Because life is unpredictable and a major expense is one accident away, popular wisdom maintains that all adults should have an emergency fund. Arbiters of such conventional advice claim these emergency funds should be stocked with three to six months worth of expenses. But this threshold can be unattainable and perhaps unrealistic, especially for young people just starting out or for those living on lower incomes. Its just an impossible amount for a lot of people, says Kimberly Palmer, a personal finance expert at NerdWallet, and can just feel so overwhelming that you dont take any steps at all, and you just think, I cant make any sort of emergency fund.Even saving a couple hundred bucks can be a huge burden for many people. Only 41 percent of Americans over 18 say they would pay for an unexpected expense like $1,000 for an emergency room visit or car repair from their savings, according to Bankrates 2025 Emergency Savings Report. (Others said they would borrow money or put the expense on a credit card.) Meanwhile, 27 percent of adults have no emergency savings, as of May 2024.In reality, any amount youre able to save is better than nothing. But what if youve just gotten your first job and are starting from scratch? Or what if youre living paycheck to paycheck? Should you prioritize paying down debt over an emergency fund? Given all the competing demands on our finances, heres how to really kick off your emergency fund, according to the experts.Write a list of your financial prioritiesChances are, an emergency fund isnt your only pressing financial matter. Youve got bills to pay, a retirement account to contribute to, perhaps student loans or other debt to chisel away at. Palmer suggests making a list of all your financial priorities and goals (including fun ones, like saving for a vacation or down payment) and organizing them, starting with the most urgent. Because you cant prioritize all of these goals at once, Palmer recommends choosing one to focus on at a time. First, make sure youre making the minimum payments on your credit cards and student loans. Then, if you dont have any money in an emergency fund, you might want to put focus there, she says. Generally speaking, it can make sense to make your number one priority [to] have at least a minimum amount in your emergency fund, like $500, she says. Next, pay off debt, especially those with high interest (like credit card debt). After that, try to put some money into your retirement account. Finally, squirrel some cash away for longer-term goals, like that vacation. RelatedWhy is money so hard?As for the amount to put into your emergency fund at first (and this goes for all of your other financial priorities too), Palmer suggests starting small but attainable. Again, $500 might be a good place to start. After you hit that threshold, move onto another priority.For longer-term goals like retirement savings, you may want to set smaller benchmarks initially, too, so you can more quickly transition back to stocking your emergency fund, says Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, a personal finance expert and author of Bounce Back: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Resilience. That 401(k) is not going to buy your groceries, she says, and the retirement funds are not going to be able to help you to fix the tires if you get a flat or a short term event happens. The goal isnt to totally ignore these other forms of savings, but to be prudent until you have a solid emergency fund. While saving for retirement is important, we want you financially prepared for emergencies before youre financially prepared for the big stuff, because emergencies can come out of the blue, Tori Dunlap, founder and CEO of the financial platform Her First $100K, said by email. That safety net will help you sleep better at night while you work towards saving for retirement.Where to put your emergency fundRather than squirrel your precious dollars in a checking or savings account, experts have some more strategic suggestions for where to house your emergency fund.High-yield savings account: Your money will earn interest while remaining easily accessible in a high-yield savings account. Choose an institution or bank that wont charge you any fees and make sure youre clear on how to withdraw money, whether from partner ATMs or transfer through an app, Palmer says. NerdWallet ranks UFB Portfolio Savings, Forbright Bank Growth Savings, and Discover Online Savings among its highest-rated high-yield savings accounts.Multiple accounts at different banks: Spreading your emergency savings across several accounts makes it harder to completely wipe out your fund in one go if youre ever tempted, Khalfani-Cox says.Once youve made your way through your priority list, start at the top again. By cycling through each of your goals, youre able to make simultaneous progress throughout the year.Find ways to free up some cash to put toward your emergency fundIf youre wondering where this money is going to come from, youll need to be intentional. To kick-start your savings, Khalfani-Cox suggests purging your home and closet of items you could sell at a consignment shop or at a yard sale. Then, look at your variable expenses money you spend on entertainment, subscriptions, food, personal care, and pets; not utilities, rent, or car payments and see where you can cut back, Palmer says. Food is a really helpful category to zero in on, she says. It can be really expensive if youre ordering takeout or going to a restaurant. Try shopping at a budget grocery store if you can and preparing food at home. You might consider forgoing a few personal grooming appointments, too. Are there any streaming services youre willing to part with? Maybe you limit your concert attendance to one big ticket event a year. You dont need to make these sacrifices forever, but if you can cut back on these kinds of expenses, youll be able to save quicker. It may not be the most glamorous thing ever, but its going to help get you where you need to go, Dunlap says. Start by tracking your monthly income and expenses, finding areas where you can be more strategic with your spending, and using that extra bit to pour into your emergency fund. Even if thats an extra few dollars here and there, were getting somewhere.If you have nothing left to pare back, thats okay, too. Make sure youre focusing on the essentials basic needs like housing, food, and transportation and come back to savings when youre able. Whatever you can set aside is a step in the right direction, experts say. Even $10 a week is more than you had yesterday. Just remember to keep it going. Youre building financial discipline, Khalfani-Cox says. Youre building consistency.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

