I didn't tell anyone it was my birthday Honda cleans, greens its Ohio factories to add EVs to the mix Giant presses and 3D stir welding make the battery cases. Jonathan M. Gitlin Feb 3, 2025 11:16 am | 0 Credit: Jonathan Gitlin Credit: Jonathan Gitlin Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreHonda provided flights from Daytona to Columbus then Washington, DC, and accommodation so Ars could visit its factories. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.ANNA, OHIOHonda's Anna Engine Plant has changed a little since I last visited. As we wound our way past the four-cylinder production line, the green-painted scaffolding and overhead gantries gave way to a more open expanse of the cavernous building. Conveyor belts have been replaced by little robots that move pallets around, and bright LED lights illuminate the yellow-painted walls. In the middle of it all is a series of massive 6,000-ton presses, newly installed to cast the battery packs of Honda's next US-made electric vehicles.A little more than an hour outside of Columbus, the Anna Engine Plant started building engines for the Goldwing motorcycle, something that would have been of deep interest to me and all the other schoolchildren who were obsessed with what seemed like the world's most excessive two-wheeler.That was forty years ago, and in the intervening years, the factory has expanded to encompass 2.8 million square feet (260,000 m2), where 3,000 people build four- and six-cylinder engines for the Hondas and Acuras people drive here in the US. Ars was last there in 2020, back then because it was hand-building the twin-turbo V6 engines for the Acura NSX, which was assembled just down the road. One of the six massive die casting machines is in the background. Jonathan Gitlin One of the six massive die casting machines is in the background. Jonathan Gitlin Robots do most of the handling. Jonathan Gitlin Robots do most of the handling. Jonathan Gitlin Here, the two halves of the case are welded together. Jonathan Gitlin Here, the two halves of the case are welded together. Jonathan Gitlin Robots do most of the handling. Jonathan Gitlin Here, the two halves of the case are welded together. Jonathan Gitlin The large castings for the battery packs are the opposite of handmadehuman hands don't come close while the various robots do their thing.The massive presses each make one half of the battery case, and the size of the front half can be changed to make medium-sized and large EV battery packs. Once both halves are cast and the parts are acceptable, robots finish the surfaces that are expected to touch other components, with minimal use of a lubricant that Honda says has cut energy use significantly.Then the two halves are joined using 3D friction stir welding. There are no sparks or smoke; instead, a spinning bit mounted to a robot arm makes the aluminum plastic where it touches it. As the arm moves, the aluminum hardens, and the arm is articulated to follow the curves of the pack. Once the cases are ready, they can be shipped to Marysville. Jonathan Gitlin Once the cases are ready, they can be shipped to Marysville. Jonathan Gitlin There's a dummy module inserted into this case. Jonathan Gitlin There's a dummy module inserted into this case. Jonathan Gitlin Once the cases are ready, they can be shipped to Marysville. Jonathan Gitlin There's a dummy module inserted into this case. Jonathan Gitlin Honda's Marysville Auto Plant is undergoing a similar transformation. The production line was busy churning out hundreds of Accords during our visit, but there was plenty of evidence of upgrades.Some lines have already been removed, and others are shrouded from view with construction barriers up to protect the rest of the factory from whatever demolition is going on behind them. Bright, efficient LEDs have replaced old fluorescents, and in the midst of an Ohio winter, it was shirtsleeves temperature inside, thanks in part to a new, more efficient HVAC system.Honda has not yet added US-made EVs to the Marysville mix, but that will happen soonthe Honda Zero SUV starts production here later this year. And now there's a new area for assembling its battery packs, using the cases we saw cast in Anna. The battery module assembly area at Marysville. Credit: Jonathan Gitlin Pack assembly is done in parallel rather than in series, as in a normal car production line, which Honda says gives it a bit more freedom to deal with problems or train new people without holding up everyone else. But the EVs themselves will travel down the same production line we saw filled with Accords. Rather than invest in an all-new factory just for EVs, the automaker will mix and match according to demand, with the flexibility to adapt as it needs to. That's probably a wise decision these days.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 0 Comments

