With home prices and mortgage rates remaining absurdly high, purchasing a home isnt in the cards for many aspiring buyers. In Bankrates 2024 Down Payment Survey, more than half of the respondents reported they couldnt afford a down payment. So pooling money with a friendor a few friendsto purchase a home is becoming a popular option. In 2023, 14 percent of buyers purchased a home with a friend, according to Zillow research. Some people are teaming up to buy a house to live in together, while others are buying houses with friends purely as an investment, to rent out and generate extra income, or to flip for a healthy profit. While co-buying has its perksnamely being able to afford a home that you couldnt buy on your ownits a fairly complicated process that doesnt always end well. Here are the five steps you need to take for a smooth transaction.Related StoriesChoose Your Friends WiselyYour college roommate (or tennis partner, coworker, drinking buddyfill in the blank) may be a perfectly nice person, but its important to do some due diligence before entering into a financial partnership with a friend. Jody Fay, a real estate attorney in New York and Connecticut with the Kelsey Company, suggests contacting a local title company to run a judgment and liens search, a litigation search, and a bankruptcy search on your prospective partner. This may cost you a few hundred dollars, but you never know what kind of skeletons someone may have in their closet. Its also a good idea to run a credit check, although the other party needs to agree to this (and if they dont, consider it a red flag). If youre applying for a mortgage, you dont need to be as vigilant about these searches since lenders will be digging into both of your financial histories.Also, make sure you and your friend are on the same page about the home. For example, if the plan is to renovate a home for resale, are both parties on board with the cost and timeline needed to make the necessary changes? What if there are unanticipated expenses beyond the initial budget? What if the house doesnt sell in the expected time or with the desired profit margin? Its important for anyone going into a real estate investment to flesh out all of the what ifs to hopefully avoid conflict and maintain a friendship, Caroline McCay, a senior wealth strategist at CIBC Private Wealth, says.Related StoryDefine Your GoalsIf you plan to use the home strictly as an investment property and rent it out, Fay recommends creating an LLC for this residence. An LLC protects you and your co-owner from liability if a tenant gets injured on your property. The downside to LLCs is they are associated with higher interest ratesbut the peace of mind is worth the extra money, and an LLC also comes in handy in the event your friend stops paying their share of the mortgage. With an LLC in place, you wont be on the hook if your co-owner defaults on their portion. Apply for a MortgageMortgage lenders are willing to lend to friends buying homes together. You apply for a joint mortgage, but each person still fills out their own separate application, Michael DeSantis, executive board member of The National Association of Mortgage Brokers, says. Heres how it works: The mortgage broker gathers each persons financial details (income, credit, assets, etc.) and inputs this information into the loan system. Then the lender looks at the group as a whole to determine if you qualify. If everything checks out, you get approved for the loan together.Related StoryTenants in Common vs Joint TenancyThis is done surprisingly late in the gameusually in the contract phase or at closingbut its arguably the most important decision you make when buying a home with a friend. The difference boils down to what happens to your share of the property upon your death. In a tenants in common agreement (TIC), your share would be passed down to your beneficiaries. In a joint tenancy, your co-owner automatically inherits your portion of the house. Unless you are buying a home with a family member, you would probably not want to do joint tenancy, Fay says. Work Out the DetailsWho gets the house on Thanksgiving? Who pays the electric bill? These are the kinds of questions that should be addressed in a legal document that both parties sign at the closing called a side operating agreement. Theres a whole host of additional considerations beyond just the financial ones including how often each person (or family unit) will get to use the property and dates for usage; how and who will maintain the property; how should ongoing expenses be divided; and what will happen if one owner wants out? McCay says. If your friend decides they want to sell their share of the home, and you cant afford to buy your friend out, they can sell their share to anyone they want, which means you may end up sharing a home with a strangerso this is especially important to address in an official agreement. Creating a legal document that details the nuts and bolts of the partnership will prevent potential hassles and falling-outs between friends. After all, homes are bought and sold, but, ideally, friendships last forever.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

