Ukrainian interior designer Yana Molodykh has renovated an early 20th-century apartment in Kyiv, drawing on its history to blend classical and contemporary elements.Named Landscape Alley, the apartment incorporates a blend of different styles and eras, reflecting both the heritage of the building and the background of its owners.Yana Molodykh has renovated a historic apartment in KyivThe apartment's design takes cues from the building's history and location. With its four-meter-high ceilings and classical proportions, the apartment lent itself naturally to a traditional enfilade layout, with interconnected rooms arranged into a neat row.Its classic framework allowed for experimentation with an eclectic mix of styles, incorporating elements from a range of eras including Belle poque and art deco.The kitchen can be hidden behind panels painted to match the walls"The classical architecture served as a perfect backdrop for experimenting with different styles, unifying the mix into a cohesive and organic space," Molodykh told Dezeen."Playfulness and a shared sense of adventure with the client helped us create a balanced harmony within the space. By embracing the process without fear of making mistakes or taking ourselves too seriously, we allowed each element to tell its own personal story."Tall doors, parquet floors and plaster mouldings throughout interior pay homage to the building's heritage.The main bedroom has a bespoke bed with a poplar veneer headboardA walnut-clad arch serves as a focal point in the open-plan living and dining area, framing a nook and visually connecting the space to the kitchen, which features walnut veneer cabinetry and a quartzite countertop and backsplash.Designed as an extension of the living room, the kitchen is tucked behind floating panels painted to match the walls. The arch motif is echoed in shelving hidden on either side of the central walnut-clad arch.A vintage Murano glass chandelier by Venetian brand Venini anchors the living and dining room.The dressing room features wallpaper with a fan patternIn the main bedroom, a bespoke bed with a poplar veneer headboard is flanked by two marble side tables. The adjoining dressing room is embellished with fan-patterned wallpaper and wardrobe handles shaped like brass frogs.The second bedroom features mouldings modelled on decorative details that Molodykh uncovered behind a drywall ceiling during a previous renovation project. Here, the cherry-veneer bed doubles as a sofa, providing flexibility within the compact space.Read: Modektura adds sand terrazzo flooring to Kyiv apartmentA custom marble vanity and shower niches by local furniture brand Llab Design were paired with black and white mosaic flooring in the bathroom, while the cabinetry and fixtures provide brass accents.Throughout the apartment, artwork was chosen to reflect the client's Ukrainian roots. Works by Maria Prymachenko, Marfa Tymchenko and other Ukrainian artists infuse the space with a sense of nostalgia.Molodykh added decorative moulding in the second bedroom"The client's childhood, spent in a small town in central Ukraine, heavily influenced the selection of art for the apartment," Molodykh said."The art wasn't chosen to match the interior. Instead, each piece was selected because it made our hearts beat faster," she added."While planning the installation, we found that the paintings seemed to choose their own spots within the apartment, challenging our original layout plans."The cherry-veneer bed doubles as a sofaThe walls were painted in a warm white throughout the apartment to provide a neutral backdrop for the bold artwork and the rich material palette of the furniture."The warm white Argile Blanche on the walls acts as a blank canvas, while bold strokes of colour, texture and material bring the space to life," she said."The materials were chosen with a focus on natural elements, practicality and uniqueness."The apartment has a small balconySince founding her studio in 2011, Molodykh has completed a number of projects across Ukraine including a refurbished attic apartment in Kyiv.The photography is by Yevhenii Avramenko.The post Yana Molodykh combines heritage and eclecticism in historic Kyiv apartment appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen School Shows: we've selected seven student projects featuring in Dezeen School Shows that adaptively reuse previously built spaces. This roundup highlights the work of architecture and interior architecture students who have chosen to focus on adaptive reuse in their coursework.Adaptive reuse refers to avoiding building from scratch due to its environmental impact, and instead choosing to reuse existing structures and assigning them new purposes.An e-waste recycling centre in a former Apple store in San Francisco, a theatre in an abandoned power station in Sydney and a centre for visually impaired individuals in a disused dock in western Scotland are among the following projects.The selection of projects come from interior architecture and architecture students enrolled at international institutions including the University of Nottingham, Manchester School of Architecture, Kingston University, Amsterdam University of the Arts, the University of New South Wales and California College of the Arts.The Value of Decay: Accessing the Ruins of Lumsdale by Abbie GaleDuring her time at the University of Nottingham, Abbie Gale examined a site in the Peak District, UK, to explore how dilapidated buildings can be "maintained and embraced".The project involved designing auxiliary structures that enhance the preexisting ruins on the site, without tampering with them too heavily."The scheme explores ways to respond sensitively and radically to the existing context using the three scales of landscape, building