In January 2017, Sergey Brin rallied beside progressive activists at San Francisco International Airport to protest Donald Trumps travel ban. Eight years later, the Google co-founder sat with right-wing nationalists at Trumps second inauguration. Brin is far from the only tech mogul who has (apparently) warmed to Trump in recent years. Mark Zuckerberg once bankrolled liberal causes. Now, the Facebook founder dines with Americas favorite insurrectionist at Mar-a-Lago. In 2016, Marc Andreessen argued that Hillary Clinton was the obvious choice for president, and that any proposal to choke off immigration makes me sick to my stomach. Last year, Andreessen endorsed Trump.And, of course, Elon Musk has gone from being an Obama-supporting climate hawk to quite possibly the single most influential advocate for and patron of far-right politics in the United States. Silicon Valleys apparent rightward shift was already causing consternation in blue America last year. But Democrats outrage and anxiety over the red-pilling of Silicon Valley has only increased since Inauguration Day when Brin, Zuckerberg, Musk, Jeff Bezos, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook all sat with Trumps camp in the Capitol Rotunda.Some Democrats view Big Techs rightward lurch as a political crisis, one brought on by their own partys policy mistakes. In this account, Democrats needlessly alienated a powerful industry by embracing an anti-corporate economic agenda that is both politically costly and substantively misguided.Others in the party, meanwhile, insist that the Biden administrations attempts to tame Big Techs power were both good politics and good policy. In their telling, voters hate corporate monopolies and love antitrust enforcement. And the extraordinary wealth and power of large tech companies constitute a threat to democratic government a reality that Silicon Valleys present chumminess with Trump only underscores. From this vantage, the tech industrys interests and the general publics were always irreconcilable. And as Silicon Valley grew wealthier, it was bound to gravitate toward Americas more pro-business party. The Biden administrations error, therefore, was not doing too much to antagonize Big Tech, but too little. This debate collapses together several distinct questions. Some of these are ideological such as whether the Biden administrations approach to antitrust enforcement was worthwhile on the merits. Today though, I want to focus on two factual questions at the center of the intra-Democratic dispute over Big Tech:How and why did the tech industrys politics change during the Biden era?Would it be politically damaging or beneficial for Democrats to maintain (or build upon) Joe Bidens approach to regulating the tech industry? I think the answers to both these questions are more complicated than either progressive or pro-business Democrats allow. Why tech moved rightTo understand why Silicon Valley has moved right in recent years, its helpful to consider what had previously tethered the industry to the center-left.Many in the tech world argue that Silicon Valley and the Democratic Party were long bound by an implicit deal: Democrats would support the development of new technology, celebrate entrepreneurs, and take a light touch approach to regulating the digital sphere in exchange for tech moguls backing socially liberal causes, progressive taxation, incremental expansions of the welfare state, philanthropies, and Democratic candidates.This was a pretty good bargain for the typical tech founder since it effectively entailed the Democratic Party embracing nearly all of their preferences. Survey data on the views of Silicon Valley moguls is limited. But a 2017 study of tech entrepreneurs politics found that they were left-leaning on almost all issues including taxation and redistribution but quite right-wing on questions of government regulation and labor unions. This distinct ideological profile has been dubbed liberal-tarian.Given that Democrats have always been the party more supportive of regulating industry and promoting organized labor, the partys alliance with tech was long fraught with some tension. But in recent years, both sides began souring on their supposed contract for a variety of reasons. But three were especially significant:1) Changing economic conditions raised the costs of liberalism for tech companies. When an industry is enjoying explosive growth, it has less incentive to align with the right. Democrats might nibble into its profits with their relatively high taxes, or inch its compliance costs with their greater regulatory scrutiny. But when your sector is awash in cheap financing and soaring revenues, the price of allying with a left-of-center party can look negligible. As Andreessen put the point to the New York Times earlier this month, back in the days of Clinton and Obama, the tax rates didnt really matter because when an internet company worked, it grew so fast and got so valuable that if you worked another three years, say, youd make another 10 X. Another 5 percent higher tax rate washed out in the numbers.Silicon Valley enjoyed such favorable conditions for much of the 2010s. But the tech boom faded during Bidens tenure. In 2022, rising interest rates started diverting capital away from the tech sector: With safe assets now offering an attractive guaranteed return, investors grew more reluctant to funnel cash into risky ones. Stock market valuations