While the iPhone 17 rumors garner most of the attention, Apple also has another new iPhone model in the works. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to be a dramatic update to Apples most affordable iPhone, with an all-new design, USB-C for charging, and more.Here are five things to expect from the iPhone SE 4.Table of contentsiPhone SE 4: New featuresNew design with a bigger displayThe biggest change for the iPhone SE 4 will be its design. The current-generation iPhone SE features an iPhone 8-style design with large bezels around the 4.7-inch display and a Home button at the bottom. The iPhone SE 4, however, will reportedly bring a modern overhaul similar to the iPhone 14.According to leaked CAD files, the iPhone SE 4 will feature a 6.1-inch OLED display with a notch cutout at the top. We can also expect a new flat-edged design instead of the iPhone SEs current rounded edges.According to91mobiles, the iPhone SE 4 will measure 147.7 x 71.5 x 7.7mm. The current iPhone SE measures 138.4 x 67.3 x 7.3 mm.Face IDWhile the current iPhone SE features a Home button with Touch ID, the next-generation iPhone SE 4 will reportedly make the jump to Face ID.This change is enabled by the iPhone SE 4s new design with a notch cutout in which the Face ID components will be housed.Faster performance The third-generation iPhone SE is powered by the A15 Bionic chip, which offers excellent performance for the devices low price point. The iPhone SE 4 will further improve on that performance.Last October, 9to5Mac exclusively reported that the iPhone SE 4 will be powered by the A18 chip. The device is also expected to feature 8GB of RAM. The combination of these upgrades means the iPhone SE 4 will be fully capable of running Apple Intelligence features. USB-CFinally, the iPhone SE 4 will make the switch from Lightning to USB-C for charging. This aligns with the latest iPhone 16 lineup, and is legally required due to legislation in the European Union.Apple modemIn a major shift, the iPhone SE 4 will not feature a modem from Qualcomm for cellular connectivity. Instead, it will rely on a modem designed by Apple. The device will mark the first-ever product to feature an Apple-designed modem. For the end-user, this change shouldnt even be noticeable. Apples goal is to ship its first-ever modem and maintain the same level experience that customers have today. If this change flies under the radar, then its a win for Apple. Wrap upIt seems like we are finally nearing the release of the iPhone SE after over a year of rumors. Bloomberg reports that the device could be announced as soon as next week. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to be revealed via a press release on Apples website, not a dedicated event. What do you think of the rumored iPhone SE 4? Is it a logical addition to Apples lineup, or is it time for Apple to forgo the iPhone SE strategy entirely? Follow Chance:Threads,Bluesky,Instagram, andMastodon.My favorite iPhone 16 accessories:Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Today dbrand, in collaboration with Kyle Goodrich, launched a new Vision Pro protective cover called Aperture. The accessory does something functional: protects Vision Pros front display without obstructing any of Apples many, many cameras and sensors.dbrand has a good reason for its Vision Pro covers designApples Vision Pro ships with a lot in the box, including a protective cover for the front display.The trouble is, that cover is only meant to be used when the Vision Pro isnt.It works well for keeping Vision Pros outer display pristine while sitting idle, but any time you want to actually use the spatial computer, you have to remove that protective cover.But with dbrands new Aperture accessory, you can protect the front screen even while continuing to use Vision Pro.You just might trigger a partner or childs trypophobia while youre at it. Especially when paired with EyeSight.Last year, Kyle Goodrich posted on X about a custom faceplate hed built for the Vision Pro with this same basic design. There was a lot of online interest in it, so he and dbrand teamed up to make it a full-blown product.Aperture is made from polyurethane and is meticulously designed to not block a single sensor Vision Pro contains.Its available in orange and the less horrifying black option for $49 on dbrands website.You can also get a similarly-styled Vision Pro battery clip in a combo deal for $69.Do you plan to buy Aperture? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.Best Vision Pro accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Following the horrific mid-air collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter in the nation's capital, the US transportation department is readying to "remake" American airspace with Elon Musk at the wheel.That's according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and, of course, Musk himself."I had a conversation with Elon Musk yesterday, pretty remarkable guy. He thinks differently than I think probably a lot of us do, but he has access to the best technological people, the best engineers in the world," Duffy said Wednesday at a Washington event, . "We're going to remake our airspace, and we're going to do it quickly."After Duffy's comments, Musk made his own announcement, in which he also emphasized the need to carry out the vast overhaul in great haste."With the support of President [Donald Trump], the [DOGE] team will aim to make rapid safety upgrades to the air traffic control system," Musk tweeted later that afternoon. "Just a few days ago, the FAA's primary aircraft safety notification system failed for several hours!"Musk was referring to an incident over the weekend when the Federal Aviation Administration's "Notice to Air Mission" system, which is used to send alerts to pilots about changing conditions, went offline.The outage occurred just days after an American Eagle flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter as the airliner was attempting to land, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.The deadliest US air disaster