Richard Mille is generally known for fascinating timepieces that are apparently robust and intriguingly complex. This time, to kickstart the new year, the brand has launched a brutalist architecture-inspired RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat, which is a modern take on the RM 016, Richard Milles first rectangular automatic watch, an embodiment of ergonomic perfection and minimalist aesthetics.If there is one architectural style that has influenced watchmaking more than others, it has to be Brutalism. Since its buildup in the 1950s, the brutalist style characterized by blocky forms and geometric shapes has found its way into the best of watches including a Patek Philippe, a Vacheron Constantin, and even a Richard Mille. The RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat reflects on the architectural style, while staying aesthetically within the RMs signature style: so apparently what we get is a rectangular-shaped, skeletonized watch that resembles Ariadnes thread, by an intricate maze on the dial.Designer: Richard MilleEven though the fit and ideology of the original RM 16-02 are upheld, the new iteration of the watch excels in its interpretation of the rectangular shape and the complex, skeletonized dial that screams with brutalist boldness. Richard Mille has made the new RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat available in two vibrant colorways: Terracotta Quartz TPT and Titanium Creamy White Quartz TPT.Made in about 10 percent smaller size than the original RM016, the new RM 16-02 measures 36mm in width, 45.64mm in length, and 9.5mm thick. Retaining its curvature reminiscent of Richard Mille watches, it comprises a full-grade 5 titanium case in the first model, while its the interesting new Terracotta Quartz TPT model that catches the eye, not only because its a first for RM but also for its process of achieving the color. The unique color is achieved by infusing 45 microns of thin silica threads in a colored matrix and then subjecting them to high temperature and pressure.Of course, both the color variants of the 2025 RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat captivate with their aesthetics and rectangular cases, their story is not limited to appearance. The watches are powered by a new in-house CRMA9 calibre skeletonized automatic movement with hours and minute hands on the dial. The movement measuring 26mm wide, 31.25mm long, and 4.12mm thick specially made for the watch helps maintain the RM 16-02s slim profile and provides it with up to 50 hours of power reserve. Richard Mille watches, we have come to understand, dont sell for affordable rates. Somehow the company has tried to keep the RM 16-02 watches within the range of affordability for most collectors. To ensure that, RM 16-02 Automatic Extraflat Terracotta Quartz TPT is priced at $156,000 and Titanium White Quartz TPT is retailing for $134,000.The post Richard Mille RM 16-02 Automatic Winding Extraflat is brutalist take on vibrant watchmaking first appeared on Yanko Design.

Month-end price cuts are in effect on Apple's latest MacBook Pro with an M4 chip, as Amazon's on-page coupon drops it to $1,399.99.Grab Apple's M4 MacBook Pro for $1,399 - Image credit: AppleThe $1,399.99 price at Amazon is thanks to a $150 instant rebate stacked with a $49.01 on-page coupon, bringing the total savings to $200 off MSRP. With the standard M4 model now including 16GB of unified memory compared to the M3's 8GB of RAM, the Late 2024 14-inch MacBook Pro offers additional value for the price.Buy for $1,399.99 Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

BioWares Dragon Age: The Veilguard became the topic of discussion again after Electronic Arts revealed that it reached 1.5 million players, missing projections for Q3 fiscal year 2025 by about 50 percent. However, a slump for EA Sports FC 25 also heavily contributed. Reuters has since followed up by reporting that shares dropped by 15 percent, with the publisher slated to suffer an almost $6 billion loss in market value.Ultimate Team is vital to EAs annual bottom line, so it makes sense for any setbacks to have a profound impact. As MoffettNathanson analysts stated, Ultimate Team has come to be viewed as a near Swiss clock of interactive media bookings growth. If it is stagnant, it puts enormous pressure on EA to fill the void. As such, the publisher confirmed a mid-single-digit percentage decline in live service bookings despite projecting a mid-single-digit increase.Jefferies analysts also noted the mixed player reactions at EA Sports FC 25s launch, though a recent update brought sweeping changes. Of course, Dragon Age: The Veilguard still suffered from weak spending and couldnt make up for the football titles underperformance.EA has since revised its fiscal year 2025 bookings to $7-$7.15 from $7.5-$7.8 billion. CEO Andrew Wilson remained confident in our long-term strategy and expect a return to growth in FY26, as we execute against our pipeline. Stay tuned for more updates, especially on February 4th, as EA reveals more detailed results.