Melting pot Greenlands glaciers are falling apart faster than expected New 3D study shows meltwater driving fissures deeper into the glacial ice. Bob Berwyn, Inside Climate News Feb 3, 2025 10:36 am | 23 Greenland's massive ice sheet inching into the ocean. Credit: Christine Zenino/Flickr Greenland's massive ice sheet inching into the ocean. Credit: Christine Zenino/Flickr Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreA new large-scale study of crevasses on the Greenland Ice Sheet shows that those cracks are widening faster as the climate warms, which is likely to speed ice loss and global sea level rise.Crevasses are wedge-shaped fractures and cracks that open in glaciers where the ice begins to flow faster. They can grow to more than 300 feet wide, thousands of feet long, and hundreds of feet deep. Water from melting snow on the surface can flow through crevasses all the way to the base of the ice, joining with other hidden streams to form a vast drainage system that affects how fast glaciers and ice sheets flow.The study found that crevasses are expanding more quickly than previously detected, and somewhere between 50 and 90 percent of the water flowing through the Greenland Ice Sheet goes through crevasses, which can warm deeply submerged portions of the glacier and increase lubrication between the base of the ice sheet and the bedrock it flows over. Both those mechanisms can accelerate the flow of the ice itself, said Thomas Chudley, a glaciologist at Durham University in the United Kingdom, who is lead author of the new study.Understanding crevasses is a key to understanding how this discharge will evolve in the 21st century and beyond, he said.Greenland ice researchers expect that more crevasses will form in a warming world because glaciers are accelerating in response to warmer ocean temperatures, and because meltwater filling crevasses can force fractures deeper into the ice, he said. However, until now we havent had the data to show where and how fast this is happening across the entirety of the Greenland Ice Sheet.Using three-dimensional images of the crevasses enabled the researchers to get the most accurate estimate of their total volume to date. The results show that crevasses grew significantly wider between 2016 and 2021.And they grow pretty much in lockstep with increased discharge of icebergs and meltwater into the ocean, Chudley said. That makes sense, right? Because the glaciers are speeding up because of influence from the warming ocean. As they speed up, they flow faster.Ice at the surface of glaciers generally flows faster than at their bases, which are slowed by friction with the surface they travel on. The difference in speeds cause the fissures, he explained.The research highlights a new feedback that accelerates changes in ice sheets and the loss of mass from glaciers through iceberg discharges, said Xavier Fettweis, a professor of climatology at the University of Lige, who was not part of the new study.Its difficult to evaluate the importance of this positive feedback, he said, but it is something which is currently underestimated in the ice sheet models used for performing future projections.Calculating the total annual discharge of ice from Greenland also requires considering how a variety of complex interactions play out, he said.For example, models show there will be less direct discharges of icebergs into the ocean as glaciers retreat from the coast. That would slow the contribution of melting icebergs to sea level rise, he said.But that same retreat also steepens the edge of the ice sheet, both when sloped tongues of floating ice recede onto land from the sea, and when increased melting and calving of icebergs at the low leading edge undercuts the rest of the ice.That stress widens and deepens the crevasses that Chudley studieda feedback cycle that could speed the disintegration of the Greenland Ice Sheet.Greenlands melting ice will affect millionsIn 2020, researchers calculated that Greenlands ice sheet annually loses about 9 billion tons of water every hour. The total annual freshwater flow off Greenland is about equal to the annual flow of the Amazon River, at about 1,000 gigatons per year, said Ken Mankoff, a researcher with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland who led the comprehensive 2020 study tracking discharge from Greenland from 1986 to 2020. If all its ice melts, it would raise sea level by about 23 feet (7 meters).A complete meltdown is projected to take thousands of years, but there is a lot of scientific evidence from periods of rapid climate warming in the not-so-distant geological past that show pulses of rapid global ice melt, with sea levels sometimes rising in surges of up to 13 feet (4 meters) per century. At the current rate of melting, Greenlands ice could contribute about 3 feet (1 meter) of sea level rise by 2100.Some coastal areas are already struggling to adapt to sea level rise, and millions of people around the world are at risk of losing land and livelihoods. Greenlands ice is one of the largest contributors to sea level rise, and projecting the speed of the meltdown is a key climate science goal to help people prepare.This first-ever inventory of crevasses across the entire Greenland Ice Sheet will help do that, said William Colgan, a glaciology and climate professor with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, who was not involved with the study.This is the first study to unequivocally say that the expansion of crevasse zones is ubiquitous across Greenlands outlet glaciers that have accelerated in recent years, he said.The absolute numbers are large, he added. Were talking about thousands of square kilometers of ice sheet being crevassed, and hundreds of square kilometers becoming crevassed at different glaciers during the observation period.The study provides unprecedented detail of the distribution of crevasses at different elevations of the ice sheet, and how the fissures and their distribution have been changing, Colgan said. Id imagine there was a similar feeling when the first inventory of Moon craters was made; youve always known they were there, but you hadnt been able to count them individually.Various reports from ice sheet researchers in the field affirm the studys findings.If you have been working on the ice sheet, year after year, I think you get familiar with the increase in crevasses at your local sites, he said. In the blue ice areas especially, glaciers are generally speeding up and snowfall is generally declining. We expect to see more crevasses.Colgan also emphasized that the new findings show the increasing risk of some feedbacks that arent included in models of climate impacts. That suggests that melting could accelerate beyond what the science already anticipates.We know that the appearance of crevasses can trigger a lot of feedback for ice loss, he said. With so many feedbacks to enhance ice loss, crevasses are poised to play a large role in the faster-than-forecast response of the ice sheet to climate change.This story originally appeared on Inside Climate News.Bob Berwyn, Inside Climate News 23 Comments