fell and layoffs spread. At the same time, as Noah Smith notes, tech investors and executives started running up against structural constraints on profit-making. Many venture capitalists looked at Google and Facebooks success in cornering and dominating their respective markets, and bet that they could establish similarly monopolistic businesses in other corners of digital commerce. But by 2022, theyd discovered that achieving such market dominance was harder than theyd thought.Meanwhile, social media companies struggled to combat the inherently finite nature of human attention: Once youve lured roughly 5 billion humans onto social media and turned a hefty percentage of them into addicts theres only so much screen time left to monetize.In this context, we would expect tech moguls whod been only lightly committed to the liberal part of liberal-tarianism to start heeding their own narrow material interests. After all, it was a similar mix of rising interest rates, inflation, and slowing profitability that helped prompt corporate Americas right turn in the 1970s.To be sure, the tech industrys fortunes have rebounded since 2022, thanks in no small part to the AI boom. But the experience of a capital crunch and profit squeeze however temporary seems to have made a lasting impression on many in tech, whose political contributions began shifting (modestly) toward Republicans in 2022.2) The Biden administrations economic policies threatened big and little tech alike.For the reasons above, it wouldnt have been surprising for the tech industry to have drifted toward Republicans over the past four years, even if Democratic policy remained as friendly to tech as had it been under Barack Obama.In reality, the Biden administration took a much more adversarial stance than its predecessors. Bidens Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department collectively brought antitrust cases against Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft.This blitzkrieg of aggressive antitrust enforcement naturally irritated Silicon Valleys giants. Perhaps less predictably, it also antagonized smaller tech firms and startups. In theory, one might expect little tech would want the government to curb the market power of their gargantuan competitors. In practice, however, many startup founders and investors aspire to either grow their own firms into behemoths, or failing that, get bought up by a larger company. By chilling merger activity, the Biden administration effectively blocked many startups plan B, while choking off a reliable source of returns for venture capitalists.VCs and startups also took exception to the Biden Securities and Exchange Commissions vigorous regulation of cryptocurrency, as well as the administrations executive order on AI safety. In November 2023, a contingent of startup founders and investors denounced the latter, arguing that the orders reporting requirements put small AI firms at a competitive disadvantage, as they could less comfortably shoulder regulatory compliance costs than their larger rivals.Finally, Biden proposed a new tax on the unrealized capital gains of Americans with more than $100 million in wealth. This would mean that when a megamillionaire investors stock portfolio or real estate holdings gained $5 million in value, they would need to pay a tax on that amount, even if they did not sell those assets. Tax policy wonks like this idea. But super-rich tech investors very much do not. And when Kamala Harris announced her support for Bidens plan last summer, Silicon Valleys venture capitalists had a conniption. Super-rich tech moguls care about making money. But they are often at least as covetous of social status. Past a certain point, accumulating more wealth has little practical impact on your living standards (or those of your children, or your childrens children). But a persons appetite for greater prestige tends to be less exhaustible than their desire for beach homes, Porsches, or private jets. Thus, if Democrats had spent the past decade exalting tech investors and founders, its possible that the partys increasingly adversarial policies would have caused less rancor in Silicon Valley. But Democrats became increasingly disillusioned with the tech industry over the course of the 2010s. And this culminated in a Democratic administration that undermined tech billionaires sense of self-importance.At the core level, both Barack Obama and the modal Democrat thought the average Silicon Valley company was really good and cool in 2009, Marc Aidinoff, a historian and policy adviser in both the Obama and Biden administrations, told me. Obama would go to Silicon Valley and have dinner with the CEOs and call them champions of change. What these people really wanted from the president was the sense that they were loved. But by 2021, things had changed, according to Aidinoff. Joe Biden distrusts these people, thinks they are hurting Americans, and has the sense that they arent actually making much of real value, he said.The Democrats disenchantment with tech wasnt attributable to Bidens personal skepticism of Silicon Valley alone.After the financial crisis, the partys progressive wing grew more influential. And its ascent increased the salience of both inequality and labor issues in Democratic politics. For a party increasingly concerned with wealth concentration and workers rights, tech giants that generated vast fortunes off winner-take-all markets while, in many cases, committing labor violations or undermining traditional employment did not look like engines of progress.As importantly, the notion that social media platforms promoted democracy and social reform fell into disrepute. In the wake of Obamas election and the Arab Spring both of which were widely credited to novel media technologies many liberals bought into the idea that Facebook and Twitter would abet a more egalitarian politics. But authoritarian regimes proved adept at restricting online speech. And if social medias potential to facilitate rightwing extremism wasnt clear to liberals before 2016, it was apparent to them afterward. Following Trumps