduction compared to traditional construction methods, which typically take over 200 days.Similarly, Texas-based construction 3D printing firm ICON announced last year that it was building a new housing development in Wimberley Springs. Located 40 miles south of Austin, the neighborhood includes eight single-family 3D printed homes. These will feature high-thermal performance concrete, maintaining stable indoor temperatures without significant heating or cooling costs. Certified to the EnergyStar standard, the houses will typically achieve a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rating of 40-55. This makes them 45-60% more energy-efficient than conventionally constructed alternativesWho won the 2024 3D Printing Industry Awards?All the news from Formnext 2024.Subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter to keep up with the latest 3D printing news.You can also follow us on X, like our Facebook page, and subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry Youtube channel to access more exclusive content.Featured image shows a render of Mighty Buildings proposed fifteen-strong 3D printed housing community. Image via Mighty Buildings/EYRC Architects.

Steve Soboroff, a reputable Los Angeles real estate developer and civic leader, has been appointed Chief Recovery Officer (CRO) by L.A. mayor Karen Bass. Soboroff is tasked with helping rebuild the city after the wildfires decimated so much of it. His new role is part of Basss L.A. Strong: Return and Rebuild program. Soboroffs job entails coordinating reconstruction strategies with the mayors office, and city agencies. He needs to recommend a comprehensive City strategy for rebuilding and expediting the safe return of residents, workers, businesses, schools, nonprofits, libraries and parks in areas devastated by the fires, according to a statement from the L.A. mayors office.This work is about Angelenos collective hope for the future, Soboroff said. For every resident, it may be the hope to return to a community they love as soon as possible. For others, its how to survive until they get to return to work in this 103-year old community. Our mission is to start building a clear, practical and doable path to the Palisades and everywhere help is needed in L.A. That work starts now, and we ask for everyones positive participation. Within the next 90 days, Soboroff will have to achieve four key benchmarks:First, hell have to develop a clear and defined protocol to ensure residents can safely access their property and to protect their properties until residents can return.Second, Soboroff will ideate an implementation framework for removing debris and streamlining rebuild approvals.Third, hell roll out a plan for rebuilding and reopening parks and libraries.Fourth, Soboroff will create an all solutions in system for watersheds, residential and commercial rebuilding, public infrastructure resilience, and overall long-term economic recovery.Previously, Soboroff served in the public and private sectors, having founded Soboroff Partners, a development and leasing company. He is also the City of Los Angeless former Police Commissioner. In describing her choice to work with Soboroff, Bass highlighted the realtors lengthy experience working in L.A. Our absolute priority is to return Angelenos to their homes and rebuild, Bass said.Steve knows our communities, he knows how to activate City Hall, he knows how to engage the public, business, non profit and philanthropic resources needed for this massive effort, Bass continued. There is no one better equipped to create our rebuilding plan. We will work closely together to move a strategy forward to rebuild neighborhoods that are stronger, more resilient and more united than ever before. I am enormously grateful that Steve Soboroff agreed to give himself to Los Angeles once again.To date, more than 12,300 structures have been destroyed, a number which includes 10,000 houses.

Hours after Trumps inauguration, he was already thinking about architecture.It was one subject among many for an initial flurry of executive orders. Now the General Services Administration (GSA) has sixty days to deliver recommendations to President Donald Trump for promoting beautiful federal civic architecture.The executive order (EO) from January 20 was addressed to Stephen Ehikian, GSAs new administrator. Ehikian has taken the reigns from Robin Carnahan, the Biden administrations GSA administrator, and has since given top level GSA jobs to tech and finance leaders. The EO was one of dozens the Trump administration rolled out after being sworn in this weekend, just after Elon Musk gave what many called a Nazi salute. Other EOs had to do with mass deportations, anti-DEI and anti-trans programs, opening up oil rigs in Alaska, issuing pardons and sentence commutations for January 6 rioters, and other America First initiatives.Additional EOs will have global impact: Trump will have the U.S. leave the World Health Organization and has again pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement. He did this during his first presidency, only to have President Biden re-join the agreement as one of his first acts when he took office in 2021.Likewise, Biden revoked the original EO from 2020 that mandated federal buildings be built in the neoclassical style, a mandate that Trump has in turn reversed.Regional, Traditional, and ClassicalIn his EO related to architecture, Trump requested recommendations that would advance the policy that Federal public buildings [] be visually identifiable as civic buildings and respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage in order to uplift and beautify public spaces and ennoble the United States and our system of self-government.Such recommendations shall consider appropriate revisions to the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture and procedures for incorporating community input into Federal building design selections, the EO continued. The EO also had language about buildings proposed before the 60-day deadline in late March.POTUS said in the EO that if GSA proposes to approve a design for a new federal public building before the deadline, Ehikian will have to notify Trump personally not less than 30 days before the [GSA] could reject such design without incurring substantial expenditures. Such notification shall set forth the reasons the Administrator proposes to approve such design, the EO concluded.The Washington, D.C. Metro was designed in the Brutalist style by Chicago architect Harry Weese. (Aidan Lang/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)The EO came two days after the National Civic Art Societys Justin Shubow appeared on CBS Sunday Morning and discussed what to do with the blight of Brutalist buildings, especially in Washington, D.C.National Building Museum executive director Aileen Fuchs was also interviewed for the segment and defended federal buildings realized in the Brutalist style. Last year, the institution hostedCapital Brutalism, an exhibition about the citys prevalent and controversial architectural style.Beyond this architectural task, under Ehikians tutelage the GSA has pledged to crush the Green New Deal and DEI programs within the GSA. We will remove extremist Green New Deal and ESG [environmental, social and governance] requirements from federal building construction, leasing and procurement to prioritize economic efficiency over ideological mandates, Ehikian toldFederal News Network.In the weeks leading up to Trumps January 20 inauguration, many, including Chicago Tribune columnist Ed Keegan, wondered if he would revive his EO from 2020 which mandated all new federal buildings be designed in the neoclassical style.The EO from 2020 was met with praise by the National Civic Art Society but widely condemned by many architects; architectural anthropologist Michal Murawski said the EO would result in Washington, D.C. looking like Yuri Luzhkov-era 1990s Moscow with all of its faux bells and whistles.There was no mention of classical architecture in the Heritage Foundations Project 2025, which many said would be Trumps playbook after taking office; although Project 2025 did propose creating a more conservative EPA, shrinking HUD, and hacking away at public transit infrastructure investment, among other things.This is all to say that, with this new EO, stylistic mandates are indeed back on the table.