Sen. Mitch McConnell criticized Trump's across-the-board tariffs in an interview on Sunday.He said the tariffs will "drive the cost of everything up" and antagonize US allies."It will be paid for by American consumers," the former Senate GOP leader said.Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, fresh off the end of his 18-year tenure as Senate Republican leader, is sounding off against looming tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.Trump signed executive orders on Saturday that will impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, along with a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. On Monday, Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaumannounced that the tariffs on the country will be delayed a month."It will drive the cost of everything up," McConnell said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" that aired on Sunday. "In other words, it will be paid for by American consumers."He also noted that Mexico and Canada are longtime US allies: "Why would you want to get in a fight with your allies over this?"Trump has said the tariffs are designed to coerce the governments of Mexico, Canada, and China to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.The tariffs are set to go into effect at midnight on Tuesday morning, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced retaliatory tariffs. Democrats have largely opposed Trump's move, also arguing that it will drive up the cost of consumer goods from those countries.McConnell, a longtime Trump critic, isn't the only Republican who's criticizing the tariffs."Tariffs are simply taxes," Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky wrote on X. "Conservatives once united against new taxes. Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices."McConnell also said that despite his criticism of Trump over tariffs along with his belief that January 6 is an insurrection for which Trump is responsible he's likely to be on the same page with the president most of the time."I expect to support most of what this administration is trying to accomplish," McConnell said. "So, what happened in the past is irrelevant to me."

Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico could raise average new car prices by $2,700, Jeffries analysts found.The levies will hit automakers like GM and Stellantis, which import vehicles from Mexico, especially hard.Even Tesla would not be immune, with the company's CFO warning last week tariffs "would have an impact."Donald Trump's tariff offensive has thrown the auto industry into chaos and it could make your next car more expensive.The president announced 25% tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico and a 10% levy on China on Saturday, a move Jeffries analysts warned could add $2,700 to the average price of a new car in the US.The import taxes sparked global market uncertainty on Monday after all three countries vowed to retaliate. Canada has already done so, saying it will put a 25% tariff on $30 billion of US goods.While Trump said on Monday the introduction of tariffs on Mexico would be paused for a month, if implemented, they will significantly impact US carmakers.Lured by low labor costs and cheap parts, automakers have built up their presence in Mexico over the past few decades. Detroit's "big three" of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, as well as foreign powerhouses like Toyota and Nissan, all build vehicles in Mexico to import to the US market.Even car companies that assemble their vehicles in the US, such as Tesla and Rivian, are likely to face higher costs thanks to the levies extending to vehicle and engine components.In a note on Sunday, Jeffries analysts estimated that a 25% levy on goods imported from Canada and Mexico would add $43 billion to industry costs, with Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis being the most exposed.Other estimates were equally dire. Analysts for research firm Wolfe Research said the average price of a new car may climb by around $3,000, per Bloomberg.Patrick Anderson, chief executive of consulting firm Anderson Economic Group, told The New York Times the tariffs could add $10,000 or more to the price of trucks and large vehicles imported from Mexico.Auto executives have been bracing for the impact of Trump's tariffs ever since the Republican won the presidency for the second time in November.In an earnings call last week, Tesla's Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said there was "a lot of uncertainty" around the taxes."Over the years, we've tried to localize our supply chain in every market, but we are still reliant on parts from across the world for all our businesses. Therefore, the imposition of tariffs, which is very likely, and any will have an impact on our business and profitability," Taneja said.