in over 23 years, it's raised serious questions about the state of the country's air regulators. And much of that scrutiny was cast on some of President Trump's decisions barely a week before the horrific plash took place, such as freezing all new hires of air traffic safety controllers, firing the head of the Transportation Security Administration, and disbanding a key aviation safety group at the Department of Homeland Security.Now, the president is apparently leaving it to Musk to clean up the mess who you'd think would be too preoccupied with gutting other wings of the government.It couldn't be a more striking choice to lead air traffic reform, in any case. Musk has beefed with the FAA in the recent past and threatened to sue the agency for "regulatory overreach" all for the mortal sin of questioning the safety practices of a guy whose enormous experimental rockets frequently explode. He's also outright defied the FAA's orders on occasion, fueling up a spacecraft even after being told to halt the launch.Basically, everything Musk has done up to his point has suggested he'd rather have less government meddling in what goes on in the air, which doesn't bode well if he's tapped to "remake" an entire country's system of air traffic control.The fact that both Musk and Transportation Secretary Duffy have emphasized carrying out these changes speedily is also worrying. Musk's ethos of "move fast and break things" may be suited for uncrewed rocket launches. But when human lives are on the line, it sounds incredibly reckless.What his overhauls will look like is unclear. But Duffy tweeted that Musk would help "upgrade our aviation system,"which could be interpreted as something tech-related.Share This Article

Was he caught with his hands in the cookie jar?DOGE WhistleOne of Elon Musk's lackeys at his DOGE group, Marko Elez, unexpectedly resigned on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal revealed a litany of extremely racist social media posts he'd apparently made shortly before joining the team.The exact reason for his abrupt departure remains unclear. However, as Wired reports, White House officials seem to have provided incorrect information about Elez only being given "read-only" permissions to the US Treasury codebase, hinting at the possibility that he could have been in trouble for things other than the egregiously racist posts linked to his departure.According to Wired, Elez did in fact have write access, allowing him to push unvetted and untested changes straight to the Treasury's payments system a nightmare scenario that could introduce all sorts of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and leave doors open for adversary hacker groups.In other words, given Musk's well-established leniency and penchant for racist ideologies, there may be far more to the story than the WSJ's reporting lets on. Did Elez push code changes to a payments system responsible for a gargantuan $5.45 trillion in 2024?Put simply, it looks like Elon's DOGE boy was doing something naughty and regardless of whether he had "permission" from Musk, he may have ended up taking the fall for it.Cookie JarAdding to the ominous signs around Elez' activity and departure, the blog Talking Points Memo reported this week that Elez had made "extensive changes" to the system before his write access was revoked on February 5. In other words, it sounds a lot like White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was either intentionally or unintentionally obfuscating the truth by claiming that Elez only had "read" permissions.On the same day his code-writing privileges were rescinded, a federal judge ruled to temporarily restrict any DOGE staffers from making changes to the payment system in light of a lawsuit filed against DOGE, specifically singling out Elez and fellow DOGE employee Tom Krause.Lawmakers are now demanding answers following the allegedly unlawful infiltration of the US government's treasure chest."People will be held accountable for the crimes theyre committing in this coup attempt," senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who has publicly demanded answers about DOGE's "illegal seizure of Americans' private data," told Wired. "Im not letting up on my investigation of what these Musk hatchet men are up to."Share This Article

Joao-Pierre S. Ruth, Senior EditorFebruary 7, 20257 Min ReadElon Musk, Krakow, Poland on January 22, 2024Michal Busko via Alamy Stock PhotoAs members of Congress, federal employees, and more than a dozen state attorneys general clash with Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over the legality of their actions and claims of accessing sensitive data with murky oversight and security, what example does the controversy set for CIOs on transparency and accountability?Quarrels in the political arena include questions about information accessed by DOGE, an advisory organization created by executive order rather than an actual department with Cabinet-level authority approved by Congress. Musks team reportedly accessed data from the Treasury Department and other federal information systems, raising concerns that DOGE had the power to halt Social Security and Medicare payments.What oversight exists for Musk and DOGE remains unclear, just as it is unclear what security protocols were put in place to protect the accessed data.These actions could create a future quandary for US regulators who seek guardrails on data privacy. If DOGEs handling of sensitive data is permitted with uncertain oversight, why should CIOs and their organizations face scrutiny?The events that were witnessing in Washington right