The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, has been waiting for a phone call, letter, email, text anything, really from the Trump administration that might say if hes getting fired.After all, Chopra is a Biden administration appointee. Hes an ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of President Donald Trumps favorite targets. Chopra has already packed up his office a few blocks from the White House. His picture no longer hangs in the lobby.But as of Wednesday, Chopra remains one of the more important regulators from the Biden administration whos still on the job as Trump cleans house. Thats according to a person familiar with Chopras situation who insisted on anonymity to describe his status. Of course, it was Trump who during his first term picked Chopra to be a Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission.For a president who took office with aggressive plans to reshape Washington, Trump seems not to have fully communicated what he wants from Chopras agency. Under his leadership, the bureau hastackled junk fees, limitedoverdraft penaltiesandremoved medical debtfrom peoples credit ratings. His continued presence on the job may speak to how Trumps desire to move quickly in taking control of the government can lead to some oversights, but also to the challenge of fully merging Trumps populism with his pro-business calls to cut regulations.Allison Preiss, a spokesperson for the CFPB, declined to comment on Chopras job status. White House officials did not respond to questions about his status.As a candidate, Trump pledged to cap the interest charged on credit card debt and the bureau has privately done work on that issue should the president wish to implement his promise.While working Americans catch up, were going to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates, Trump said at a September rally. Were going to cap it at around 10%. We cant let them make 25 and 30%.Under the law, Chopra serves a five-year term, which means he could stay on as the CFPB director. But he has publicly stated that he would leave his post if the president asked.The CFPB under Chopra has courted controversy with major banks and other companies who view its actions as being too aggressive. JPMorganChase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said at an American Bankers Association conference that it was time to fight back against regulators, saying of Chopra, according to Yahoo News, Rohit is a very smart guy who has one major flaw, which I told him personally, which is that you use your brains to justify what you already think.Trump has made easing government regulations one of his cornerstones for growth, meaning that he might need to choose between his vows to companies and his stated commitment to easing costs for working families.The CFPB has several pending rules pertaining to restrictions on data brokers selling personal information such as Social Security numbers and phone numbers. Its also seeking to ban contracts that could cause someone to lose access to financial services for making political statements. The CFPB, meanwhile, is considering legal action against Meta, Mark Zuckerbergs company disclosed. It also in December published an order to superviseGoogle Payment Corp.as more financial transactions are going through peoples phones.Josh Boak, Associated Press

Pinterests CEO wants teens to use their app, but not during school hours.Bill Ready has joined the growing chorus of parents, educators, and policymakers advocating for phone-free schools. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 72% of high school and 33% of middle school teachers report cell phone distractions as a major problem. Its so objectively clear that students will benefit from fewer distractions in the classroom, Ready said during a recent interview. It will benefit their learning.While in some ways surprising for a social media CEO, since Ready took the helm nearly three years ago, he has worked to position Pinterest as a tech company prioritizing online safety for young users. Under his leadership, Pinterest has called for stronger protections, including a national digital ID system to verify users ages and support for the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which would require platforms to take reasonable steps to safeguard minors from harm.Pinterest is also testing a new feature designed to encourage students to stay off the app during school hours. Some 97% of 11- to 17-year-olds use their phones during school time, for an average of 43 minutes, according to a 2023 Common Sense Media study. In the United States, at least eight states have now passed policies that ban or restrict cell phone use in schools, while 15 states have considered similar measures, according to health policy organization KFF.Pinterest has always done things a little differently compared to its peers. Founded in 2010, the social media platform caters to its predominantly female audience with a focus on recipes, fashion trends, and home decor. Users create and share digital bulletin boards, pinning images that inspire them, a refreshing departure from the fast-paced, often rage-baiting content that make up much of other platforms.Pinterests emphasis on positivity also resonates with users; according to Sprout Socials 2024 content strategy report, over half of social media users describe Pinterest as more positive than other platforms. Ready has since doubled down on Pinterests reputation as a kinder, more positive corner of the internet. A key difference between Pinterest and other platforms is that we do not optimize for time spent, but rather time spent welltime spent on joyful, inspiring experiences, Ready previously told Fast Company. Were betting on hope, not hatred as the driver of engagement on Pinterest.