After a series of leaks, fans have determined that Nintendo may have been teasing the Switch 2 release date ever since the reveal earlier this month here's how

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 peasants dont get much respect (Deep Silver)The sequel to 2018s surprise hit historical RPG is more polished and better looking but are the Red Dead Redemption comparisons really warranted?If you missed the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance, it is not the standard issue fantasy role-playing game it may seem to be; its actually much closer to being a carefully researched medieval life simulator. With no mages or mythical beasts, the world you inhabit is a deeply stratified society in which peasants are considered inferior to townspeople, who in turn find themselves looking up to the aristocracy.Set in early 15th century Bohemia what is today the Czech Republic your character, Henry, is the son of a blacksmith and longtime friend of Lord Hans Capon, an aristocrat based on a real historical figure. At the beginning of the game, youre charged with a mission to deliver a message to a local dignitary. When things go wildly off the rails it leaves Henry penniless and alone, having to rebuild his life from scratch and still somehow complete his mission.Its the historically authentic version of the well-worn role-playing game trope that has your character losing all their powers after the introductory sequence. With no horse, weapons or armour you really are starting from the bottom of society and in a world of mud and squalor thats a pretty rank place to find yourself. Wearing ragged clothes and without enough money for the bathhouse, you look and smell like the lowliest peasant.At the start of the game, simply finding food and a place to sleep are your two most pressing concerns. Resorting to thievery and trespass can rapidly see you confined to a pillory in a village square, with passers-by tossing rotten vegetables at you. It turns out that being mistaken for a medieval peasant is a shortcut to a hard knock life.It also lets you start discovering the mechanics of rural Bohemian living. Your first order of business is finding gainful employment, which you soon discover comes with somewhere to sleep and a pleasing learning curve as you take up a trade. You also discover that undertaking the usual role-playing game tasks involves a far more significant effort and focus.Take brewing medicines and potions. Rather than just picking the right herbs and pressing X, here you have to look up the recipe in your book and prepare it step by step. It matters how many handfuls of each ingredient you add, the water, wine or oil you use as a base, and the length of time you boil each one as its added, timed using an hourglass next to your cauldron.Some ingredients need to be ground up in a pestle and mortar before being added and for certain concoctions youll also need to distil the resulting liquid before its ready to be bottled. Getting it up to boiling point means using bellows to get the fire nice and hot. Needless to say, even slavishly following a recipe your early brews will be weak and low quality but like everything in Kingdom Come the more you practise the better you get; although, as in life, that improvement occurs very slowly.Youll find similar levels of authenticity forging a sword or sharpening it after long term use. After getting into a fight your clothes will need a good wash and, probably, repair. Most garments can be mended by a tailor, but armour requires a blacksmith or a special kit if you happen to be far from a town or village. Its a complex ecosystem thats in constant flux and it affects more than just the protective qualities of your clothing.How you look influences how people treat you. Even with a high score for charisma, if youre dressed in beggars rags nobody will take you seriously. Even wearing costly finery, if its in a poor state of repair or youre spattered with mud and viscera, or smell like a latrine trench, youll attract suspicion, disgust or outright contempt especially from the upper classes.Stealth is just as complex. Theres no point trying to sneak into a building during the day, when nighttime offers far better opportunities for staying out of sight. Equally, anyone trying to creep around wearing plate armour is going to have a bad time. Optimal sneaking requires blending in, wearing dark, inconspicuous colours and soft-soled shoes, and if you take your thieving seriously youll soon engineer an entire separate outfit to facilitate your life of crime.While there are no magical shenanigans, there are still similarities to The Witcher, a fellow Eastern European, historically-orientated first person action role-player. Like Geralts adventures, few quests are as simple as they first appear and regularly develop unanticipated complications when an attempted burglary goes awry, or an intended good turn leads to tragic results. Not much of a first person shooter (Deep Silver)In an early quest, Henry and Hans are imprisoned and youre given 12 hours to clear Hans name before hes hanged. There are quite a few ways of going about that task. Doing chores for some of the artisans around the prison grounds, you discover clues that lead you to potential salvation in the form of a captain of the guard who can vouch for Hans.To get to him you can, amongst other possibilities, use stealth to sneak into the tower where hes being held; get invited inside to help with a job for a local or discover that a nearby well is in fact dry and can be used to infiltrate the cellars. It makes the world feel rich and open-ended, as though your interaction with it is a path of your own making, rather than simply a preordained corridor youre being funnelled along. Although sometimes thats not entirely true.Unfortunately, once youve done the chores, discovered the clues, evaded the guards, and successfully enacted your plan, you find out that the only way to complete elements of the quest is by opening several chests using your lockpicking skill. We had never picked a single lock before that moment, making it an effective dead