and detail," said Gale."Raised walkways and walled gardens enhance site accessibility. New industry and a visitor's courtyard evoke the concept of 'ruins in the making'."Student: Abbie GaleSchool: University of NottinghamCourse: MArch Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 2)View the full school show Preston Crafthouse a dialogue between existing and new by Ariel Hei Nok WongArchitecture student Ariel Hei Nok Wong designed a furniture and textile upcycling centre in and around a former textile factory in Preston, Lancashire.The site's new use honours the city's status as a former textile manufacturing hub and the newly inserted structures sit side-by-side with the historic buildings."Reimagining the historical textile industrial centre as a furniture and textiles upcycling hub addresses the issue of conspicuous consumption of mass-produced standardised products in modern-day society," said Wong."Craftsmanship becomes an opposing force, allowing people to transform raw materials into unique objects with their own hands."Student: Ariel Hei Nok WongSchool: Manchester School of ArchitectureCourse: BA3 Atelier Continuity in Architecture (CiA)View the full school show Dreams, Myths and Fairytales by Reuben TrumanAn underutilised multi-storey car park becomes a theatre celebrating British folklore in architecture student Reuben Truman's project entitled Dreams, Myths and Fairytales.The scheme sees the site's various levels turned into "urban forests" and encourages users to engage with the process of storytelling and embrace the way nature changes from season to season."The thesis looks at understanding the natural cycles of a city and discovering the forgotten spirits that once ruled the land we walk upon today," said Truman."The final proposal imagines underused car parks found in Kingston as urban forests."Student: Reuben TrumanSchool: Kingston UniversityCourse: Architecture (ARB/RIBA Part 2) MArchView the full school show Reimagining E-Wasteland by Ayse Elif AydinliAyse Elif Aydinli's project sees the Apple store in downtown San Francisco turned into an e-waste recycling and upcycling hub.The building's new use aims to subvert its original purpose as an outlet for tech giant Apple, which is a symbol of capitalism and tech-related consumption."The Apple store is one of the most potent symbols of capitalistic materialism, the culture of planned obsolescence, throw-away culture and the aesthetics of consumerist desire," said Aydinli."The thesis imagines taking over this iconic urban space and transforming it into a new typology of civic infrastructure, one that critically reveals the economic, cultural, and environmental mechanisms that make it function."Student: Ayse Elif AydinliSchool: California College of the ArtsCourse: Master of Architecture ThesisView the full school show White Bay Power Station by Samantha GoodsellInterior architecture student Samantha Goodsell created a scheme for an abandoned power station during her time studying at the University of New South Wales.A performance space with tiered seating and a central, ground-level stage occupy one of the building's main halls."This project embraces human diversity and encourages the idea that variety and difference amongst us is our strength and unlocking and celebrating this is our human potential," said Goodsell."This is a centre of potential, challenging our past and suggesting change through the celebration of physical and cultural inclusion and neurodiversity."Student: Samantha GoodsellSchool: University of New South WalesCourse: Bachelor of Interior Architecture (Honours)View the full school show The Eyes Are the Windows to the Soul by Gavin FraserBased in the Scottish town of Greenock, architecture student Gavin Fraser repurposed disused docks and sugar warehouses into a social and medical centre that caters to people with visual impairments.The project aims to tackle the psychosocial effects of living with reduced vision by fostering a sense of community and facilitating activities including art, music and horticulture."This project seeks to address the often-overlooked mental health issues associated with visual impairment," said Fraser. "It combines clinical and social responses, redesigning eye hospitals to prioritise patients' mental wellbeing.""The project promotes community integration, education and financial independence for visually impaired individuals."Student: Gavin FraserSchool: Amsterdam University of the ArtsCourse: ArchitectureView the full school show The Artisan's Nest: Revitalising Ambergate Wireworks Warehouse into a Creative Hub by Michael TanjayaUniversity of Nottingham architecture student Michael Tanjaya's design scheme took a former wire-making factory in the Midlands, UK, and turned it into a community and arts centre.The project aims to reconnect local people with both their communities and natural surroundings."This project is driven by the idea that architecture should learn from nature," said Tanjaya. "With the concept originating from nest research, the project questions and explores the concept of nesting from various perspectives.""The structure reinforces sustainability by adapting nature's solutions in construction, inspired by and reflecting the historical and cultural qualities of the location."Student: Michael TanjayaSchool: University of NottinghamCourse: Bachelor of Architecture BArch (ARB/RIBA Part 1) and Architecture and Environmental Design MEng (ARB/RIBA Part 1 CIBSE)View the full school show Partnership contentThese projects are presented in school shows from institutions that partner with Dezeen. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.The post Seven student adaptive reuse projects that repurpose existing structures appeared first on Dezeen.

