On January 21, 2025, developer S-GAME released Phantom Blade Zeros Year of the Snake gameplay trailer to celebrate the start of the Chinese zodiac calendar year. The unedited boss fight was as creative as it was fluid, and it immediately drove two points home: dark, grisly combat is here to stay, and Black Myth: Wukong was just the tip of the iceberg in Chinese tradition and culture. Thats saying something since theres a lot of content that Phantom Blade Zeros developer is still holding close to its chest.

Its only January, but the eccentric, ambitious documentary Grand Theft Hamlet will surely end up as one of 2025s most interesting movies. During Englands second lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, two unemployed actors who had been spending their time in Grand Theft Auto Online decided to stage a production of Hamlet within the confines of the games virtual world. Their performance of the play (dubbed GTA Hamlet) was presented strictly using the vast virtual cityscape of Los Santos, with their in-game avatars as actors.Grand Theft Hamlet tells the story of the duos one-of-a-kind production, showing the virtual avatars of the actors as they attempt to pull together something that seems impossible. What emerges is a portrait of a virtual theater company constantly (and occasionally literally) going to battle to mount their production amid the pure pandemonium that is GTA Online.Grand Theft Hamlet is an ambitious documentary that hinges on capturing the thorny IRL moments of putting on a play in the virtual world of GTA Online. It doesnt always work: some moments feel scripted. (The filmmakers told Polygon that while they did not stage any of the drama, they did re-record lines of dialogue to clean up the audio.) Ultimately, the creators tried to control a finished product that was never going to be in control, instead of fully embracing the mayhem the form afforded them. But when its on, Grand Theft Hamlet feels like a shot of lightning, with the best moments being the completely unexpected ones, as the chaos of the world repeatedly interferes with their attempts to rehearse and mount the virtual production.Just take a look at the most popular reviews of the movie on Letterboxd: They are absolutely littered with love for ParTeb, a side participant who injected pure chaos into the production. ParTeb was not one of the many actors recruited by creators Sam Crane, Pinny Grylls, and Mark Oosterveen to join their production of Hamlet. ParTeb was a random passerby wearing a ridiculous alien outfit. First introduced as a curious spectator, ParTeb becomes the docs comedic lifeblood.In one of Grand Theft Hamlets highlights, after rehearsals of the planned production have been halted multiple times by in-game random gunfire and police activity, ParTeb receives an informal promotion to Chief of Security for the virtual theater company, providing lethal protection from his VTOL jet in the skies. The juxtaposition of the scrappy theater company trying to pull together a production with a massive military fighter jet hovering above them is exactly what makes GTA Hamlet special.ParTebs involvement and the troupes other random encounters with GTAO players helps make the ambitious effort truly feel like live theater, complete with the risky elements of chance: Anything can happen during a live performance, including audience interference. When ParTeb offers to audition with my [virtual green alien] butt, only to get on stage and beautifully recite a portion of the Quran, the sheer surprise at the unexpected turn of events makes the moment truly magical.Spontaneity is the key to GTA Hamlets success as a theatrical production, as it is for any of the other countless GTA Online role players attempting to make their virtual dreams come true inside a chaotic game. Some people play the game without committing crimes. Others roleplay as high school students. Some people play as an assassin-for-hire, while others pretend to be cops. All of them have to navigate the essential tension between their individual goals, what the game was actually designed for, and the goals of every other player around them.This same tension arose when Past Lives director Celine Song attempted to mount a production of Anton Chekhovs The Seagull in The Sims 4. Polygons Nicole Carpenter noted how that provided a challenge to the production, but also added extra elements of humor and surprising profundity, just like in GTA Hamlet:Sims, of course, operate with free will, meaning that if they have a different need to be fulfilled say, theyre hungry or need to pee theyll do that, rather than what theyre commanded to do by the player.That makes creating a live production, where the Sims (as actors) should follow the players every move, much more chaotic. But it also helps reimagine this classic text in a way thats both profound and hilarious.Spontaneous action isnt the only place where GTA Hamlet gains strength from its form. When the climax occurs and characters start dying left and right, GTA Onlines kill feed dutifully reports each death. (Spoiler alert for a more than 400-year-old-play, I guess.) Queen_Gertrude has chosen the easy way out. Hamlet_thedane killed King_Claudius. Hamlet_thedane has chosen the easy way out. In these moments, Grand Theft Hamlet best connects the vast distance between the history of live theater and the new medium its been pulled into.Hamlet has been performed untold numbers of times, in untold numbers of ways, but never quite like this before. Its a thrilling reminder that there are always new ways to re-imagine our oldest and most enduring stories. It makes Grand Theft Hamlet an exciting entry in a new wave of movies and theater productions taking advantage of the spontaneity of video game worlds as a potential location for narrative action. The documentary is also a helpful reminder to artists working in (not-so) new and difficult forms that sometimes, the chaos is the point.Grand Theft Hamlet is currently in theaters.