end that sent us back nearly four hours of play time to go and spend many more hours picking every lock we could find to get our skills to a sufficient level to be able to continue.The game also suffers from a scattering of minor glitches, mostly graphical, but there were other quests where the games open-ended approach sometimes meant we got into situations that were effectively untenable, resulting in backtracking to older saves (a convoluted process that is effectively immune to save-scumming).Provided you have the time and inclination to work around them, none of those moments needed to be game-breaking, but it requires an attitude that embraces the enjoyment of a long journey even when it sometimes goes disastrously wrong. Life in the big city (Deep Silver)Red Dead Redemption and its sequel have a similarly mellow pace. Walking or riding on horseback, accompanied by detailed and characterful conversations, those games rely just as much on dialogue and a sense of place for their entertainment. Kingdom Come is similar. It may not have quite the richness of character that Rockstars games manage to evoke, but its landscapes, historical accuracy, and unabashed complexity make it somewhere to inhabit rather than just grind your way through.Taking place in two substantial open world areas, the second of which is trickier and more hostile, youll find villages, farms, and a large medieval city. There are also tracts of forest, harbouring nomad and bandit camps, and packs of wolves, all of which need to be dispatched in slightly clunky first person combat. Its smoother than its predecessor but is still not the games strongest suit, especially for the first couple of dozen hours when Henry remains relatively easy prey.Like the first game, its HUD comes with all sorts of delightful medieval flourishes, and the sequels far greater level of polish encourages you to enjoy the details of its improved graphics. The scenery is quite beautiful at times, taking on a completely different character in the early dawn mist, compared with the heat of a summers day or a sudden rainstorm.More TrendingVoice-acting is, once again, a little varied. Henry, Hans, and a clutch of main protagonists are first class, sounding charismatic and completely natural, while some more minor characters can be unintentionally comic, especially when they try and put on an accent thats quite clearly alien to them. Given the preponderance of wonderful British regional accents and the odd American drawl, were not quite sure why some felt the need to fake it, but in the main the acting is good even if theres only a couple of characters that sound even remotely Bohemian.If youve got the time and patience for it, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an immensely involving, and often uncompromising, historical simulator where your decisions always seem weighty and consequential. You really dont miss using magic, and if you dont mind a bit of slog getting there, its progression system and massive list of perks offer a huge degree of flexibility from talking your way out of problems to improving your trading, poaching, thieving, and even drinking skills.There are occasional misfiring missions, but you can always work your way around them, encouraged by a twisty plot full of political machination and changing allegiances; interspersed with long periods of living off the countryside or in one of its towns, as you upgrade your skills enough to continue. If you have sufficient leisure time, and enjoy complex games that refuse to hold your hand, Deliverance 2 delivers a rare sense of depth and intricacy.Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review summaryIn Short: A complex and wildly ambitious medieval life simulator that basks in historical detail and will happily take over months of your life, even if its radical sense of freedom can create unintended impasses.Pros: Fabulously detailed simulation of everything from potion making to blacksmithing. Spectacularly varied and specific perks list, beautifully rendered Bohemian countryside, and an impressive sense of consequence to your actions. Some excellent voice acting.Cons: Still plenty of graphical glitches and awkward script moments especially any time romance is involved. Being unable to progress because of your skill level is always frustrating. Weak combat.Score: 7/10Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S, and PCPrice: 44.99Publisher: Deep SilverDeveloper: Warhorse StudiosRelease Date: 4th February 2024Age Rating: 18 You can ride and chat (Deep Silver)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

Sony hates Bloodborne fans so much its taken down a free 60fps patchMichael BeckwithPublished February 3, 2025 3:57pmUpdated February 3, 2025 3:58pm Were surprised Sony remembers Bloodborne at all (Sony Interactive Entertainment)Despite aggressively ignoring Bloodborne all generation, Sony has asked that a fan-made patch that bumps up the games frame rate be taken offline.There are plenty of older games and IPs that PlayStation fans want Sony to revisit but there is perhaps no community louder and most insistent than Bloodborne fans.Its been nearly 10 years since FromSoftwares PlayStation 4 exclusive launched and, in that time, all fans have wanted is an updated remaster for PlayStation 5 and/or PC, if only to get the game running at 60 frames per second rather than the, rather uneven, 30 frames per second its stuck with.And yet, unlike most other big name PlayStation 4 exclusives, Bloodborne hasnt even had a PlayStation 5 patch. So, in 2021, modder Lance McDonald took matters into his own hands and made his own Bloodborne patch to improve the games frame rate. And yet only now has Sony forced him to take it down.Today I received a DMCA takedown notification on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment asking that I remove links to the patch I posted on the internet, so Ive now done so, revealed McDonald over the weekend via Bluesky.Said patch could be applied to not just the PlayStation 4, but also to the PlayStation 5 and PC. While theres no official port for either platform, Bloodborne is backwards compatible with the former (though still locked to 30fps) and its possible to get the game running on the latter through emulation.Although McDonald has argued he is legally protected if he were to ever share his patch again, he seems unbothered by the decision, since hes more interested in future projects. I am not interested in arguing my right to distribute the patch. I am of course legally protected if I choose to re-post it, but why would I do that? People can find it if they want. I personally am just looking to the future now. Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon.bsky.social) 2025-02-02T04:52:22.033ZBesides, as McDonald points out, so many other people have access to the patch and can easily repost it themselves. In fact, someone else has already made it available on NexusMods and we suspect any efforts by Sony to keep removing it will look like a game of whack-a-mole.I have other things to do with Bloodborne these days. And while I would have liked to fix a few of the small bugs in the 60fps patch, I am not annoyed Sony asked me take down the page with the links, said McDonald.This isnt the only fan-made Bloodborne project to be targeted. Not long after the patchs removal, indie developer Lilith Walther, who worked on a PlayStation 1 style demake of Bloodborne, said a video she made of the project, has been hit a by a DMCA strike as well.For the record, the demake itself is untouched and still available on itch.io, but its been around since 2022 with zero issues. Thats after Sony requested Walthers Bloodborne Kart, an unofficial racing spin-off, remove all traces of the Bloodborne IP, with the project rebranded as Nightmare Kart.The copyright claim was filed by MarkScan, a company that is focused on helping clients to protect their digital IP assets, according to its website. This is the same company that sent McDonald a DMCA for his Bloodborne patch, suggesting Sony is one of MarkScans clients.MarkScan are a company hired by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Theyre the same company that DMCAed my page about the Bloodborne 60fps patch. And now theyve DMCAed an old video about the Bloodborne PSX demake project. Thats pretty wild. What the hell are they doing?? Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon.bsky.social) 2025-02-03T00:47:53.388ZSonys timing is extremely odd considering it has barely acknowledged Bloodborne in the past 10 years. As a result, any time it has referenced the game, in promotional material or social media posts, has led to fans assuming it was teasing an announcement for a remaster.More TrendingSuch a project seems like a no-brainer and McDonald has previously claimed that not only would it be very easy for Sony to update Bloodborne with an improved frame rate, but the company has also made a PC version and just isnt releasing it.McDonald is hopeful that these DMCAs are hints that Sony is preparing an official remake so that when they announce a 60fps remake, google searching for bloodborne 60fps and Bloodborne remake wont have collisions with our fan projects.Why they have not done so already though is a mystery that continues to go unexplained, especially given the game is arguably (or inarguably, as far as were concerned) the best exclusive on the PlayStation 4 and one of the best games of any kind this century. Do we dare dream? 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Need a new pair of earbuds? Times running out, AirPods 4 hits lowest price ever. Need a new pair of earbuds? Apples AirPods 4 boast a sleeker design and smarter features powered by the new H2 chip. The shorter stems are more than an aesthetic choice, and they make these AirPods more comfortable and stable than before. Add in features like personalized Spatial Audio with head tracking and improved voice isolation for calls, and these represent a solid step forward from previous generations.See at AmazonRight now, theyre on sale for the first time at a low pricejust $100 on Amazon, down from $129, saving you $29 (22% off). This brings them closer to the price range of mid-tier wireless earbuds while offering premium features that youll definitely want as part of the iOS ecosystem.Your new favorite Apple earbudsThe H2 chip inside does more than just connect your earbuds it enables personalized Spatial Audio that tracks your head movements, making music and movies feel more immersive. Voice Isolation helps your calls sound clearer by cutting through background noise, whether youre working from home or walking through a busy street. The gesture controls are intuitively implemented a quick press handles your music and calls without reaching for your phone.Battery life remains competitive at 5 hours per charge, with the compact charging case providing up to 30 hours total before needing a plug. The automatic ear detection and instant pairing with Apple devices showcase the kind of thoughtful integration the company is known for these just work, without the usual Bluetooth pairing hassles.For Apple users, these AirPods make even more sense at this discounted price. Whether youre upgrading from older AirPods or jumping into wireless earbuds for the first time, youre getting Apples latest audio technology for less than what previous models were selling for recently. The improved sound quality, refined design, and smart features justify the investment, especially at this sale price. However, Android users might want to consider alternatives that better integrate with their devices, as these AirPods work best within Apples ecosystem.So if youre looking for a new pair of earbuds that you can use with your iPhone or MacBook, or just a pair that sound great and dont break the bank, its time to go ahead and grab these while theyre discounted (22% off). Youll want to use them with just about everything you have in your possession. While youre at it, be sure to grab another pair for a gift at some point. You never know when someone will be in dire need of some new earbuds.See at Amazon