victory, many Democrats blamed their partys defeat on Facebooks dissemination of fake news. Around the same time, research suggesting that social media could have adverse mental health effects started to accumulate. All this combined with tech platforms adverse impact on traditional journalism led the mainstream media to view Silicon Valley more critically. Between 2012 and 2019, the New York Times coverage of Facebook turned sharply negative, according to one prominent data analysis.Add in Silicon Valleys growing enthusiasm for crypto a technology that appeared to be good for little beyond scams and speculation and it isnt hard to see why Democrats soured on Big Tech. The partys newfound skepticism of the industry didnt just translate into greater regulatory scrutiny, but also, a withholding of both praise and access. According to some in tech, the sectors leading lights felt themselves shunned and slighted by the Biden White House.I think the fundamental problem, and I heard this from many, was that former President Biden was unwilling to meet with tech CEOs and entrepreneurs, the billionaire investor Mark Cuban told me. It was that simple.One former Biden official echoed this assessment, saying that tech companies couldnt get meetings with a lot of the key regulators. Certainly [FTC commissioner] Lina [Khan] wouldnt meet with people she liked to say, Were enforcement, you cant really meet with us.Andreessen recently reminisced that Bill Clintons Democratic Party had celebrated and loved tech companies. Bidens Democratic Party, by contrast, often refused Andreessens ilk the time of day. Spurning Silicon Valley is politically costly but potentially affordableIts clear then that Silicon Valleys rightward turn was precipitated, at least in part, by a change in the Democratic Partys attitudes and policies toward the tech industry.And theres reason to think that the partys anti-tech turn is politically costly on net. Were other tech billionaires to emulate Musks political giving or other social media companies to imitate Xs boosting of right-wing content the damage to Democrats could be considerable. And the Trump administrations manifest openness to trading political power for financial support makes this a live possibility, especially if Democrats promise to reprise the Biden administrations policies toward the industry.Meanwhile, its far from clear that aggressively regulating Silicon Valley can gain Democrats meaningful support elsewhere. This is not because voters oppose that general goal: In fact, in a 2024 Pew Research poll, a slight majority expressed support for increasing regulation of the tech industry, while a supermajority said that social media has had a mostly negative effect on the United States.The problem is that voters have ambivalent feelings about Big Tech writ large, and do not consider regulating the companies a priority. When Gallup asked Americans what their countrys most important problem was this month, only 1 percent named corporate corruption while 0 percent picked technology. In a post-election survey from Morning Consult and the Chamber of Progress (a trade group of companies allied with the Democratic Party), voters were presented with a list of 12 issues, and asked to name the two that were most important to their vote. Only 2 percent of respondents picked regulating technology companies as one of their priorities, making it the single least prioritized objective on the list (by contrast, 49 percent selected controlling inflation and strengthening the economy). Meanwhile, in YouGovs polling, Amazons approval rating sits at 74 percent, Googles at 70 percent, Apples at 69 percent, and Facebook at 59 percent.Given all this, its plausible that Democrats have more to lose than gain politically from taking on Big Tech. Yet its also true that the political costs of the partys anti-tech turn have been routinely overstated. In truth, Silicon Valleys rightward shift while real has been remarkably modest, whether measured in votes or donations. In 2020, Biden won Santa Clara County, which includes much of Silicon Valley, by 48 points. Four years later, he won it by 40 points. Theres some evidence that tech workers and executives became more likely to donate to Republicans during the Biden era. But 83 percent of Amazon employees donations to federal candidates went to Democrats in 2024; for Meta, that figure was 91.5 percent; for Apple, it was 95 percent.At the megadonor level, the story is a bit more complicated. Trump received more money from tech donors who spent over $1 million on the 2024 race than Harris did but thats mostly thanks to Musks prodigious giving. Musk spent $242.6 million on the 2024 election, nearly five times as much as Silicon Valleys second-largest political spender, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, a Democrat.And yet, its hard to attribute Musks political evolution to recent changes in Democratic policy. The Tesla CEO appears to have been undergoing a process of online radicalization even before Biden took office (in March 2020, Musk allegedly bet the writer Sam Harris $1 million that there would be fewer than 35,000 cases of Covid-19 in the United States, a conviction that seems symptomatic of his immersion in right-wing social media).If we deem Musk a special case and put him to the side, then Democrats retained their advantage with large tech donors in 2024: Combined, all other tech megadonors spent $30.6 million on Trump, and $120.9 million on Harris, according to an analysis from The Guardian. In any case, money was not the Democrats problem in 2024. The party and its allied groups outraised the GOP by $1.1 billion during last years campaign. To be sure, many Silicon Valley billionaires waited until after Election Day to cozy up to Trump, so their newfound support for the GOP would not be captured by this data. But those who only started currying Trumps favor once he secured the presidency are likely motivated less by antipathy for Democratic policy than awareness of Republican corruption: Trump has made it quite clear that his friends can expect favorable