A new Resident Evil reboot from Barbarian writer and director Zach Cregger is in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The publication reports that Cregger is on board to write and direct the movie, which will be produced by Constantin Film and PlayStation Productions, with Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 4 ) as co-writer. Im probably not the only one questioning whether we really need another Resident Evil movie after half a dozen titles in the Milla Jovovich-led series and 2021s Welcome to Raccoon City, but as someone who loved Barbarian, I cant say Im not intrigued.Per The Hollywood Reporter, Creggers take is described by sources as a revamp that will take the title to its horror roots and be more faithful to the initial games. There arent any details about the upcoming movie beyond that, but Warner Bros., Netflix and two other studios are reportedly in a bidding war for it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/tv-movies/the-filmmaker-behind-barbarian-is-leading-a-new-resident-evil-reboot-173415349.html?src=rss

Apple wants to prioritize Siri and its in-house AI models, according to a leaked internal memo.

Hackers are faking Reddit threads and WeTransfer files to try and trick users into downloading malware.

If you have spent any time traveling in the U.S. over the past 10 years, you may have noticed a curious vending machine filled with jars. Instead of crinkle-cut chips or wired earbuds for that movie you want to watch on the plane, these vending machines sell freshly made apple pecan salads, blueberry chia overnight oats, and mediterranean bowls. They are run by a company called Farmers Fridge, and they are slowly taking over airports in the U.S.Since it launched in 2013, the company has installed its vending machines at about 20 U.S. airports, including LAX, Chicago OHare, Dallas Fort-Worth, and most recently, Las Vegas. (I first stumbled on its leafy offerings at JFK airport, while on a quest for a meal that didnt involve a side of soggy fries.)And its not just airports. These fridges are cropping up everywhere, from hospitals like New York Presbyterian and Boston Medical Center, to Amazon fulfillment centers, college campuses like Northwestern and Harvard, and stadiums like L.As Crypto.com Arena. Today, the company counts 1,600 locations around the country, and in the next 10 years, CEO and founder Luke Saunders is hoping to reach 100,000. How? With an understanding of cold chain logistics, an ever-expanding menu, and a swanky new fridge.This month, the company is debuting a new design that could help the company roll out more fridges at a faster clip. Five years in the works, the new fridge comes with a pitched roof that stands out from its flat-topped competitors. It boasts a new UX where various parts of the machine (from the payment module to the recycling bin where you can return your jar) light up to guide you through your purchase. And perhaps most importantlyat least when it comes to business growthit is made of two flat-pack modules that can be assembled in just 30 minutes, compared to four hours for the previous model.For now, the team is rolling these out at new locations onlythe first 50 fridges are already on the ground in Chicago and New York. But if these fridges prove as efficient as hoped, the company will begin swapping them out, one airport at a time. As we look to expand into new markets, our strategy is always to start with the airport, Saunders told me. Once we have the airport locked in, we build out the market with other verticals to saturate the market.