now are truly unprecedented, says Paul Barrett, deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at New York Universitys Stern School of Business. Theres never been a systematic deployment of unconfirmed, not publicly identified, questionably qualified people throughout the federal bureaucracy, pushing aside legally protected, congressionally approved civil service workforces and delving into information systems and other aspects of the federal bureaucracy for purposes that are not being publicly disclosed or discussed, potentially violating an unfathomable number of laws, defying congressional intent in terms of interfering with programs that are established by statute -- and we have no idea where its all headed.Related:Barrett cites the traditional process of taking action on approved federal departments includes the drafting of bills that would work their way through Congress, with hearings and debate. Thats democracy, he says. Its a completely different process to have a raft of executive orders issued and then to have an unspecified kind of army of apparatchiks attached to an unconfirmed, unelected, Silicon Valley billionaire who, invoking these vague executive orders, sends his people in, who say We demand access to this computer system.Guardrails for Handling Sensitive DataRelated:For years now, data privacy policy gained momentum on the international stage with Europes GDPR enforced in 2018 and domestically, at least at the state level, with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in 2018 and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) in 2020, for example.Despite the activity in the US capital, it seems the private sector intends to maintain its own best practices in how sensitive data should be handled. I think transparency is the key, and CIOs need to be clean and be transparent on the level of data privacy that theyre offering to both internal customers and, in a company, Anand Kashyap, co-founder and CEO of data security provider Fortanix, says. CIOs and their companies should also remain transparent about their products ability to collect personal data, the privacy that can be provided, and how another party might get their hands on that data. Can the data be accessed by the government through a blind subpoena? If they can, then your company should be transparent about it.Kashyap says many companies tend to have transparency mechanisms in place to keep track of when the government asks for data in order to be clear about the level of privacy being offered. However, it might not be feasible to lock down privacy completely from government reach. If you want to provide more privacy, like the GDPR, there are procedural and legal ways to do that, but government is super powerful, so subverting government is simply not possible, he says, suggesting encryption as a means to protect data.Related:Leading by Their Own ExampleRegardless of how government or quasigovernment entities operate, companies must still see to the protection of the data they retain. Typically, there is a CIO which is responsible for procurement of all IT inside an organization, Kashyap says. CISOs set the security policies of how data should be classified inside an organization and then how data of various classifications should be protected through various means. CISOs typically have teams which are building security tools to actually provide the data security. Data might be handled by multiple teams inside an organization, he says, which can fall under the purview of data officers with discussions about which platforms, servers, and policies to follow.Scrutiny of how sensitive data gets handled and protected stems from very real concerns about the damage that might be done to all parties involved if it winds up in the wrong hands. Rajan Koo, CTO for insider risk management platform provider DTEX Systems, says massive data breaches, seen across many kinds of organizations, can echo long after the technical and even monetary issues are dealt with. What weve found is that the true cost of those data breaches is often the PR issues, the reputational damage that gets encountered, the loss of trust in their customer base for handling their data and handling their privacy, Koo says. So reputational damage is one of those really big knock-on effects from having a data breach or having information stolen.Data security is also important to safeguard intellectual property, especially for organizations working on AI or novel research in pharmaceuticals, where Koo says there can be a threat of foreign interference and espionage. Organizations have really woken up to the fact that this can really put them out of business maybe five or 10 years down the track, he says. The forward-looking CIOs and the CXOs of these organizations do see and understand that. Koo also says more mature organizations may have that in mind and tend to look beyond simply meeting regulations on data security. I think the less mature ones typically will do the minimum thats required to keep their business functioning and appease the regulators, he says.Maintaining Confidence in Data SecurityCompliance and security is a conversation we have with customers on a daily basis, says Bill Bruno, CEO of identity and data platform provider Celebrus. His company works with financial institutions, which historically face regulatory scrutiny, and with healthcare clients where HIPAA compliance comes into play. Precedents on data privacy set by European Union law also continue to proliferate around the world and guide how companies handle sensitive information.Every sort of place where weve deployed, theres