treatment by his government while his foes can anticipate the opposite.A number of people in tech led with vinegar during Trumps first term and learned that it was better with Trump to lead with honey, Adam Kovacevich, a former Google executive and chair of the Chamber of Progress, told me. Its not so much that they expect a lot, but they really dont want their companies to be hurt by Trump. If your competitors are building a close relationship with Trump, you dont want them to screw you.All of which is to say: The Democrats have paid a price for their crusade against Big Tech, but not a prohibitively expensive one. Democrats can (probably) afford to prioritize good tech policy over optimal politicsNone of this settles the debate over whether Democrats were right to take a more adversarial posture toward the tech industry under Biden. Moderate Democrats can look at this pattern of facts and conclude that Bidens agenda alienated a powerful industry and did little to increase their partys popular support, all while discouraging growth and innovation.Progressives, meanwhile, can counter that Democrats just proved they can take on concentrated corporate power and still retain an overwhelming financial advantage over the GOP and thus, the party has no excuse not to prioritize the interests of ordinary Americans over those of tech billionaires.Ultimately though, the important disagreement here is the substantive one. If Democrats can ingratiate themselves to tech billionaires in ways that have little substantive cost such as giving them face time or rhetorical encouragement they might be well-advised to do so. But the party as of yet faces no imperative to abandon policies that benefit the general public, for the sake of appeasing Silicon Valley titans. Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

After one retailer 'revealed' the price of the Nintendo Switch 2, another one has listed the game for a release date that's considerably earlier than we anticipated

Deadrop is officially no more (Midnight Society)The game studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect has announced it is closing down, following significant layoffs.Over three years ago, streamer Guy Dr Disrespect Beahm co-founded a game studio called Midnight Society, with former Call Of Duty community manager Robert Bowling.The studio was working on a vertical extraction shooter named Deadrop, which was set to incorporate NFTs. Dr Disrespect, however, was kicked out of the studio in June last year, after he admitted to sending inappropriate messages to a minor (an admission he later deleted).Midnight Society has continued to work on Deadrop since then, but it was hit by significant layoffs in September. Now, four months later, the studio has shut down entirely.In a post on X, the studio wrote: Today we are announcing Midnight Society will be closing its doors after three incredible years, with an amazing team of over 55 developers contributing to our new IP Deadrop.We are actively seeking other game studios that would be interested in offering employment opportunities to our talented team members. If you know anyone whos hiring please forward this message to them or DM us for direct intros.We express our sincere gratitude to each and every one of our community members and deeply sorry we were unable to reach our ultimate goal.https://twitter.com/12am/status/1885061680398213160Midnight Society previously sold early access passes built on NFT technology for Deadrop before it was announced, which gave those who invested exclusive access to early builds of the game and the ability to vote on key design decisions.Following the studios closure, some in the comments have asked if theyll receive a refund for these Founders access passes, and while the studio hasnt officially commented on the issue, it seems unlikely. GameCentral has reached out to them for comment.In a peculiar coincidence, the announcement of the studios closure came just hours before Dr Disrespect revealed his YouTube channel had been remonetised. His channel was demonetised after admitting to his inappropriate exchange with a minor, and YouTube refused an attempt to remonetise it in October.https://twitter.com/DrDisrespect/status/1885100533930774570In a statement sent to Kotaku, about why the decision has now been overturned, a YouTube spokesperson said: Dr Disrespect was previously suspended from the YouTube Partner Program for violations of our Creator Responsibility policies.Creators who are suspended from this program can reapply for access, and after careful review of the channels recent activity, weve reinstated it. If there are further violations, well take appropriate action.More TrendingIn November last year, Dr Disrespect announced a partnership with Rumble, a video-sharing platform which prides itself on being immune to cancel culture and houses the likes of Russell Brand and Andrew Tate. Deadrop was described as a vertical extraction shooter (Midnight Society)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Last week, Samsung officially unveiled its 2025 iPhone killers, the much anticipated Galaxy S25 Series. As we approach the final hours of Friday, January 31, 2025, the exclusive pre-order phase is drawing to a close. On the official site, you can still grab some limited-time (and unprecedented) deals which allow you to own Samsungs most premium smartphones at a fraction of their regular cost.The Galaxy S25 Series, particularly the Galaxy S25 Ultra, is the pinnacle of smartphone tech today: These devices are powered by the most advanced Snapdragon 8 Elite (by Qualcomm) processor and offer unparalleled performance and efficiency. The integration of advanced AI capabilities (within Galaxy AI) takes the user experience to new heights and makes interactions more intuitive and natural than ever before. The S25 Ultra, in particular, boasts a revolutionary 50MP ultra-wide-angle camera sensor, pushing the boundaries of mobile photography.See Galaxy S25 Ultra at Samsung.comIts a No-BrainerOne of the most attractive aspects of this pre-order deal on Samsungs official store is the free storage upgrade: The Galaxy S25 Ultra 512GB is available at the price of the 256GB model ($1,299 instead of $1,419), while the 1TB version is priced the same as the 512GB model ($1,419 instead of $1,659). Storage upgrades are also available for the Galaxy S25 and S25+ models, feel free to check them out on the site directly.See Galaxy S25 Ultra at Samsung.comSamsung is also offering massive Instant Savings on a wide range of accessories: You can enjoy additional discounts of $50 to $150 on all accessories when purchasing a Galaxy S25 Series device. For instance, you can get the new Galaxy Buds3 Pro for free with the newest Galaxy S25 Ultra. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is available for just $300 if you go for the most premium Samsung phone (down from $649) if you combine the instant savings with existing discounts.But the trade-in program is the most generous part of this pre-order phase: You can receive up to $900 off the Galaxy S25 Ultra when trading in an eligible device, such as the S24 Ultra or Z Fold 6. This means you could potentially upgrade from last years S24 Ultra to the new S25 Ultra 512GB for only $399, plus benefit from the aforementioned $150 instant savings on accessories. For the Galaxy S25, you can get up to $500 in trade-in credits, while the Galaxy S25+ offers up to $700.The official Samsung website also offers exclusive advantages that set it apart from traditional retailers: Beyond the exclusive color options like the stunning Titanium versions for the S25 Ultra, you can benefit from a range of unique perks like a generous 1.5% cashback on all purchases and discounts on Samsung Care and Care+ insurance plans.These pre-order offers surpass anything weve seen before, even during last years S24 Series launch or the recent Black Friday sales two months ago. But remember that these exceptional pre-order deals end this Friday evening. You should act quickly to secure your Galaxy S25 Series device at these unbeatable prices. The most popular one will be the Galaxy S24 Ultra for sure, its almost as affordable as the more standard models.See Galaxy S25 Ultra at Samsung.comSee Galaxy S25 Series at Samsung.com

Yes, Nvidia 50-series gaming laptops are coming. And yes, theyll cost an arm, leg, and possibly a firstborn. And in an economy where many of us are worried about the price of food and other essentials, spending upwards of $2,000 on a laptop isnt feasible. In those cases, looking at a previous-generation model or a less powerful system to save some cash is not a bad idea. You definitely should check out the MSI Cyborg 14. As a sub-$1,000 gaming laptop, the Cyborg 14 is playing the game of compromises. On the one hand, you have a lightweight, surprisingly stylish design, vivid display, comfortable keyboard, decent gaming, and overall performance. On the other hand, the display could be brighter, the audio more powerful, and Im missing RGB backlighting and macros. However, for budget-savvy or entry-level gamers looking for their first gaming laptop, the MSI Cyborg 14 is a good choice. MSI Cyborg 14 The MSI Cyborg 14 makes affordable gaming look good, but not without compromises. Pros Cons MSI Cyborg 14 Review: Price and Configurations MSI has a couple of configurations of the Cyborg on the menu. I tested the $900 version currently available at Best Buy. It has a 2.4-GHz Intel Core i7-13620H processor with 16GB of DDR5 RAM, a 512GB NVMe SSD Gen 44 SSD, an integrated Intel UHD Graphics, a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8G GDDR6 of VRAM, and a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 display with 144Hz refresh rate. Adorama also has several notebook models ranging from $1,500 to $1,000. The specs start with an Intel 13th Gen Core i5 CPU maxing out at Core i7, with 16-32GB of RAM, 512GB-1TB SSD, and several Nvidia GPUs, including 2050, 4050, and 4060 GPUs. MSI Cyborg 14 Review: Design Once upon a time, a gaming laptop meant a notebook swathed in a garish mix of black and red. Thankfully, the world has matured somewhat. The Cyborg, despite its mid-tier price, looks rather premium. The onyx anodized aluminum lid is stately, and the MSI emblem is proudly emblazoned in the center. The semi-gloss logo catches just enough light to add some understated flair.Photo: Adriano Contreras/Gizmodo The hinge, vents, and laptops undercarriage are made in a transparent bluish-gray plastic. The color plays up the copper heat pipes. But I really like all the intricate patterns etched into the material. The back portion of the undercarriage has a circuit board design, while the front part is more geometric, with a honeycomb pattern with stars interspersed. To lift some airflow, MSI put in four rubber feet in that cool bluish-gray. Theres a pair of bottom-firing speakers on the sides and eight black screws holding everything in place. I wish the interior had some of the color and embellishments found on the notebooks bottom, but alas, outside of the transparent WASD, and power keys, its a bland affair. The black metal deck isnt bad; its a safe note after teasing folks about the laptops bottom. That said, the palm rest is large and comfortable, and the touchpad is large. The keyboard sits above a slightly recessed deck.Photo: Adriano Contreras/Gizmodo The display and deck are held in place by the two hinges. Some rather thick bezels surround the 14-inch display. A big MSI emblem is stamped in the middle of the bottom bezel, while the top extends into a pronounced lip housing the 720p webcam and mics. Regarding ports, MSI gives a modest set with a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port on the right, a USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and AC power input. On the left, you have another USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port with a headset jack and a secure lock slot. The 12.4 x 9.2 x 0.88-inch Cyborg 14 weighs 3.5 pounds, just a bit heavier than the 3.2-pound, 12.2 x 8.9 x 0.67 ~ 0.78-inch Asus TUF Gaming A14. MSI Cyborg 14 Review: Display and Audio The 14-inch IPS matte display is vibrant, but I wish it were brighter. Watching