[Photo: Farmers Fridge]The vending machine boomLipstick, guacamole, earrings: You can buy pretty much anything out of a vending machine today (especially in Japan.) But in the early 2010s, when Farmers Fridge was just a seed in Saunderss mind, vending machines in the U.S. were only beginning to diversify. Best Buy launched its first airport vending machine in 2008. Sephora launched its in 2009. Benefit followed suit in 2013 with their now-iconic kiosk designed to look like a pink bus.Saunderss biggest influence, however, was Redbox, the now-defunct movie rental kiosk company. That, and ATMs, he says with a laugh. Prior to [ATMs], you had to go into a bank, talk to somebody, wait in line, and now you could go anytime you wanted, he says. ATMs, like vending machines, were convenient, and they were available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Why has no one done this for food? he wondered.At the time, most vending machines sold snacks with a disturbingly long shelf life. The reasons for that are obvious. When food doesnt need to be refrigerated, the level of urgency to get it from the facility where its made and into peoples mouths is significantly lower than when its fresh. A granola bar, for example, can take anywhere from two weeks to six months to make it into a vending machine. A salad from Farmers Fridge can only spend 24 to 48 hours in transit. After that, Saunder says, the fridge wont let you buy it.Farmers Food makes every meal in-house, from a 100,000 square-foot facility in Chicago. The workday begins at 4 a.m. with washing and chopping veggies, cooking pasta, and mixingdressings. The assembly line begins at 8 a.m., and by 6 p.m., the company has to decide where these meals will be shipped off to.The team makes this decision based on a cost-function algorithm that Saunders himself built in the early days to calculate the probability the company will sell an item against the profitability of that item. The algorithm takes into consideration purchasing data, historical foot traffic data, and other variables like the weather.Today, the software mostly gets it right, but that wasnt always the case. Ten years ago, Saunders says about 50% of meals were left unsold. Now, that number has dropped to 5%. (Unsold meals get either donated or composted, depending on the location.)[Photo: Farmers Fridge]From salads to . . . sushi?From the beginning, Saunders suspected that the biggest hurdle to scaling wouldnt be a lack of interest, but a lack of infrastructure. To prove out his theory, he set out to find a pilot location and eventually installed his first Farmers Fridge in a food court in Chicago. As Saunders recalls it, the food court was desperate for a tenant, and he himself was desperate for a landlord.The food court ended up shuttering soon after that, but the machine had done its job, and interest snowballed from there. In the first year, the company made about $350,000. This year, Saunders says it is projected to make 30 to 40 times that, which could amount to as much as $140 million.To date, the companys best-selling item is the chicken southwest salad. In 2018, the company introduced sandwiches (and won a packaging award in the process). This year, they are rolling out protein bowlsand even contemplating sushi.The idea of eating raw fish from an airport machine might put some people off, but Saunders is convinced the idea has merit. And its not just intuition. Every time people buy something from Farmers Fridge, they are asked to fill out to a survey with their wish list. The most requested item? You guessed it. Sushi in a vending machine is not an entirely new concept. Japan has them in troves. But for Americans to buy in will likely depend on a variety of factors, including how much confidence the fridge can inspire. People get nervous about stuff like that, and Im the guy whos like, ten years ago, people were telling me that about salad, says Saunders. If you make good sushi, people will buy it. If its bad, they wont buy it.That the company spent five years fine-tuning the design of its fridges suddenly makes sense considering every fridge bears the burden of luring customers. Back in 2013, the first fridge looked as if a vending machine and a restaurant had a baby, says Saunders. It came with wood paneling, fresh plants on the roof and astroturf. Now, the company has pared down the aesthetic in favor of something clean and bright. The plants are gone. The wood paneling has made way for powdered-coated metal.But what the company has lost in rustic charm, its hoping to make up for in brand trust. This new design might not win any awards for hygge designbut it acknowledges that the fridge is just a shell, and the actual star is whats inside it. Whether it comes with a side of soy sauce, or not.