something governing it, and usually, as has been the case for many years, its all started in Europe and it kind of spreads from there, Bruno says. Even for our clients in [the Asia-Pacific], or the clients in South America -- all of it is like an adaptation on GDPR at the end of the day.Though Europe led the way on such policy, Bruno says a 2017 US media transparency study, which he co-authored and was driven by the Association of National Advertisers, called out how data was being shared. It highlighted how data was being used, he says, how people, organizations, advertising ecosystems, etcetera were using consumer data in non-transparent ways -- in ways that maybe you didnt even realize as a consumer was happening.That led to advertisements that followed consumers around their digital spaces without them realizing how or why marketers targeted them in that way -- potentially through the use of data they collected. GDPR, when it was brought in, was really to create transparency and to stop the sharing and the pooling of consumer data without explicit permission, Bruno says.Potential Policy HypocrisyNationwide regulations on data privacy remain in debate, but NYUs Barrett says even if the United States already possessed its own version of GDPR or had ratified the Privacy Bill of Rights, it might not matter, given recent events. In this environment, Im not sure how relevant or pertinent those things would be, because we do have all kinds of laws that would appear to prohibit the activity that's going on at the behest of Elon Musk and those laws are not slowing him down in the least.What were seeing is the most dramatic illustration of how power in the 21st century is just as much a function of digital data as it is guns and ammunition, Barrett says. That you can change the world if you can control information, and you know thats hard to absorb because men in uniforms with guns are such a more familiar image when you talk about power.Read more about:RegulationAbout the AuthorJoao-Pierre S. RuthSenior EditorJoao-Pierre S. Ruth covers tech policy, including ethics, privacy, legislation, and risk; fintech; code strategy; and cloud & edge computing for InformationWeek. He has been a journalist for more than 25 years, reporting on business and technology first in New Jersey, then covering the New York tech startup community, and later as a freelancer for such outlets as TheStreet, Investopedia, and Street Fight.See more from Joao-Pierre S. RuthNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

We love watching drama shows because drama is exciting. Its fun to watch a bunch of characters navigate difficult and impossible situations. While comedies are the backbone of television, dramas dominate water cooler conversations, awards shows, and demand the most thoughtful engagement from their viewers, usually because the subjects they cover war, death, crime, family issues are pretty serious.Thats all well and good, but there are times when its worth it to let everyone, characters and viewers alike, take a bit of a breather and focus on something a little bit lighter. That often comes in the form of a bottle episode, a self-contained hour where nothing much happens that affects the plot, but character relationships are deepened through navigating odd circumstances. The other form these episodes tend to take is the funny one.Like a comedian cast in a dramatic role, its always fun to watch a great dramatic show explore what the show would be like if it were funnier. These episodes are unexpected, yet welcome, an opportunity for everyone to relax a little bit and goof off while the big arc of the season takes a backseat.Some of these episodes are complete standalones, focusing on one adventure with a few characters that doesnt have any plot ramifications down the line. Others follow the shows general formula, but take a more lighthearted approach to the material, inserting unexpected laughs and an overall nicer tone. Many of these episodes are counted among their shows best. Lets take a look at some of the funniest.The Funniest Episodes of Drama TV ShowsThese episodes inject some levity into the drama of our favorite shows.Gallery Credit: Emma StefanskyREAD MORE: Once-Beloved Fast Food Items That No Longer ExistGet our free mobile appThe 10 Worst TV Game Shows of All TimeFrom boring to overcomplicated to just plain offensive, we've plumbed the depths of the last few decades of reality game show television to bring you the worst of the worst.Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky

Over the past three weeks, the new US presidential administration has taken down thousands of government web pages related to public health, environmental justice, and scientific research. The mass takedowns stem from the new administrations push to remove government information related to diversity and gender ideology, as well as scrutiny of various government agencies practices. USAIDs website is down. So are sites related to it, like childreninadversity.gov, as well as thousands of pages from the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Office of Justice Programs. Weve never seen anything like this, says David Kaye, professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, and the former UN Special Rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression. I dont think any of us know exactly what is happening. What we can see is government websites coming down, databases of essential public interest. The entirety of the USAID website. But as government web pages go dark, a collection of organizations are trying to archive as much data and