The Brutalist leads the Oscar nominations but as a film about architecture it's a little underwhelming, writes Will Wiles.You wait ages for an architectural epic and then two come along (almost) at once. Last year Francis Ford Coppola's misfiring fable Megalopolis was released, with a story about a visionary architect struggling to realise a utopian project in the face of political intrigue and opposition. Now, from director Brady Corbet, comes The Brutalist, in which a visionary architect rises out of the horrors of the second world war and the grime of post-war poverty to realise a utopian project in the face of personal disasters and opposition.The Brutalist and Megalopolis are very different films, but they are also very similar, not least in their relationship to a third film, in some ways the defining architectural drama: King Vidor's The Fountainhead (1949), adapted from Ayn Rand's 1943 novel of the same name, in which a visionary architect struggles to realise a utopian project in the face of scheming, petty rivals. The template, by now, is pretty clear: a singular genius, an architectural dream, and an unready world filled with meaner minds.The Brutalist has been eagerly anticipated in architectural circlesWriting for Dezeen about Megalopolis last year I remarked that its celebration of the blank-slate architectural prophet was oddly old-fashioned, a mid-20th-century sort of story rather out of step with the present. And The Brutalist roots its own version of the myth in that time and milieu.But perhaps it's not so old-fashioned after all. If we've been given not one but two retellings of the same parable, then it might have more relevance than expected. It's worth considering what that might say about architecture in the present moment.In The Brutalist which was written by Corbet and Mona Fastvold Adrien Brody plays Lszl Tth, a Bauhaus-trained architect who survives the Nazis and arrives in the USA immediately after the second world war. Eventually, after various trials, he comes to the attention of wealthy industrialist Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce). Van Buren makes himself Tth's patron, and commissions him to design a community centre on a prominent hilltop, dedicated to the memory of Van Buren's mother.Read: "There is no more controversial style of architecture" says The Brutalist director Brady CorbetThis ambitious project consumes both men. Tth, ravaged by trauma, is stubborn and self-destructive, self-medicating with heroin and occasional debauches. The handsome and mannered Van Buren, meanwhile, is vain, capricious and philistine. His appreciation for Tth's work comes not from the designs themselves but from the fashionable praise they attract.Although eager for Tth to realise a great work, "something boundless, something new", he lacks any real sympathy for the artist. Tth, dragged into the project by the force of Van Buren's personality, is fatally unsuited to the role of servant. The relationship is doomed.The Brutalist has been eagerly anticipated in architectural circles. I anticipated it eagerly myself. These are anti-intellectual times. Art and architecture are battered by cultural headwinds and punishing economic conditions. Here, it appeared, was a grand statement against all that, which in addition was sticking up for a scorned architectural style presently experiencing a wave of political antipathy.When a film like this addresses architecture, it is clearly talking about more than just bricks and mortarThe themes encompassed by The Brutalist couldn't be weightier: the Holocaust, Jewish identity, the American Dream, the immigrant experience, the nature of art and beauty. Uncompromising seriousness seemed written into its very fabric, not least its substantial three-hour, thirty-five minute run-time (with intermission), and its tremendous score by Daniel Blomberg.So when a film like this addresses architecture, it is clearly talking about more than just bricks and mortar or poured concrete and cut stone.Tth is making things that have outlasted the extremists who tried to murder him, and will outlast the vicious snobs who exploit and violate him, and all the other dolts and yahoos. It is the revenge of the intelligent on the unintelligent.Read: "Megalopolis is a reminder that the heroic conception of the architect is an intoxicating one"This is distilled in the moment when Tth confronts and insults the plodding commercial architect who Van Buren brings in to keep an eye on costs. In the cinema, this scene got a hearty