Extraction shooters are quite easily the latest big trend in multiplayer gaming that companies are trying to hop on to in the wake of the success seen by titles like Escape From Tarkov and Hunt: Showdown. Few titles, however, have managed to have enough staying power to boast success, with most new games in the genre seeing small but dedicated audiences. Bandai Namcos Synduality: Echo of Ada is the latest extraction shooter that is seemingly gunning for one of the top spots of the genre, and in order to do this, the game has its own unique twist on the gameplay and setting.What sets Synduality: Echo of Ada apart from its contemporaries is, first of all, the fact that it is a mech-based game. While this might seem like a superficial observation from the get go, the fact that youre not in direct control of a human character, and are instead piloting a mech referred to rather grimly in the game as a Cradlecoffin means that the title plays differently from just about any other extraction shooter out there. Interestingly, Synduality also has a smoother learning curve than many of its contemporaries, including the excellent looking The Forever Winter.There is a certain vibe that Synduality goes for which feels like it was heavily inspired by the entire medium of anime. Aside from the previously-mentioned grim name for mechs in the universe, players also have AI buddies that they can customize the look for, complete with new outfits to make them look more unique. The mechs themselves lend themselves to more Japanese design sensibilities, looking more like sleek battle machines and less like the clunky bi-pedal tanks that you might see in a western title like MechWarrior 5: Clans. Visually, however, aside from a few fun quirks here and there, Synduality: Echo of Ada tends to look incredibly bland."Synduality also has a smoother learning curve than many of its contemporaries"Unfortunately, just about every bit of unique design and flavour in Synduality is kept to the games various menus. Even the AI buddy youre partnered with is relatively bland, being yet another anime character in a medium that is filled to the brim with, you know, anime characters. Even the design of the Craddlecoffins tend to feel quite bland and derivative of other IPs in the mecha genre, bringing in a mix of designs that range from being inspired by older mecha anime like Gunbuster, to some of the sleeker designs we see in modern-day Gundam.The environments themselves also feel quite uninspired. While the color palette is okay most of the time, with several zones being easily identifiable thanks to the color theming that went into designing them, its difficult to have things in the games two maps stand out because of how generic they can feel. Things seldom get more interesting than ruins of cities and military buildings, and the small bits of forests or mountains that fill out the gaps between these locations tend to often feature some of the more unique opportunities for varied combat. Of course, it also doesnt help that even important things in the game tend to look either slightly blurry, or washed out, and this includes your own mech.While combat is where Synduality hopes to truly shine, unfortunately, it often feels a bit too simplistic to offer anything really new. Sure, the fact that every player is controlling a mech should, theoretically, add a new dimension to battles, especially since these mechs are much more agile and easy to control than a player character would be, unfortunately, things never really evolve much beyond players circle-strafing each other or the PvE enemies while blasting them with weapons. The weapons themselves are relatively quite simple; you get the usual array of guns youd expect from a shooter, ranging from SMGs to shotguns to rifles. While these weapons are split between two categories depending on the type of ammo they use energy or live rounds this seldom comes up in fights."While combat is where Synduality hopes to truly shine, unfortunately, it often feels a bit too simplistic to offer anything really new."Another aspect of the combat is that you get to pick the type of companion you bring with you, which in turn also affects what special abilities youll have access to. While some of these abilities can end up having some effect in fights, like the multi-targeting missile barrage, the build-up and cooldown on these abilities is too long for them to have too much effect on battles. Its often just faster to go in guns blazing and trust your own reflexes in effectively dodging attacks.Credit where its due, Synduality: Echo of Ada at least has some of the best onboarding Ive seen from the genre. Rather than being thrust out into a cold and unforgiving world where failure means losing everything you were carrying (including your own weapons and equipment), the game at least gives you a much better time in the early game than other titles in the genre. Unlike Escape From Tarkov, which is known for its brutal difficulty, Synduality will ease you into its general gameplay loop. In fact, PvP is outright impossible to engage in without progressing through some of the games early objectives, which revolve around you setting out into a PvE-only zone to kill monsters and find materials that will allow you to build up your base to a reasonable level.The game also does a decent job introducing its mechanics gradually, with a key example being a set of early objectives that revolve around setting up a crafting room in your home base. Through these objectives, the game teaches players to set out and fight things, and how