information as possible before its gone for good. The hope is to keep a record of what has been lost for scientists and historians to be able to use in the future. Data archiving is generally considered to be nonpartisan, but the recent actions of the administration have spurred some in the preservation community to stand up. I consider the actions of the current administration an assault on the entire scientific enterprise, says Margaret Hedstrom, professor emerita of information at the University of Michigan. Various organizations are trying to scrounge up as much data as possible. One of the largest projects is the End of Term Web Archive, a nonpartisan coalition of many organizations that aims to make a copy of all government data at the end of each presidential term. The EoT Archive allows individuals to nominate specific websites or data sets for preservation. All we can do is collect what has been published and archive it and make sure its publicly accessible for the future, says James Jacobs, US government information librarian at Stanford University, who is one of the people running the EoT Archive. Other organizations are taking a specific angle on data collection. For example, the Open Environmental Data Project (OEDP) is trying to capture data related to climate science and environmental justice. Were trying to track whats getting taken down, says Katie Hoeberling, director of policy initiatives at OEDP. I cant say with certainty exactly how much of what used to be up is still up, but were seeing, especially in the last couple weeks, an accelerating rate of data getting taken down. In addition to tracking whats happening, OEDP is actively backing up relevant data. It actually began this process in November, to capture the data at the end of former president Bidens term. But efforts have ramped up in the last couple weeks. Things were a lot calmer prior to the inauguration, says Cathy Richards, a technologist at OEDP. It was the second day of the new administration that the first platform went down. At that moment, everyone realized, Oh, nowe have to keep doing this, and we have to keep working our way down this list of data sets. This kind of work is crucial because the US government holds invaluable international and national data relating to climate. These are irreplaceable repositories of important climate information, says Lauren Kurtz, executive director of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund. So fiddling with them or deleting them means the irreplaceable loss of critical information. Its really quite tragic. Like the OEDP, the Catalyst Cooperative is trying to make sure data related to climate and energy is stored and accessible for researchers. Both are part of the Public Environmental Data Partners, a collective of organizations dedicated to preserving federal environmental data. We have tried to identify data sets that we know our communities make use of to make decisions about what electricity we should procure or to make decisions about resiliency in our infrastructure planning, says Christina Gosnell, cofounder and president of Catalyst. Archiving can be a difficult task; there is no one easy way to store all the US governments data. Various federal agencies and departments handle data preservation and archiving in a myriad of ways, says Gosnell. Theres also no one who has a complete list of all the government websites in existence. This hodgepodge of data means that in addition to using web crawlers, which are tools used to capture snapshots of websites and data, archivists often have to manually scrape data as well. Additionally, sometimes a data set will be behind a login address or captcha to prevent scraper tools from pulling the data. Web scrapers also sometimes miss key features on a site. For example, sites will often have plenty of links to other pieces of information that arent captured in a scrape. Or the scrape may just not work because of something to do with a websites structure. Therefore, having a person in the loop double-checking the scrapers work or capturing data manually is often the only way to ensure that the information is properly collected. And there are questions about whether scraping the data will really be enough. Restoring websites and complex data sets is often not a simple process. It becomes extraordinarily difficult and costly to attempt to rescue and salvage the data, says Hedstrom. It is like draining a body of blood and expecting the body to continue to function. The repairs and attempts to recover are sometimes insurmountable where we need continuous readings of data. All of this data archiving work is a temporary Band-Aid, says Gosnell. If data sets are removed and are no longer updated, our archived data will become increasingly stale and thus ineffective at informing decisions over time. These effects may be long-lasting. You wont see the impact of that until 10 years from now, when you notice that theres a gap of four years of data, says Jacobs. Many digital archivists stress the importance of understanding our past. We can all think about our own family photos that have been passed down to us and how important those different documents are, says Trevor Owens, chief research officer at the American Institute of Physics and former director of digital services at the Library of Congress. That chain of connection to the past is really important. Its our library; its our history, says Richards. This data is funded by taxpayers, so we definitely dont want all that knowledge to be lost when we can keep it, store it, potentially do something with it and continue to learn from it.