laugh that was almost a cheer. It was the psychological moment the audience wanted, when the artist puts the value-engineer in his place. It is the kernel of the appeal of this whole fable.To ensure that we ordinary folk can relate, the artist in The Brutalist, is not a rarefied aesthete. Like Howard Roark in The Fountainhead, Tth is the genius as working man. Just as Patricia Neal finds Gary Cooper's Roark labouring in a quarry, Van Buren finds Tth shovelling coal. He's no egghead. His art comes out of pain and when he is thwarted he rages and smashes things up. Brody sells this with a magnetic performance, splendidly complimented by Felicity Jones as Erzsbet, his wife."My buildings were devised to endure [the] erosion of the shoreline," Tth says. He talks about them having an immovable "hard core of beauty", a phrase which gives the second half of the film its title. One can see the appeal of all this mass, solidity and permanence to film directors, whose medium is light dancing on reflective fabric.Tth's creation is a monumental, windowless hulkArchitecture in The Brutalist couldn't be weightier, earthier and stonier. Railcars groan under the burden of it. But is it anything more than a giant work of sculpture? Does it have life beyond endurance?Here is where things start to get a bit disappointing. Tth's creation is a monumental, windowless hulk. Is it beautiful? It doesn't matter, because it's a symbol. It just represents itself: a bold, uncompromising, obdurate creation, around which lesser men will cluck and cavil. It is the big, dumb object we are here to root for, just as for all his human failings there's never much doubt that in the film's moral cosmos the "ugly" Tth is meant to have our full sympathy and his creation our full support.We want to see the artist triumph, just as we want to see Captain America triumph. But the problem with this art-for-art's sake approach is that it surrenders any actual sense of what Tth is doing with his building and why.Read: Sacred Modernity showcases "unique beauty and architectural innovation" of brutalist churchesTth promises that within the unadorned shell, extraordinary interior effects of space and light will play out, but they are only ever glimpsed. One of the compromises he is obliged to make early on is to include a Christian place of worship, which makes him uncomfortable. This chapel appears to consume the entire project, which ends up surmounted by a tower bisected by a cross, and the light effects he creates are cruciform.What happens to the other functions? Presumably they are still there, but we don't see much of them. The film wants to portray Tth's architecture as spiritual, but it can't manage to do that without making it literally religious.We are encouraged to feel that the building that Tth designs is more than a building, but it ends up being rather less. It is just a gesture, a symbol.I am not convinced it makes a meaningful case for architectureThe outward message here is that architecture really matters: it's important, it's lasting, it should be made with an eye on the transcendent, not the bottom line. So it's strange that the actual building that Tth makes seems to matter so little.The aesthetic stakes the difference between success and failure are never really examined. A clunky coda tries to cover some of this with a curatorial lecture, which only really draws attention to the lack of explanation in the film. The Brutalist is a compelling human drama; as architectural drama it does not wholly convince.It's only natural that the architecture world should be enthusiastic about The Brutalist, when the profession is presently experiencing a good deal of indifference and scorn. And whatever their flaws, it's genuinely terrific to see two big, fascinating films about visionary architecture in less than a year. But while it might raise morale among the brutalists in the cinema, I am not convinced it makes a meaningful case for architecture. It's a depiction of creativity from the outside, not from the inside.Will Wiles is a design writer and the author of four novels, most recently The Last Blade Priest.The photography is courtesy of Universal Pictures.Dezeen In DepthIf you enjoy reading Dezeen's interviews, opinions and features,subscribe to Dezeen In Depth. Sent on the last Friday of each month, this newsletter provides a single place to read about the design and architecture stories behind the headlines.The post "As architectural drama The Brutalist does not wholly convince" appeared first on Dezeen.