The devastating wildfires in Los Angeles have made one threat very clear: Climate change is undermining the insurance systems American homeowners rely on to protect themselves from catastrophes. This breakdown is starting to become painfully clear as families and communities struggle to rebuild.But another threat remains less recognized: This collapse could pose a threat to the stability of financial markets well beyond the scope of the fires.Its been widely accepted for more than a decade that humanity has three choices when it comes to responding to climate risks: adapt, abate or suffer. As an expert in economics and the environment, I know that some degree of suffering is inevitableafter all, humans have already raised the average global temperature by 1.6 degrees Celsius, or 2.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats why its so important to have functioning insurance markets.While insurance companies are often cast as villains, when the system works well, insurers play an important role in improving social welfare. When an insurer sets premiums that accurately reflect and communicate riskwhat economists call actuarially fair insurancethat helps people share risk efficiently, leaving every individual safer and society better off.But the scale and intensity of the Southern California fireslinked in part to climate change, including record-high global temperatures in 2023 and again in 2024has brought a big problem into focus: In a world impacted by increasing climate risk, traditional insurance models no longer apply.How climate change broke insuranceHistorically, the insurance system has worked by relying on experts who study records of past events to estimate how likely it is that a covered event might happen. They then use this information to determine how much to charge a given policyholder. This is called pricing the risk. When Americans try to borrow money to buy a home, they expect that mortgage lenders will make them purchase and maintain a certain level of homeowners insurance coverage, even if they chose to self-insure against unlikely additional losses. But thanks to climate change, risks are increasingly difficult to measure, and costs are increasingly catastrophic. It seems clear to me that a new paradigm is needed.California provided the beginnings of such a paradigm with its Fair Access to Insurance program, known as FAIR. When it was created in 1968, its authors expected that it would provide insurance coverage for the few owners who were unable to get normal policies because they faced special risks from exposure to unusual weather and local climates.But the programs coverage is capped at US$500,000 per propertywell below the losses that thousands of Los Angeles residents are experiencing right now. Total losses from the wildfires first week alone are estimated to exceed $250 billion.How insurance could break the economyThis state of affairs isnt just dangerous for homeowners and communitiesit could create widespread financial instability. And its not just me making this point. For the past several years, central bankers at home and abroad have raised similar concerns. So lets talk about the risks of large-scale financial contagion.Anyone who remembers the Great Recession of 2007-2009 knows that seemingly localized problems can snowball.In that event, the value of opaque bundles of real estate derivatives collapsed from artificial and unsustainable highs, leaving millions of mortgages around the U.S. underwater. These properties were no longer valued above owners mortgage liabilities, so their best choice was simply to walk away from the obligation to make their monthly payments.Lenders were forced to foreclose, often at an enormous loss, and the collapse of real estate markets across the U.S. created a global recession that affected financial stability around the world.Forewarned by that experience, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board wrote in 2020 that features of climate change can also increase financial system vulnerabilities. The central bank noted that uncertainty and disagreement about climate risks can lead to sudden declines in asset values, leaving people and businesses vulnerable.At that time, the Fed had a specific climate-based example of a not-implausible contagion in mindglobal risks from sudden large increases in global sea level rise over something like 20 years. A collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could create such an event, and coastlines around the world would not have enough time to adapt.The Fed now has another scenario to considerone thats not hypothetical.It recently put U.S. banks through stress tests to gauge their vulnerability to climate risks. In these exercises, the Fed asked member banks to respond to hypothetical but not-implausible climate-based contagion scenarios that would threaten the stability of the entire system.We will now see if the plans borne of those stress tests can work in the face of enormous wildfires burning throughout an urban area thats also a financial, cultural and entertainment center of the world.Gary W. Yohe is a Huffington Foundation professor of economics and environmental studies at Wesleyan University.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