An iPhone showing "SOS" isn't a cry for help, but it does mean you're having connection issues. This is what the three letters really mean.SOS Only on an iPhoneSOS is well known as a Morse Code distress signal, quickly and efficiently communicating that there is a major and potentially life-threatening problem. While SOS doesn't actually mean "Save Our Souls" and is really just an agreed-upon communications sequence, the meaning is immediately understandable to almost anyone.Your iPhone or cellular-equipped iPad can also display SOS in the status bar. However, the meaning is less about the phone being in trouble and more about what it cannot do. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

The wheel of time turns and ages come and pass, and a newMLBgame gets announced every year. Right on schedule, this years outing has also now been revealed, with Sony and developer SIE San Diego Studio lifting the lid on the upcomingMLB The Show 25.Details on this years improvements havent yet been revealed. Sony has confirmed, however, that Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz, and Gunnar Henderson will serve as this years cover athletes. The trio will adorn the games covers to commemorate theMLB The Showseries 20th anniversary. Check out the cover athlete reveal trailer below.MLB The Show 25will launch for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on March 18. Unlike previous years, it wont be a cross-gen release nor available via Game Pass day and date. However, those who purchase the Digital Edition can start playing the game four days before release, on March 14.

When PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan left the company last year, he was replaced by Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as co-CEOs. Sony has now announced, however, that it is instituting a change in leadership starting April 1.Hideaki Nishino is being promoted to President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment and will now be PlayStations sole head. Hermen Hulst will continue to serve as the CEO of the Studio Business Group, which means he will still be heading PlayStations portfolio of first-party studios. However, he will now be reporting to Nishino rather than leading PlayStation alongside him.I am truly honored to take the helm at Sony Interactive Entertainment, Nishino said. Technology and creativity are two of our biggest strengths as we continue to focus on developing experiences that deliver entertainment for everyone. We will continue to grow the PlayStation community in new ways, such as IP expansion, while also delivering the best in technology innovation. I want to thank Hermen for his expertise and leadership as he continues his role as CEO of Studio Business Group. I am deeply grateful for the PlayStation community and their continued support, and I am very excited for what the future holds.Sony says Nishino will also continue serving as CEO of the Platform Business Group. Meanwhile, Hulsts responsibilities will still include overseeing development, publishing, and business operations of SIEs first party content, and developing games across many devices including PlayStation consoles and PCs and bringing video game IP to new mediums through PlayStation Productions.Whether Hulsts downward shift is a result of PlayStations recent troubled first-party performance remains to be seen. The companys live service ambitions have taken a beating, with multiple project cancellations, studio closures, and high-profile failures like Concord.The leadership shakeup comes alongside Sony Group Corporation seeing similar changes, with CEO Kenichiro Yoshida set to be replaced by Hiroki Totoki. Meanwhile, Totoki himself is being succeeded as Sony Group CFO by Lin Tao, former senior vice president of finance and corporate development.