Local firm Child Studio drew on the designs of modernist European villas when creating the interior for a townhouse in London's Belgravia area.The three-storey home, which was designed for an art collector, is located in a Georgian building by Eaton Square.Child Studio clad the top floors of the London townhouse in a plaster finish"The project was developed in close collaboration and dialogue with the homeowners to ensure every detail is tailored to their needs and preferences," Child Studio founders Che Huang and Alexy Kos told Dezeen."They envisioned a quietly sophisticated home, free from passing design trends."It also added a cast-iron spiral staircaseChild Studio renovated the top two floors of the 280-square-metre townhouse to create a light double-height space clad in a plaster finish.Here, the designers also added a mezzanine floor connecting the living room with an outdoor roof terrace via a cast-iron spiral staircase.In the living room, the designers used five-metre-tall mahogany wooden shelves to cover an entire wall, adding an elegant dark backdrop against the pale plaster.Wooden shelves reach five metres and cover one wallThe shelves hold the owners' books and were informed by the library in the Paris studio of late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld.Wood was used throughout the space, with the bedroom featuring an undulating wooden headboard that creates a sculptural effect."The design evolved around a constrained selection of natural materials: hand-crafted wood, solid stone and tactile fabrics," Huang said. "The understated materiality reflects our pared-back approach to this project as a backdrop to the owners' lives."A wooden headboard stands out in the bedroomChild Studio scattered wooden furniture pieces throughout the space, including some design classics.In the dining room, the studio added a set of Chandigarh chairs. The chair also features in the guest bedroom, where it is accompanied by a desk and chair by architect Pierre Jeanneret and a desk lamp by modernist architect Marcel Breuer.Huang and Kos also designed their own furniture pieces for the project.A Chandigarh chair and Marcel Breuer desk lamp decorate the guest bedroomIn the bedroom, the duo created a custom daybed and mahogany stool influenced by art deco designer Jules Leleu, while 20th-century Swedish designer Axel Einar Hjort inspired the low teak table in the living room."We had the opportunity to design the majority of furniture pieces, light fixtures and rugs for this home," Kos said. "It was exciting to collaborate on so many bespoke features with the artisans with whom we had built relationships over the years."As well as using a lot of wood, Child Studio worked with stone. In the bathroom, which was informed by Porto's Villa Serralves, Kos and Huang designed an interior made almost entirely of green Verde Guatemala marble.Green marble was carved into a bathtub and sinkTo create the built-in furniture, including a marble sink and bathtub, the designers worked closely with a small marble workshop in the north of Italy."One of the most interesting design elements was the bathroom sculpted from emerald green marble," Kos added. "The soft curves of the vanity counter and bathtub were carved from solid stone blocks, blending seamlessly into the walls and floor."Read: Child Studio blends mid-century modern and art deco details in Mayfair pied--terreAnother modernist house, Villa Necchi in Milan, was the reference for the townhouse's lounge with its mahogany-panelled walls and antique Iroko-wood coffee table.The designers drew on modernist villas because they respect their craftsmanship, they said.An Iroko-wood table sits in the lounge"We admire the craftsmanship and attention to detail characteristic of the early modernist European villas," Huang said."Our studio applies this approach to interior projects, working closely with artisans and craftspeople in England and Italy to bring the bespoke design features to life."To create an elegant backdrop for the vintage and custom-made furniture, Child Studio reinstated some of the Georgian home's former architectural features, including panelled wooden shutters, herringbone parquet and semicircular plaster ceiling cornices.Axel Einar Hjort's furniture inspired a low teak table"Our primary focus was on quality and comfort, as we aimed to create an effortless and relaxing home that serves as an understated backdrop to the owners' lives," the designers' concluded."We aspired to create a cosy, lived-in atmosphere of a home that could continue to evolve organically over time."Child Studio has previously designed an eyewear store informed by sex venues and blended mid-century modern and art deco in a Mayfair flat.The photography is byHelen Cathcart.The post Child Studio designs Belgravia townhouse as "understated backdrop to the owners' lives" appeared first on Dezeen.