various materials can be used to not only build up their base, but also that players can unlock better item stocks in the games stores, and eventually even craft their own specialized equipment."In fact, PvP is outright impossible to engage in without progressing through some of the games early objectives"The tutorialisation does tend to go too far sometimes, however, with the game finding it difficult to occasionally shut up and allow the player to figure some things out themselves. In fact, the early game has constant interruptions where either your companion or a mascot character will try to be helpful by over-explaining various aspects of the game. Some of the help offered by these characters feels like the game thinks that youve never played a video game before.When it comes to the story itself, theres not really much to write home about. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a dangerous type of rain started wiping out the entire human population. Players are Drifters, who set out in the dangerous rain-filled world to get their hands on AO Crystals, which are the new energy source that is allowing humanity to bounce back after their near-extinction. There isnt really much more to the story beyond this basic setup, which provides an adequate reason for players to set out to take on creatures known as Enders and occasionally even rival Drifters. The story is never really expanded upon aside from giving you vague hints about some of the factions being up to no good, and theres never really a big payoff regarding the ultimate fate of humanity.Unfortunately, Synduality: Echo of Ada feels like an early idea that never really got expanded on. Superficially, it has some interesting ideas, and its easier early game objectives are definitely a great step in the right direction for the genre. Sadly, the game is quite lacking when it comes to actual depth; the combat seldom evolves beyond circle-strafing and shooting, and even the progression system is quite basic. Add on top the rather bland and generic anime aesthetics, as well as the fact that the story never really goes anywhere, and you get a title that might just not be around long in the future.This game was reviewed on PC.

Here's what OpenAI's o1 had to say about AI trends this year. Just how many there are is a testament to AIs general-purpose value.Read More

Looking for the most recent Strands answer?Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Connections puzzles.Todays NYTStrandspuzzle is a fun one. Whether or not you participate in these answers, these are words most people know -- with maybe one exception that's kind of James Bond-y. If you need hints and answers, read on.Also, I go into depth about therules for Strands in this story.If you're looking for today's Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visitCNET's NYT puzzle hints page.Read more:NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So FarHint for today's Strands puzzleToday's Strands theme is:Viva Las Vegas.If that doesn't help you, here's a clue: Roll the dice.Clue words to unlock in-game hintsYour goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle's theme. If you're stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:SLOP, BRAS, JACK, SLOT, POLO, POST, PART, TEEM, GLUE, TRON, BRIT, JEER, JAMB, BLING, METEAnswers for today's Strands puzzleThese are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you've got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:CRAPS, SLOTS, POKER, BACCARAT, ROULETTE, BLACKJACKToday's Strands spangramToday's Strands spangram isGAMBLING.To find it, start with the G that's six letters down on the second row to the far left, and wind over (in a pretty cool design). The completed NYT Strands puzzle for Monday Jan. 27, 2025, #330. NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.Today's Connections puzzlemade me laugh. The blue category is one of those "name all the items that can possibly be in this group" types of answers. The purple group is also fun, for fans of a certain horror movie and book. Read on for clues and today's Connections answers.The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. And players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.Read more:Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every TimeHints for today's Connections groupsHere are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest, yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.Yellow group hint: Like an appetizer.Green group hint: Fur is one.Blue group hint: Culinary ingredient.Purple group hint: Here's Johnny!Answers for today's Connections groupsYellow group: Small amount of food to try.Green group: Protective coverings in nature.Blue group: Extra virgin olive oil.Purple group: Seen in The Shining.Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English WordsWhat are today's Connections answers? The completed NYT Connections puzzle for Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. NYT/Screenshot by CNETThe yellow words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is small amount of food to try. The four answers are bite, mouthful, sample and taste.The green words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is protective coverings in nature. The four answers are bark, scales, shell and skin.The blue words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is extra virgin olive oil. The four answers are extra, oil, olive and virgin.The purple words in today's ConnectionsThe theme is seen in The Shining. The four answers are axe, hedge maze, twins and typewriter.