By Matthew Gault Published February 3, 2025 | Comments (2) | Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk arrives to speak during an inauguration event at Capital One Arena on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images In an unprecedented flexing of the power of the executive branch, unelected billionaire Elon Musk is shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development. On Monday morning, employees for USAID got an email telling them to stay out of their headquarters. The email was signed by Gavin Kliger, one of the young engineers working with Musk who helped him gain control of the Office of Personnel Management last week. In a late-night X Space over the weekend, Musk said that he and his DOGE cronies had gotten into USAID and found it wanting. As we dug into USAID it became apparent that what we have here is not an apple with a worm in it, but we have actually just a ball of worms, Musk said. If you have an apple with a worm in it, you can take the worm out. If you have a whole ball of worms, its hopeless. USAID is a ball of worms. There is no apple. And when there is no apple you just need to get rid of the whole thing. Thats why its got to go. Its beyond repair. In America, Congress is supposed to control the purse strings, set the budget, and fund or defund government agencies. Its their job to oversee departments like USAID and shut them down. Ending a six-decade-old government agency that spends billions of dollars around the world is under their jurisdiction. This move by Musk on behalf of the executive branch is likely illegal and unconstitutional.It also seems like that doesnt matter and no one will be stopping it. Hearing that Trump is about to double down on the constitutional crisis, Chris Murphy, a Democratic Senator from Connecticut, said in a post on the Musk-owned website X. A President cannot eliminate an appropriated federal agency by executive order. Thats what a despot who wants to steal the taxpayers money to enrich his billionaire cabal does. Watch USAID tonight. Hearing that Trump is about to double down on the constitutional crisis. A President cannot eliminate an appropriated federal agency by executive order. Thats what a despot who wants to steal the taxpayers money to enrich his billionaire cabal does. Watch USAID tonight. Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 31, 2025 Despite Murphys strongly worded post, USAID is on the chopping block. The promised shutdown of USAID was cheered by Russian politician and former president Dmitry Medvedev. Smart move by @elonmusk, trying to plug USAIDs Deep Throat. Lets hope notorious Deep State doesnt swallow him whole, he said in a post on X. USAID is not a benevolent force. Its a tool of American soft power. Global empires like America spend billions of dollars across the planet to influence other countries. China does a similar thing through its Belt and Road Initiative.The end of USAID would mean the collapse of American soft power abroad and a decline in American influence. USAID did not always spend money well. It spent billions attempting to reshape Afghanistan in its own image and lost much of it to corruption and foolish nation-building schemes. It paid poppy farmers to grow soybeans instead of heroin-producing plants, paid for security forces who only existed on paper, and spent billions of dollars on roads that did not materialize. But USAID also did a lot of good in the world. It helped prevent and treat the spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa, built bathrooms in Ghana, and sent disaster relief teams to help after hurricanes devastated the Caribbean. This was about helping people, but on a more base level, it was about building the American brand abroad. It was about making people in other countries like America. People like it when you give them money and when you try to help them.But Trump and Musk do not understand soft power and do not care about Americas reputation abroad. The only power they understand is the cold, hard, and brutal kind. For them, the world belongs to those able to seize territory and keep it. Its the kind of power that eyes Greenland and the Panama Canal with an expansionist eye, punishes long-time allies with regressive tariffs, and knows that laws are meant for little people with no power of their own.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Matt Novak Published February 1, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published January 31, 2025 By Matt Novak Published January 31, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published January 31, 2025 By Matt Novak Published January 31, 2025 By Lucas Ropek Published January 31, 2025

RAW House / O'Sullivan Skoufoglou ArchitectsSave this picture! Stle EriksenArchitects: O'Sullivan Skoufoglou ArchitectsAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:140 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2023 PhotographsPhotographs:Stle EriksenManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Arne Jacobsen, Brouns & Co, Chaunceys Timber Flooring, Crosswater, DLine, Established&Sons, Granby workshop, InOpera Group, Interfusion Joinery, Kast, Little Greene, Mentsen, Muller van Severen, TMA Construction Ltd., TopCer, Vola More SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. London-based architecture practice O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects has completed a purpose-built home and gallery in Clapham for creative directors of RAW Editions, Tanya Grigoroglou and Rupert Worrall. The thoughtfully designed space reflects the couple's vision for a versatile environment and the architects' commitment to material exploration.Save this picture!The couple first purchased their two-storey Victorian terraced house with a basement in 2019. With a deep sense of localism and a desire to remain in their favourite neighbourhood, they appointed O'Sullivan Skoufoglou to reconfigure the dark four-bedroom house into a functional home, that also serves as the backdrop for the gallery's eclectic curation.Save this picture!Originally, the house had a disconnected layout; the ground floor and basement previously served as commercial premises with limited light and restricted space. Consequently, the main stair led directly to the basement upon entering the house. The ground floor featured a kitchen and a living room. The basement contained two bedrooms and a bathroom, while the first floor accommodated two more bedrooms and a bathroom. O'Sullivan Skoufoglou's priority was to create an adaptable hybrid working and living condition where everyday duties are easily integrated into Tanya, Rupert and their children's lives, exploring the boundaries and flow between private and public spaces.