Italian firearms manufacturer Beretta has unveiled a shotgun designed to honor Marco Polo.The unusual one-off, meant to celebrate Polo's legacy as the explorer who connected Europe and Asia, took some 2,000 hours to craft; made of walnut with copper inlays, it features hand-engraved depictions of Polo's travels. The piece is based on Beretta's SO6 EELL Sparviere platform, an over-and-under design for hunting and sport shooting. "Sparviere" means "sparrowhawk" in Italian; it references the unique design of this platform, where the side plates open like that bird's wings. As for why the gun was made: "As a company, we try to follow Marco Polo's attitude to explore: we spend our existence pushing our boundaries and expanding our horizons, we research to find always new solutions, techniques and materials and provide hunters and shooters with innovative and unconventional products," says Beretta CEO Carlo Ferlito. "The craftsmen of our Pietro Beretta Selection atelier managed to astound us again with this unique shotgun, going beyond the limits of their immense skills and showing us something unprecedented."

Most of the time when we see characters on TV shows and movies wearing tinfoil hats and covering the room in tinfoil as well, we laugh at them and think theyre just paranoid, conspiracy theorists. But with what weve been experiencing lately when it comes to privacy, security, and even the effect of technology on our health, we cant help but think they may have a point. We wont go so far as to actually covering our whole house in tinfoil, but there are some products now being created to help protect people to a certain degree.Designer: VollebakVollebak is known for their future-forward clothes, particularly the advanced materials that they use for things like shirts, pants, and jackets. Normally, we just wear the latter when were cold or sometime even to protect us from the elements. But with the brands newest product, the Shielding Jacket, you can wear it to shield yourself from infrared cameras, protect yourself from bacteria and other harmful elements, and even block electromagnetic radiation. You probably will never be paranoid when youre wearing this jacket. And since it uses the same electromagnetic shielding technology used for the Mars Rover, you can also be space ready to a certain degree. The outer material uses a base of lightweight ripstop nylon which is then metallised with a process that uses pure silver grown into the fabric. This means that the silver makes up 20% of the materials composition and is actually embedded into the fiber. Because it is electrically conductive and antimicrobial, it can kill bacteria and also reflect electromagnetic energy including radio waves, wifi, bluetooth, ku-band satellites, and radar systems. When you wear the jacket, you cannot be seen on infrared cameras. So if youre on some kind of stealth mission, the jacket can render you invisible from these kinds of cameras with mid and long wave infrared radiation.And if you really want to protect your phone from being hacked or tracked, the jacket has two faraday cage pockets that blocks access to your device even when its turned off. The pockets are on the left chest and inside the right side pocket. But there are also regular side zipped pockets with storm flaps. If you think having a jacket like this is uncomfortable, its actually designed just like a normal lightweight jacket with a soft polyester lining, except that it has a metallic sheen and embedded silver that can turn you into the most protected individual. The post Vollebak Shielding Jacket has embedded silver to protect you from bacteria and electromagnetic radiation first appeared on Yanko Design.

Dementia in aging patients comes with its unique set of challenges that can be overwhelming in daily life. Communication difficulties and memory loss can lead to some life-threatening situations as well when in public spaces which need a subtle solution.The Sentence smart walker designed for aging patients who struggle withcognitive impairment, behavioral changes, and difficulty with daily tasks is the next best solution. It is an intelligent assistive device that learns the users habits over time to prompt suggestions about sentences they intend to speak. Intended to be used in shared mode, the assistive device creates individual profiles of the users, so that it can have AI-generated replies to any situation or someone elses queries.Designer: Junhyung KwonHaving a wide display on the front, this walker is a guardian for people with cognitive problems, so that they dont lose their way. This ensures the safety of the elderly whenever they take a walk out in the community garden or even the local supermarket. Sentence lowers the center of gravity convenient and stable walking. This is done by the intersection of curves rather than the existing vertical and horizontal structure. The whole structure is foldable for mobility so that it can be loaded in the boot of your car.The smart walker comes with a dual camera setup on the front, so that they can observe others in their field of view. The Elderly can navigate through the information created on the prompts of the screen, presented as text. Users can choose from these text prompts without losing track of where they are walking. Two buttons execute the physical action, which has a height adjustment function and a folding function. The button on the other side helps intuitive recognition by expressing the most appropriate consideration of the usability of seniors with reduced cognitive ability.The aim of this concept is to help elderly patients walk, and more than that, help them socialize. With this concept people with aging and dementia are free to go out, meet someone, and have fun talking like we all do!The post Smart walker for aging dementia patients helps walk safer and communicate effectively with an AI-powered learning system first appeared on Yanko Design.

Fresh out of federal prison, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio suggests hes still in charge as the far-right organization looks to regroup.

Chinese hacks, rampant ransomware, and Donald Trumps budget cuts all threaten US security. In an exit interview with WIRED, former CISA head Jen Easterly argues for her agencys survival.

The new tool, called Operator, can shop for groceries or book a restaurant reservation. But it still needs help from humans.