In the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, integrating vision and language capabilities remains a complex challenge. Traditional models often struggle with tasks requiring a nuanced understanding of both visual and textual data, leading to limitations in applications such as image analysis, video comprehension, and interactive tool use. These challenges underscore the need for more sophisticated vision-language models that can seamlessly interpret and respond to multimodal information.Qwen AI has introduced Qwen2.5-VL, a new vision-language model designed to handle computer-based tasks with minimal setup. Building on its predecessor, Qwen2-VL, this iteration offers improved visual understanding and reasoning capabilities. Qwen2.5-VL can recognize a broad spectrum of objects, from everyday items like flowers and birds to more complex visual elements such as text, charts, icons, and layouts. Additionally, it functions as an intelligent visual assistant, capable of interpreting and interacting with software tools on computers and phones without extensive customization.From a technical perspective, Qwen2.5-VL incorporates several advancements. It employs a Vision Transformer (ViT) architecture refined with SwiGLU and RMSNorm, aligning its structure with the Qwen2.5 language model. The model supports dynamic resolution and adaptive frame rate training, enhancing its ability to process videos efficiently. By leveraging dynamic frame sampling, it can understand temporal sequences and motion, improving its ability to identify key moments in video content. These enhancements make its vision encoding more efficient, optimizing both training and inference speeds. Performance evaluations indicate that Qwen2.5-VL-72B-Instruct achieves strong results across multiple benchmarks, including mathematics, document comprehension, general question answering, and video analysis. It excels in processing documents and diagrams and operates effectively as a visual assistant without requiring task-specific fine-tuning. Smaller models within the Qwen2.5-VL family also demonstrate competitive performance, with Qwen2.5-VL-7B-Instruct surpassing GPT-4o-mini in specific tasks, and Qwen2.5-VL-3B outperforming the prior 7B version of Qwen2-VL, making it a compelling option for resource-constrained environments. In summary, Qwen2.5-VL presents a refined approach to vision-language modeling, addressing prior limitations by improving visual understanding and interactive capabilities. Its ability to perform tasks on computers and mobile devices without extensive setup makes it a practical tool in real-world applications. As AI continues to evolve, models like Qwen2.5-VL are paving the way for more seamless and intuitive multimodal interactions, bridging the gap between visual and textual intelligence.Check out Twitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. Dont Forget to join our70k+ ML SubReddit. Asif RazzaqAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences. Meet 'Height':The only autonomous project management tool (Sponsored)

How to Do the Retrieval in Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) 0 like January 29, 2025Share this postAuthor(s): Dimitris Effrosynidis Originally published on Towards AI. Efficient Retrieval for RAG Leveraging Dense BM25 and Transformer ModelsThis member-only story is on us. Upgrade to access all of Medium.Image by author.Efficient and accurate text retrieval is a cornerstone of modern information systems, powering applications like search engines, chatbots, and knowledge bases.It is the first step in RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) systems.RAG systems, first use text retrieval to find the answer to our query and then use an LLM to answer. RAG allows us to chat with our data.In this article, we explore the integration of dense retrieval, BM25 lexical search, and transformer-based reranking to create a robust and scalable text retrieval system.The project leverages the strengths of each technique:Dense Retrieval: Captures semantic meaning by embedding text into high-dimensional vector spaces, enabling similarity-based search.BM25 Lexical Search: Performs efficient keyword matching to quickly narrow down relevant results.Transformer-Based Reranking: Uses Hugging Face cross-encoders to evaluate and rank query-document pairs based on semantic relevance, ensuring precision in the final output.This hybrid approach optimizes both computational efficiency and retrieval accuracy, making it well-suited for use cases where context, relevance, and speed are critical.Chunking and Embedding:Text is segmented into chunks (e.g., sentences or paragraphs) to ensure embeddings represent actionable parts of the content.Multiple chunking strategies are explored, including fixed-length chunks and overlapping chunks, to Read the full blog for free on Medium.Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming asponsor. Published via Towards AITowards AI - Medium Share this post