the Sinners trailer was disappointing. The movie already has a mild sepia cast, which, with the displays dim cast, exacerbates the problem. The sky took on a yellow-gray cast, and the skin of the actors Michael B. Jordan and Wunmi Mosaku looked washed out. The most vibrant moment of the trailer was when Jordan was wearing a sapphire newsboy hat, which kept my eye on him.Photo: Adriano Contreras/Gizmodo Things looked better when I played Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The jungles were lush and verdant with clear babbling brooks. Intricate details like the joints in a tarantulas legs or the ugly, raised scars on actor Tony Todds face and milky eye were clear even as his character tossed Indy around like a bag of dirty laundry. The 144Hz refresh rate helped the action relatively smooth. If I had three wishes, the first would be for world peace. The second would be that every generation of my family would be comfortably rich, and the last would be the end of bottom-firing speakers. Despite the preinstalled DTS Audio Processing software, the 2W speakers are a quiet riot. No matter the setting, the Cyborg could barely fill my living room with sound. The soft speakers took some of the gravitas away from Indys running and gunning. The whip lacked the crispness you expect from being cracked against an enemys torso. Photo: Adriano Contreras/Gizmodo When listening to music, I found the percussion tinny, the vocals crowded, and the instrumentals bloated. If youre a bass fan, this is not your laptop, as the low end is nonexistent. The speakers sound best when the Cyborg rests on a desk, but place it on your lap, and youre doomed to muffled audio. MSI Cyborg 14 Review: Features and Software The Cyborg 14 has a full-size island-style keyboard with keycaps accommodating most fingers. The space between keys is good, and the light blue backlighting allows hunt-and-peck typists to see the keys in a dark room. The WASD keys are transparent to help them stand out even more. The keys are firm and springy when typing. I had no problem hitting my usual 70 words per minute on the MonkeyType typing test. Photo: Adriano Contreras/Gizmodo My only complaint is that you cant switch out the backlighting or create macros like you can on more expensive MSI laptops.The Cyborg comes with the usual suite of Windows apps, including Microsoft Copilot, found on most laptops. However, MSI Center is the app youll use most, as it allows you to check system diagnostics, manage network prioritization, adjust power profiles, and accesss other features. Third-party software includes DTS Audio Processing and Nvidia Broadcast, which is AI-powered and designed to enhance the webcam and mic and add a virtual background during streaming sessions. MSI Cyborg 14 Review: Performance Armed with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB of video memory, you can expect decent frame rates on most games. You just need to be mindful of the settings. My Indiana Jones playthrough was relatively smooth on low. If I attempted to go beyond low, I promptly got a warning stating that my desires exceeded what the VRAM could handle. Still, the game looked decent on low. However, I did notice the background scenery sharpened if I stayed still and waited for everything to render. Photo: Adriano Contreras/Gizmodo I ran a couple of games with in-game benchmarks to show you how well the Cyborg can game. I ran the Cyberpunk 2077 test with and without ray tracing enabled. With the technology turned on at 1920 x 1200 resolution on Ultra, the laptop produced 35 frames per second, which rose slightly to 39 fps on Medium. When I dropped the ray tracing and re-ran the test, I got 57 and 79 fps on the Ultra and Medium, respectively. Switching over to Black Myth: Wukong, I saw a frame rate of 110 fps on Cinematic and 49 fps on the Medium graphical preset. The Cyborgs Intel Core i7-13620H processor allows the laptop to switch from play to work without breaking its stride. I am a tab hoarder. I have 55 Google Chrome tabs running with a mix of G-Suite apps, news, social media, videos, and random bric-a-brac. The MSI notebook kept pushing unabated. I also did some light photo editing in Adobe Photoshop, and the Cyborg was still unbothered.Photo: Adriano Contreras/Gizmodo When it was time to run some benchmarks, the Cyborg continued to hold its own. On Geekbench 6, the notebook produced 2,403 on the single-core test and 11,672 on the multi-core run, putting it on par with most laptops of its ilk. However, the Cyborg was a little sluggish during the Handbrake video transcoding test, taking 5 minutes and 31 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p. On the Blender benchmark, where the systems CPU is tasked with rendering an image of a BMW, the MSI took 3 minutes and 28 seconds. Its a respectable score but not enough to beat the Asus TUF Gaming A14, which completed the task in 2:15. MSI Cyborg 14 Review: Battery Life Gaming laptops arent known for their battery life, so it was no surprise that the Cyborg tapped out in under four hours. I ran the PCMark 10 Modern Office benchmark with the display brightness set to 100%. The test runs through a simulated workload (social media, spreadsheets, video conferencing, web browsing, etc.) until the laptops battery runs down. The MSI lasted 3 hours and 42 minutes. But since this is a gaming laptop, running the Gaming version of the test is only fair. The Cyborg was done after 59 minutes.MSI Cyborg 14 Review: Verdict Is the MSI Cyborg 14 the most powerful gaming laptop in the land? No, but its also not the most expensive. This sub-$1,000 gaming system delivers solid gaming and overall performance in a stylish, relatively lightweight chassis. The keyboard is extremely comfortable to type on, and theres a fair amount of ports. But at this price point, you have to expect a few compromises. In the case of the Cyborg, that means a vivid display but not the brightest, weak audio, and a lack of RGB backlighting and macros. Still, for a gaming laptop under $1,000, the MSI Cyborg 14 is a great option for entry-level gamers or folks on a budget.