In BriefPosted:2:16 PM PST January 26, 2025Image Credits:Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto / Getty ImagesPerplexity submits a new bid for TikTokPerplexity AI has submitted a revised proposal to merge with TikTok, in an arrangement that would give the U.S. government up to 50 percent ownership of the new entity.The Associated Press first reported on the new proposal. A source with knowledge of the bid confirmed to TechCrunch that the APs reporting is accurate.The AI search engine had previously proposed creating a new company by combining Perplexity, TikTok US, and additional equity investors. Under the new bid, the government would receive its stake after an initial public offering of at least $300 million, while TikToks current Chinese owner ByteDance could also retain ownership, according to the AP.Perplexity reportedly revised its bid based on feedback from President Donald Trumps administration.TikTok briefly went down last weekend due to a law forcing ByteDance to sell the app or see it banned in the United States. It sprang back to life after Trump said he would sign an executive order extending the sale deadline. He also said hed like to see the U.S. receive 50% ownership, although it wasnt clear whether he meant the government or U.S. investors.Another report this week suggested that the White House was negotiating a deal that would see Oracle (which already provides the infrastructure for TikToks U.S. traffic) take over; when asked, Trump said hes spoken to many people about TikTok but not with Oracle.Topics

Since Chinese AI company DeepSeek released an open version of its reasoning model R1 at the beginning of this week, many in the tech industry have been making grand pronouncements about what the company achieved, and what it means for the state of AI.Venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, for example, posted that DeepSeek is one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs Ive ever seen.R1 seemingly matches or beats OpenAIs o1 model on certain AI benchmarks. And the company claims one of its models only cost $5.6 million to train, compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars that leading American companies pay to train theirs.It also seems to have achieved that in the face of U.S. sanctions that prohibit the sale of advanced chips to Chinese companies. The MIT Technology Review writes that the companys success illustrates how sanctions are driving startups like DeepSeek to innovate in ways that prioritize efficiency, resource-pooling, and collaboration. (On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal reports that DeepSeeks Liang Wenfeng recently told Chinas premier that American export restrictions still pose a bottleneck.)Curai CEO Neal Khosla offered a simpler explanation, claiming that the company is a ccp state psyop thats faking the cost was low to justify setting price low and hoping everyone switches to it [to] damage AI competitiveness in the us. (A Community Note has been attached to his post pointing out that Khosla offers no evidence for this, and that his father Vinod is an OpenAI investor.)Meanwhile, journalist Holger Zschaepitz suggested DeepSeek could represent the biggest threat to US equity markets if a Chinese company can build a cutting-edge model at low cost, without access to advanced chips, it would call into question the utility of the hundreds of billions worth of capex being poured into this industry.In response, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan argued DeepSeeks success would actually be good for its American competitors. If training models get cheaper faster and easier, he wrote on X, the demand for inference (actual real world use of AI) will grow and accelerate even faster, which assures the supply of compute will be used.And Metas Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun argued against looking at DeepSeeks announcement through the lens of China versus the United States. Instead, he suggested the real lesson is that open source models are surpassing proprietary ones.DeepSeek has profited from open research and open source (e.g. PyTorch and Llama from Meta), LeCun wrote on LinkedIn this week. They came up with new ideas and built them on top of other peoples work. Because their work is published and open source, everyone can profit from it.All of the debate seems to be driving consumers to try the product. As of Sunday afternoon, DeepSeeks AI assistant is the top free app in the Apple App Store, just ahead of ChatGPT.