Google Summer of Code is an annual programme that helps students and those new to open source software make their first steps into contributing code to software projects. GSoC Contributors work with an open source organization on a 12+ week programming project under the guidance of mentors.This year, there are 172 open source projects sponsored by Google. 11 of those organisations are part of the ecosystem of software that heavily benefits the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. They are:OpenStreetMap: a crowdsourcing project that creates and distributes free geographic data for the world.OSGeo (Open Source Geospatial Foundation): a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster global adoption of open geospatial technology by being an inclusive software foundation devoted to an open philosophy and participatory community driven development. Note that OSGeo further represents many GIS related subprojects, including GRASS and QGIS.Blender Foundation: a free and open source 3D creation suite, providing individuals and small teams a complete pipeline for 3D graphics, modeling, animation and games.GNU Image Manipulation Program: a cross-platform image editor available for GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows and more operating systems.FreeCAD: a general-purpose parametric 3D computer-aided design (CAD) modeler and a building information modeling (BIM) software application with finite element method (FEM) support.CGAL Project: a software library that offers a number of reliable geometric data structures and algorithms.Inkscape: a free and open-source vector graphics editor used to create vector images, primarily in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format.OpenSCAD: a solid 3D modeler with a rich syntax for programmable geometry.LibreCAD: a 2D modeling system specializing in blueprint-style drawings and draftings.IfcOpenShell: a library for working with standard IFC building model dataBRL-CAD: a solid modeling suite with conversion and advanced solid ray tracing features.Potential contributors are required to submit their project proposal and applications to Google between March 21 and April 5. Check out the organisations webpage, start talking with their developers, get inspired by a list of project ideas, and make a proposal on how you can start with your very first code contribution!Eligible contributors are students, or those new to contributing to open source.

Fir Mignon (2023), wood, epoxy clay, oil paint, 8.75 x 8.75 x 3 inches. All images courtesy of Joyce Lin, shared with permissionUncanny Objects by Joyce Lin Blur Distinctions Between Reality and the FantasticalJanuary 21, 2025ArtDesignKate MothesWhether enclosed in clear acrylic or seemingly sliced from a single tree, Joyce Lins sculptures examine themes of interconnectedness and the Anthropocene, which describes our planets most recent epoch and the way humans significantly impact its ecosystems and climate. I am both disturbed and captivated by the paradoxes of industrialized society, Lin says in a statement, where modes of production and disposal are often obscured to the public, yet people have more technology than ever to make their imagined worlds a reality.Wood Chair in Fir (2024), oil paint, epoxy clay, plywood, MDF, and wood, 16.5 x 16.25 x 34.75 inchesLins uncanny pieces meld form and function, taking the recognizable shapes of furniture and food and transforming them into playful meditations on mass production and consumption. She often uses organic materials like wood, augmenting the surfaces with synthetic mediums like epoxy, resin, and oil paint to preserve their appearance in perpetuity. Some works, like the Wooden Chair series, are entirely composed of engineered materials.I love to dissect and understand things, and my works often feature objectsusually a chairsliced open to expose an inner structure; to express an inner truth, so to speak, Lin tells Colossal. She manipulates the structures extensively, blurring the reality of what she describes as the insides and the outsides, so the composition takes on a fantastical quality.I dont think theyre so convincing when you really zoom in, so its interesting to see people assume theyre somehow grown or AI-generated, even though they take an incredible amount of manual labor and time to create, Linn adds. I often think about distortions in our perception of reality, (which is) probably why people keep sending me those is-it-cake videos.The artist is currently working toward a solo exhibition later this year at R & Company, and you can explore more on her website and Instagram.Exploded Chair (2019), maple and acrylic, 16 x 16 x 35 inchesWoodnanas (2024) wood, steel, polyester resin, and epoxy clayWood Chair in Ash (2024), oil paint, epoxy clay, plywood, MDF, and wood. Beetles: epoxy, wire, 16.5 x 16.25 x 34.75 inchesDetail of Wood Chair in AshRoot Chair (2023), found driftwood and walnut stain, 29 x 30 x 34 inchesWood StoolNext article