If youre a part of the food industry in any measure, youve probably been seeing red the past few days, literally and figuratively. The FDAs recent decision to ban Red Dye No. 3 from food products has stirred significant attention, precisely because of how its eye-catching red hue has long been a staple in various products. Globally, many countries have already restricted Red Dye No. 3, making the FDAs move a belated but still noteworthy shift thats now rocking a lot of peoples boats.Although the FDAs decision underscores the importance of consumer safety and the need for regulatory bodies to respond to scientific findings, its implications extend beyond the food industry. Designers, particularly those in the food and packaging sectors, must navigate these changes and explore alternative solutions that maintain visual appeal without compromising safety.Image courtesy of: US FDAThe Scarlet Enigma: Understanding Red Dye No. 3Red Dye No. 3, also known as erythrosine in some countries, is a synthetic dye cherished for its vibrant cherry-red color. For decades, it has been a key ingredient in processed foods, baked goods, and certain medications. Its ability to enhance visual appeal has made it a valuable tool for food designers.Image courtesy of: dolgachovThe FDAs decision to ban this dye was driven by studies since the 80s linking it to cancer development in rats. But while there is still some debate on its impact on humans, the Delaney Clause in U.S. law is unambiguous. The US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits any additives found to cause cancer in humans or animals, not necessarily both. Despite these findings, the dye continued to be used due to industry pressure and its widespread adoption. Even stranger, the dye was already banned from use in cosmetics and topical or topical drugs in 1990 for the exact same reason. Since it was approved for use in food and medicine in 1907, Red Dye No. 3 has established itself as one of the standards for this bright red color, making any prohibition potentially disruptive to multiple industries.Image courtesy of: StudioPeaceThat said, the US is actually playing catch up to some extent, as other countries have already either banned the same synthetic dye or have limited its use significantly. The gap, which was partly due to industry lobbying, highlights the challenges in balancing consumer safety with industry demands. As a result, designers must now adapt to this change and seek alternative solutions that meet both aesthetic and safety standards.A Spectrum of Impact: Red Dye No. 3s ReachImage courtesy of: PhotodariaRed Dye No. 3s reach extends to a myriad of products, which is part of the reason for the buzz around this prohibition. Many of the bright red colors you see from processed food make use of it, from the expected like gummy bears and frosting to the unexpected such as saffron rice, vegetarian meat alternatives, and instant mashed potatoes. Its surprising presence in medicines, including chewable vitamins and cough syrups, underscores its extensive application.Designer: HAMThe ban presents a significant challenge for the young food design industry which now needs to find a new way to paint the town red, so to speak, without this commodity. Food design, a sub-discipline that focuses on creating new food products, staging and presenting dishes, and designing packaging, will have to look elsewhere for a kind of red that will preserve that visual appeal without compromising safety. Also potentially affected is the budding 3D food printing market which might need to search for alternatives that will give their food that lush red color.Designer: Revo FoodsThe ripple effect of the FDAs decision extends to various design disciplines, including those that use food dyes for printing or crafts. However, this transition also offers a silver lining, prompting a reevaluation of synthetic dyes and encouraging the pursuit of safer alternatives. It challenges designers to rethink their approach to color and materials, presenting an opportunity for innovation, creativity, and a greater awareness of sustainability in this matter.A Palette of Possibilities: Exploring Natural AlternativesThe ban on Red Dye No. 3 highlights broader concerns about synthetic dyes. Red Dye No. 40, for example, has been associated with ADHD, raising questions about the safety of consuming chemicals in small doses over time. And its not just red thats the culprit, as other color dyes have also been put under scrutiny for just as long.This growing awareness has fueled interest in natural alternatives that try to avoid the fundamental cause of the problem: the synthetic nature of these compounds that have toxic effects on humans and animals, no matter how small. And for these, we only need to look to Mother Natures own dyes for the answer, leading researchers and scientists to test different sources, including some rather odd ones.Betacyanins plant-based and vegan-friendly color solutions from red beet roots.Anthocyanins water-soluble pigments that appear in fruits and vegetables like sweet potato or red cabbage.Carmine color pigments extracted from the crushed scale insect bodies.Betacyanins (top), Anthocyanins (middle), Carmine (bottom)Images courtesy of: Givaudan Sense ColourWith the exception of the third alternative, many people probably wouldnt mind getting their colors from plants and fruits, unless theyre very particular about the kind of red they want. Depending on the exact mixture, these natural alternatives might not have that same bright cherry red hue of the Red No. 3 dye, making them poor substitutes when it comes to visual impact.They also have different applications, unlike the generic flexibility of this banned dye. Some, like Carmine, are better for cosmetics but not for art, while Betacyanins are a poor choice for heat-processed foods. Just like plastic, these more natural materials are harder and costlier to make because of their novelty and low demand. Further research is needed to understand their limitations in non-food applications, ensuring they meet the diverse needs of designers across industries.Shades of CarmineThe FDAs decision serves as a wake-up call, urging us to reconsider what we consume and the materials we use in design. This ban underscores the urgent need for natural, sustainable, and safer alternatives to synthetic food dyes. The exploration of natural dyes presents an exciting opportunity for designers to innovate and push the boundaries of traditional design practices. By embracing these alternatives, designers can create products that are not only visually appealing but also safer and more sustainable.The Designers Challenge: Navigating a New LandscapeDesigners play a crucial role in shaping the future of product aesthetics. As the FDAs ban on Red Dye No. 3 takes effect, designers must explore creative solutions and innovative materials. This shift presents an opportunity to redefine design standards and prioritize consumer safety.The ban on Red Dye No. 3 challenges designers to think outside the box and push the boundaries of traditional design practices. By exploring new materials and techniques, designers can create products that are not only visually stunning but also safer and more sustainable.As designers navigate this new landscape, they have the opportunity to lead the way in creating products that are both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible. This shift presents an exciting opportunity for innovation and creativity, as designers work to redefine the future of design.Designer: Brik ChocolateThe post How the Red Dye No. 3 Ban is Shaping the Future of Design: Insights for Creatives first appeared on Yanko Design.

Apple's 24GB M3 laptop is down to a record-low price.

The singer generated millions in prop bets for the Kansas City Chiefs just by showing up to watch her boyfriend play. Now that shes busy, gamblers are losing interest.