Jan 29, 2025Ravie LakshmananCyber Espionage / Threat IntelligenceThe advanced persistent threat (APT) group known as UAC-0063 has been observed leveraging legitimate documents obtained by infiltrating one victim to attack another target with the goal of delivering a known malware dubbed HATVIBE."This research focuses on completing the picture of UAC-0063's operations, particularly documenting their expansion beyond their initial focus on Central Asia, targeting entities such as embassies in multiple European countries, including Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Romania, and Georgia," Martin Zugec, technical solutions director at Bitdefender, said in a report shared with The Hacker News.UAC-0063 was first flagged by the Romanian cybersecurity company in May 2023 in connection with a campaign that targeted government entities in Central Asia with a data exfiltration malware known as DownEx (aka STILLARCH). It's suspected to share links with a known Russian state-sponsored actor called APT28.Merely weeks later, the Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) which assigned the threat cluster the moniker revealed that the hacking group has been operational since at least 2021, attacking state bodies in the country with a keylogger (LOGPIE), an HTML Application script loader (HATVIBE), a Python backdoor (CHERRYSPY or DownExPyer), and DownEx.There is evidence that UAC-0063 has also targeted various entities in organizations in Central Asia, East Asia, and Europe, according to Recorded Future's Insikt Group, which has assigned the threat actor the name TAG-110.Earlier this month, cybersecurity firm Sekoia disclosed that it identified a campaign undertaken by the hacking crew that involved using documents stolen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan to spear-phish targets and deliver the HATVIBE malware.The latest findings from Bitdefender demonstrate a continuation of this behaviour, with the intrusions ultimately paving the way for DownEx, DownExPyer, and a newly discovered USB data exfiltrator codenamed PyPlunderPlug in at least one incident targeting a German company in mid-January 2023.DownExPyer comes fitted with varied capabilities to maintain a persistent connection with a remote server and receive commands to collect data, execute commands, and deploy additional payloads. The list of tasks obtained from the command-and-control (C2) server is below -A3 - Exfiltrate files matching a specific set of extensions to C2A4 - Exfiltrate files and keystroke logs to C2 and delete them after transmissionA5 - Execute commands (by default the "systeminfo" function is called to harvest system information)A6 - Enumerate the file systemA7 - Take screenshotsA11 - Terminate another running task"The stability of DownExPyer's core functionalities over the past two years is a significant indicator of its maturity and likely long-standing presence within the UAC-0063 arsenal," Zugec explained. "This observed stability suggests that DownExPyer was likely already operational and refined prior to 2022."Bitdefender said it also identified a Python script designed to record keystrokes likely a precursor to LOGPIE on one of the compromised machines that was infected with DownEx, DownExPyer, and HATVIBE."UAC-0063 exemplifies a sophisticated threat actor group characterized by its advanced capabilities and persistent targeting of government entities," Zugec said."Their arsenal, featuring sophisticated implants like DownExPyer and PyPlunderPlug, combined with well-crafted TTPs, demonstrates a clear focus on espionage and intelligence gathering. The targeting of government entities within specific regions aligns with potential Russian strategic interests."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Jan 29, 2025Ravie LakshmananVulnerability / Software SecurityBroadcom has alerted of a high-severity security flaw in VMware Avi Load Balancer that could be weaponized by malicious actors to gain entrenched database access.The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-22217 (CVSS score: 8.6), has been described as an unauthenticated blind SQL injection."A malicious user with network access may be able to use specially crafted SQL queries to gain database access," the company said in an advisory issued Tuesday.Security researchers Daniel Kukuczka and Mateusz Darda have been acknowledged for discovering and reporting the vulnerability.It affects the following version of the software -VMware Avi Load Balancer 30.1.1 (Fixed in 30.1.2-2p2)VMware Avi Load Balancer 30.1.2 (Fixed in 30.1.2-2p2)VMware Avi Load Balancer 30.2.1 (Fixed in 30.2.1-2p5)VMware Avi Load Balancer 30.2.2 (Fixed in 30.2.2-2p2)Broadcom further noted that versions 22.x and 21.x are not susceptible to CVE-2025-22217, and that users running version 30.1.1 must first upgrade to 30.1.2 or later before applying the patch.There are no workarounds that address the shortcoming, necessitating that customers update their instances to the latest version for optimal protection.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

We need a Product Analyst who can help our development team discover the truth about user behaviour. Our product has 30 million teachers and student users. This job is a unique opportunity to make a big positive impact in the education field.In this role, you can expect to:identify opportunities for product improvements based on data analysisinitiate and perform product analysis and A/B test analysisexecute ad-hoc requestsanalyse datasets to generate hypothesescollaborate with product managers, designers, and engineers to deliver improvementsuse quantitative methods to find bottlenecks and opportunitiesRequirementsConsider applying if you:have a degree in mathematics, physics, computer science, data science or similarhave 3 years' experience in a data science or product analytics role in a software development contextare located within the time zones UTC-01:00 to UTC+03:00have expertise in advanced analytics using tools like Python and SQLhave solid understanding of basic statistical concepts, such as correlation, confidence intervals, probability distributions, and regressionhave great written and verbal communication skillshave a high level of self-organisation, proactivity, strategy, discipline, result orientationhave a product mindsetSalary and benefits50 - 60k per year30 days paid holiday100% Remote and flexible working #LI-RemoteReal applicants only - please do not contact us if you represent an agency. Related Jobs See more Product jobs