While the town around him was engulfed by searing pyroclastic flows, one man achieved the impossible ... [+] from a prison cell with a single ventilation shaft. Heres how he did it.gettyNatural disasters test the resilience of all living beings, often leaving behind destruction that rewrites history. Yet, across the spectrum of life, species have developed astonishing adaptations to survive.Ginkgo trees have endured atomic blasts. Fire beetles seek freshly burned forests to lay their eggs, their larvae thriving in charred wood. Desertas petrels, seabirds of the Atlantic, exploit hurricanes to scavenge food in seemingly inhospitable conditions.While humans have adapted to extreme environmentssuch as the Inuit surviving the Arctic cold and the Yakuts enduring Siberian wintersone man defied all odds in the face of total annihilation.Ludger Sylbaris, a troublemaker imprisoned on the Caribbean island of Martinique, not only survived the 1902 eruption of Mount Pele but emerged to tell a truly extraordinary story.It All Started With A Bar FightIn 1902, Martiniquea French colony in the Lesser Antillesboasted a vibrant society centered in Saint-Pierre. Perched at the base of Mount Pele, this bustling port city brimmed with a population of nearly 30,000.MORE FOR YOUYet beneath its picturesque charm loomed a dormant threat.Mount Pele, towering at over 4,400 feet, had exhibited minor activity in the 19th century but remained largely forgotten by its residents.Ludger Sylbarisborn Louis-Auguste Cypariswas a laborer with a reputation for brawling and drinking. On May 7, 1902, his penchant for trouble led him to a heated argumentsome accounts suggest it involved a machete, with injuries to his opponent. Arrested for the fight, he was placed in a solitary cell within Saint-Pierres prison.The timing of his imprisonment, though unfortunate on the surface, would turn out to be the twist of fate that saved his life.That night, as Sylbaris stewed in his cramped, half-underground cell, Mount Pele began to stir. For weeks, the volcano had been grumbling with ominous signs: ash clouds, sulfuric fumes and boiling mudflows.Still, reassurances from local authorities lulled the city into a false sense of security. Residents believed Saint-Pierres position sheltered it from any significant volcanic threat. Little did they know, disaster was hours away.How To Survive A Volcanic EruptionAt 7:52 a.m. on May 8, Mount Pele erupted catastrophically. A pyroclastic surgea deadly mix of superheated gas, ash and rockraced down the volcano at 420 mph, obliterating everything in its path. Temperatures within the surge soared above 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to incinerate flesh and flatten infrastructure in seconds.Saint-Pierre, once the islands crown jewel, was reduced to a burning wasteland in under a minute. Nearly 30,000 residents perished instantly, their lungs scorched by toxic gases or their bodies consumed by the firestorm.Inside his stone cell, Sylbaris experienced an inferno of his own.Superheated air and ash entered through the narrow ventilation grate in the door. Acting on instinct, he urinated on his shirt and stuffed it into the grate to block the fiery intrusions. Despite his efforts, the intense heat burned his limbs, back and hands. Yet, the thick stone walls and underground position of the cell shielded him from the full force of the blast.Sylbaris endured three days in near-total darkness, surviving on rainwater that trickled into his cell. His screams for help went unheard, as no one in the immediate vicinity had survived.Following 1902s eruption that left very few survivors, Mount Pele continues to remain active ... [+] todaythreatening the lives of Martiniques residents.gettyFinally, on May 11, a rescue team searching the ruins discovered his moans.The rescuers, astonished to find anyone alive, dug him out and rushed him to receive medical care. Covered in burns but alive, Ludger Sylbaris had withstood one of historys deadliest volcanic disasters.Ludgers Feat Would Not Be Easy To Match For Most Of UsTo understand the miracle of Sylbaris survival, one must grasp the lethal nature of pyroclastic flows. These surges are among the most devastating forces on Earth, capable of erasing entire cities.Human physiology is ill-equipped to handle such extremes.The threshold for thermal pain begins at 109 degrees Fahrenheit, with severe burns occurring at 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Exposure to temperatures exceeding 248 degrees Fahrenheit causes instant combustion of human tissue.The pyroclastic surge that struck Saint-Pierre was not only several times hotter but carried suffocating volcanic gases like carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which could destroy lung tissue within a single breath.Sylbaris survival hinged on a rare combination of factors.His cells stone walls absorbed much of the heat, and its orientationfacing away from the volcanolimited his exposure to direct blasts. Moreover, his quick thinking to block the ventilation grate likely saved him from inhaling lethal amounts of gas.Despite suffering severe burns, his core body temperature likely remained just within survivable limits, a testament to both luck and ingenuity under pressure.His survival remains an anomaly. Thousands outside the prison perished instantly, their bodies frozen in postures of panic or prayer. Even ships anchored offshore were engulfed in the fiery cloud, with sailors leaping into the sea only to succumb to burns or drowning.Sylbaris ordeal earned him a pardon for his crimes and a place in history as the man who lived through doomsday.He toured with the Barnum & Bailey Circus, recounting his story alongside a replica of his cell, captivating audiences worldwide. Yet, the tragedy of Mount Pele serves as a somber reminder of natures unchecked power. While Sylbaris lived to tell his tale, the scars he bore were a permanent testament to the fury of the volcano that nearly claimed him.Volcanoes, often seen as symbols of destruction, also illuminate the resilience and adaptability of nature. How do you feel when you read about people who can adapt to even such challenging environments? Take a 2-minute test to see where you stand on the Connectedness to Nature Scale.