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The new entrance opens into an inviting gallery and creative social space, brightened by floor-to-ceiling windows with a sweeping garden vista. The sliding shutters signify the opening and closing of the gallery, whilst a red terrazzo fireplace wall, echoing the old fireplace, acts as a display ledge for the changing curation of artworks. A muted colour palette of soft pinks and yellows on wall surfaces echoes RAW's aesthetic and their vision to move away from the expected white cube gallery. Balancing Tanya's need for privacy, the reimagined staircase serves as a portal, concealing access to the upstairs and creating a distinct wall for the gallery. This enhances the separation of public and private spaces, providing necessary seclusion and flow.Save this picture!In the evening, the family gathers in the kitchen to cook, eat, play and unwind. Located in the basement, the open-plan area is illuminated by two bookended triangular oriel openings, bringing natural light into the lower-ground space. One is a triangular skylight placed above a Douglas fir ply bench nook; a corner for contemplation and play. The other is a door opening up to the garden outside.Save this picture!True to their love for materiality, the architects and clients aspired to include a rich palette of textures and colours throughout the home. A colourful linseed oil stain on the plywood kitchen cabinets reveals the birch wood grain, adding depth and interest to the space. Inlaid concrete tiles are purposefully positioned at various parts to delineate distinct areas of the kitchen floor. A bench featuring versatile shelving also doubles as seating for guests. The use of pops of colour reflects the clients' personable nature in their home; from the bright tomato-red kitchen sink taps to the dark red rainwater pipe. Using bold elements in a restrained way enhances the visual journey in space, reflecting the colours of the ever-changing display of RAW artwork.Save this picture!A significant design decision early on was to integrate the home and garden without extending the house to avoid costly groundworks due to the substantial garden level difference. O'Sullivan Skoufoglou repositioned the rear elevation windows to create oblique views of the garden, ensuring the inside and outside feel connected. Viewed from the generous ground floor glazing, the external patio steps work in tandem with the triangular geometry of the oriel window, creating a seamless transition from inside to outside. The angular, sharp-edged hardscaping of the garden is almost sculptural, whilst the low-effort, climate-resilient garden serves as a striking retreat visible from various vantage points within the home.Save this picture!O'Sullivan Skoufoglou's attention to detail and clever use of repeated elements reflect internally. The bespoke circular door pulls and delicate metal handrails with thin circular details feature throughout the home, creating a calm rhythm and consistency in design. Moving upstairs, the master bedroom and kids' rooms are on the first and second floors, respectively. Both floors include a separate bathroom with matte-coloured tiles.Save this picture!The home includes double glazing, underfloor heating and future-proofing for potential heat pump installation. A fireproofing strategy comprises the installation of sprinklers to ensure safety. The careful use of space by enhancing the existing layout without unnecessary extensions, emphasises the architects' attentiveness to sustainable building practices and optimising existing resources.Save this picture!O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects has designed a space allowing each family member to find their moment of peace and joy, whether in the gallery, the kitchen or the children's bedrooms. This project exemplifies how well-planned, purpose-led design decisions can result in a dynamic space, reflecting the young, creative family's unique 'living with art' ethos and aspirations.Save this picture!CONTINUESAmalia Skoufoglou, Director at O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects, says;"It was a creatively exhilarating process to work with Tanya and Rupert. Together, we came up with something truly unique to their family. This project could not have been realised without their vision and input."Save this picture!Jody O'Sullivan, Director at O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects, says;"We wanted to give a sense of lightness to the lower two floors, typical to a small London west end gallery, and at the same time reconcile this with the idea of a home. Tanya and Rupert often discussed their need and ambition of displaying the art in their home in a way that would make visitors empathise with the domestic scale of the spaces."Save this picture!Tanya Grigoroglou, client, says;"The design of our hybrid home and gallery space could not be more true to RAW's ethos and our desire to integrate art with life. Amalia and Jody cleverly used every inch of our house and enhanced the seamless transition between public and private, work and everyday life, opening up possibilities we hadn't imagined. They perfectly captured our personal aesthetic and brought to life the immersive and reposeful living spaces we envisioned."Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessAbout this officePublished on February 03, 2025Cite: "RAW House / O'Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects" 03 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026279/raw-house-osullivan-skoufoglou-architects&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