Alejandro Aravenas Elemental and Holcim Collaborate on Carbon-Neutral Housing at the 2025 Venice BiennaleSave this picture!Villa Verde Housing / ELEMENTAL. Image Suyin ChiaFrom May 10 to November 23, 2025, a carbon-neutral housing project designed by Elemental, the firm led by Pritzker Prize winner Alejandro Aravena, will be showcased at the Venice Architecture Biennale. The project aims to combine the Chilean office's expertise in social housing with the construction products of Holcim (the company behind the Holcim Foundation) to create a prototype for resilient and affordable housing.The design incorporates a specific type of low-carbon concrete, which aims to emit 30% less CO than standard concrete. The prototype will be featured in the Time Space Existence exhibition, organized by the European Cultural Centre.The goal of the project is to test the sustainability of a housing prototype in response to the ongoing climate and humanitarian crises.Save this picture!Holcim's concrete, called ECOPact, is a recyclable mix of cementitious components that can also incorporate demolition materials, depending on local construction regulations. While no public details about the design have been released, the goal is for the model to be scalable. A logic that, despite popular criticism, defines Aravena's most emblematic project, Quinta Monroy, which has been replicated in other housing developments in Chile and Mexico, such as Villa Verde and Monterrey. Related Article Women-Led Architecture Practices: Redefining Urban Housing Design at the Time Space Existence Exhibition in Venice If we don't build billions of square meters, the humanitarian crisis escalates; but if we build, we worsen the environmental crisis. - Alejandro Aravena Save this picture!In the context of the Venice Biennale, this marks Holcim's third collaboration with renowned architectural firms in exploring new construction technologies. At the 2023 edition, they presented the Essential Home design by the Norman Foster Foundation, while in 2021, they partnered with Zaha Hadid Architects, the Block Research Group at ETH, and incremental3D to build Striatus, a 3D-printed concrete bridge. The company is also behind the Holcim Foundation Awards, whose call for entries for sustainable design projects at any scale will remain open until February 11, 2025.We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCite: Antonia Pieiro. "Alejandro Aravenas Elemental and Holcim Collaborate on Carbon-Neutral Housing at the 2025 Venice Biennale" 31 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026339/alejandro-aravenas-elemental-and-holcim-collaborate-on-carbon-neutral-housing-at-the-2025-venice-biennale&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

N7 Bretscha House / Dominic Spalt ArchitekturSave this picture! Willem PabArchitects: Dominic Spalt ArchitekturAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:182 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2024 PhotographsPhotographs:Willem Pab Carpenter: FrommeltMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. One house, two flats, three generations, and a mighty shady tree in the garden. Surrounded by an old printing work and an office building, the house from the 1960s stands somewhat hidden in the center of Schaan.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Throughout its history, it has been transformed time and again. The addition of a covered terrace on the south side gave the house its first significant change at the turn of the millennium.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The former oversized single-family residence became a house for three generations with two flats one above the other. The garden apartment was left in its original state, with the exception of a little color and a few openings for new pipes. In the upper part, the bedrooms were retained and supplemented with precise interventions.Save this picture!Instead of the attic with its gabled roof, a large living space has been added. The open room composition with precisely positioned windows makes the room appear even more spacious and creates a dialogue with the garden with the mighty tree on the one hand and the mountain range of the "Dreischwestern" on the other.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officeMaterialsWoodConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on January 31, 2025Cite: "N7 Bretscha House / Dominic Spalt Architektur" 31 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026217/n-degrees-7-bretscha-house-dominic-spalt-architektur&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Stack CommerceShareWe may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more If youre a developer or programmer, youve probably heard of Visual Studio. Its the gold standard for development environments, loved by seasoned coders and beginners alike. Now, you can get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows at its lowest price everjust $27.97 (reg. $499).Whether youre coding for web, mobile, or desktop platforms, this robust IDE will transform how you build, debug, and collaborate on projects.What sets Visual Studio 2022 apart? First, its the first 64-bit IDE, meaning you can handle even the most complex workloads without performance hiccups. Tackling large projects? Youre covered. Building cross-platform apps? Thanks to tools like .NET MAUI and Blazor, its never been easier.The platform also includes IntelliCode, an AI-powered assistant that anticipates your next move, helping you code faster and smarter. For teams, Visual Studios collaboration tools like Live Share ensure seamless real-time teamwork. Share your project in a secure environment, edit code with your team, and debug togetherno matter where you are.And with CodeLens, youll always have insights at your fingertips. Youll be able to do helpful things like see commit history, track authors, and make informed decisions without leaving your editor.This productivity powerhouse is designed to simplify complex workflows. At a fraction of the original price, this is your chance to level up your coding game without making much of a dent in your wallet.Whether youre a student building your first app, a freelance developer managing client projects, or part of a professional team, Visual Studio Professional 2022 has the features you need to succeed.If youve been on the fence about trying it out, nows the best time to do it.Get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 while its just $27.97 (reg. $499) through Feb. 16 at 11:59 p.m. PT.StackSocial prices subject to change.Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows $27.97Get It Here

Nature, Published online: 31 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00328-4Researchers with lived experience of the chronic workplace stress that typifies burnout describe how they sought help and turned their working lives around.