Submitted by WA ContentsCIVILISTANBUL'25 will be held from 25 to 28 February 2025 in IstanbulTurkey Architecture News - Feb 07, 2025 - 16:18 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"CivilIstanbul started as "RIJIT" in 2012, and has been known as "Civil Istanbul Architecture and Engineering Conferences" since 2014. It is now the leading event within the construction industry for the YTU Society of Construction.Through a varety of interesting conferences, panel discussions, workshops and other engaging activites, our aim is to bring together leading companies and thought-provoking speakers from both national and international spheres to address current issues and explore future perspectves. Our goal is to reunite speakers with our participants ths year. By doing this, we make sure that CivilIstanbul remains an important gathering place for those passionate about the industry, providing them with information on the newest advancements and future trends.CivilIstanbul'25, which will be held in the last week of February, will last for four days and will include conferences, panels and Meet and Greet's on the first two days where we can spend time with the companies in our foyer area, which are the representatives of the sector, and a special disaster section on the second day where we can discuss all situations of disaster as well as conferences. On the third day, CIVILFEST, which will be held for the second time this year, and CIVILCASE, which will be held for the first time in the history of CivilIstanbul, will take place.On the last day of the event, technical visits will be organised to architectural offices, construction sites, etc. where new applications are realised, which will reinforce the knowledge gained during the conference and are in line with the topics of the event.OpenGala, which will take place the day before the start of the event, and traditional night, cultural tours and various social activites to be held during the event will provide an environment of fun and mingling with the participants.The themes of CivilIstanbul'25 are Human, Energy, Disaster, and Technology.Sessions are listed below:Neuro ArchitectureBio MimicryRegenerative DesignVibrant Spaces Living BuildingsSmart BuildingsRenewable EnergyWaste and Water RecyclingEnergy Efficiency in City InfrastructuresMapping of Transmission LinesAdaptive ReuseTelematics MontoringBuilding AutomationBIMMetaverseArtificial Intelligence in the Construction IndustryPrefabricated Modular SystemsDroughtWater Level RiseSoil ErosionEarthquake Climate CrisisBuilding Sector; Yesterday, Today, TomorrowVocational Education LeadershipHistory of ArchitectureCareer StepsAbout accomodationAccommodation for participants will be fully organised by our team to ensure a stress-free experence. All participant fees cover the accommodation.Our team will manage all arrangements, from selecting comfortable lodgings to ensuring a smooth stay. Participants can expect comfortable and enjoyable accommodation throughout the event, allowing them to concentrate on ther experience without having to worry about accommodation.For further details, visit the event's website, and download the the catalogue of the event: CIVILISTANBUL'25 INTRODUCTION CATALOGUE_.pdf.The top image courtesy of CivilIstanbul'25.> via CivilIstanbul'25architecture event

Ready to add a newMaxshow to your rotation?These days, it's Max -- not HBO Max -- that delivers HBO to the streaming masses. The service is home to popular shows like Succession, The White Lotus, Hacks and The Sex Lives of College Girls. There's no shortage of exceptional fare to explore.Max unites the HBO Max and Discovery Plus libraries. Here are the highly rated shows you shouldn't wait to watch, plus this month's new releases.Read more: Best Movies on Max What's new on Max in FebruaryNote:These descriptions are taken from press releases and lightly edited for style.Feb. 16The White Lotus, season 3 premiere (2021- ): Anthology. The social satire is set at an exclusive Thai resort and follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week. Feb. 16Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, season 12 premiere (2014- ):Talk show. It offers a satirical and meticulously researched look at current events in the US and around the globe.Feb. 25Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest, premiere (2025- ):Docuseries. It illuminates the bold stories of people and communities who continue to work for equity and racial justice in the years since the birth of the American civil rights movement. Best HBO and Max original TV seriesThis list focuses on shows that have premiered a new season since 2023 (or are currently renewed for more seasons) and have a score of at least 70 on Metacritic.Drama Warrick Page/Max The Pitt (2025- ) A lot can happen in one day on the job in a hospital's emergency department. This new, modern-day medical drama fills its 15-hour first season with what transpires during a single shift. Created by ER executive producer R. Scott Gemmill and starring ER's Noah Wyle as chief attendant Michael Rabinavitch, this compelling and realistic series is worth checking out. Liane Hentscher/HBO The Last of Us (2023- ) This TV adaptation of a popular video game follows hardened survivor Joel (The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal) and spunky teen Ellie (Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey) as they face human and not-quite-human dangers in a postapocalyptic world. Warner Media House of the Dragon (2022- ) Creating a show as beloved as Game of Thrones is tough to pull off, but HBO spin-off House of the Dragon soars to impressive heights. Set hundreds of years before fantasy series GoT, the prequel depicts how infighting and tragedy consume House Targaryen. Multiple players clamor for power, including Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D'Arcy) and Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke). Max The White Lotus (2021- ) What was initially a limited series was so good HBO renewed it for a second season. The satire about guests at a fancy resort gradually unveils the darker edges of its picture-perfect postcard. The White Lotus features an ensemble cast, including Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Steve Zahn, Molly Shannon and more hilarious people, who make this series soar. If that wasn't enough, a murder mystery with the big reveal waiting till the very end will keep you thoroughly entertained. Amanda Searle/HBO Industry (2020- ) If you're missing the competition and drama on display in Succession, you should pay attention to this HBO series. The first season follows young graduates, including Harper Stern (Myha'la from Netflix's Leave the World Behind), as they step foot into London's Pierpoint & Co. The early 20-somethings hope for permanent jobs at the leading international bank. Eddy Chen/HBO Euphoria (2019- ) Euphoria's second installment is on Max now. This visually stunning series has garnered its fair share of fans, and it's not hard to see why -- the absorbing performances, cinematography and exploration of mature topics make this show shine. If nothing else, stick around to see Dune star Zendaya, who plays teenager Rue. Seacia Pavao/Max Julia (2022-23) Following the life of television chef and cookbook writer Julia Child, this drama doles out a generous serving of humor and charm (and delicious-looking food, of course). Sarah Lancashire is endlessly watchable as the famed American cook, who paved the way for future cooking shows with her long-running series The French Chef. Two seasons are available on the streamer now. Animation Max Creature Commandos (2024- ) This engaging DC series from James Gunn examines the backstories of a ragtag team of monsters put together for dangerous missions. From Frankenstein's bride to a Nazi-targeting robot to a creature resembling both a human and a furry animal, the Creature Commandos are a motley crew worth spending violent, unhinged time with. The series is the first in Gunn and Peter Safran's new DC Universe, and it's already renewed for season 2. Max Harley Quinn (2019- ) Harley Quinn is an adult-oriented animated series that centers on the baseball bat-wielding antihero. Kaley Cuoco voices the mayhem-prone Harley, who in the first episode breaks up with the Joker and tells him she's going to replace him as the top villain in Gotham. The hilarious, action-packed show also features characters like Poison Ivy, and four seasons are available to binge. It premiered on the DC Universe streaming service before moving to HBO Max. Max Scavengers Reign (2023) An unusual alien world and the humans stranded on it are the subject of this spectacular sci-fi series on Max. The story follows characters marooned on a peculiar planet that's home to fascinating creatures and landscapes. The world is beautiful but also poses dangers to the human guests, who seek out their ship and fellow crew members. An expansion of a 2016 animated short film, Scavengers Reign is a compelling, 12-episode saga you won't be able to quit watching. Comedy Atsushi Nishijima/HBO Fantasmas (2024- ) Viewers have former Saturday Night Live writer Julio Torres to thank for this quirky and captivating HBO comedy. In episode 1 of the surreal series, an Alf-like sitcom takes a turn for the awkward and the letter "Q" gets a life story. Torres, also known for the HBO show Los Espookys and A24 film Problemista, stars as a version of himself, and guest actors include Steve Buscemi, Julia Fox, Emma Stone, Aidy Bryant and Bowen Yang. HBO The Rehearsal (2022- ) Nathan Fielder, best known for his Comedy Central show, Nathan For You (and cringe comedy), writes, directs and stars in this new HBO series. In the show, the comedian goes to extraordinary lengths to let people rehearse moments before they happen. In the first episode, Fielder helps a man prepare for a confession to a friend, and builds an exact replica of the bar they're planning to meet at (the attention to detail is incredible). After planning for any outlandish thing that might happen, we see how the real exchange between the two friends plays out. Bizarre and truly fascinating, The Rehearsal should get some time on your screen. Max Peacemaker (2022- ) Following the events of 2021's The Suicide Squad, this DC spinoff catches up with Peacemaker (John Cena), our towering, costume-clad protagonist who's just been released from the hospital. Peacemaker believes he's a superhero, but with his oft-repeated phrase about attaining "peace, no matter how many people I have to kill to get it," the title doesn't really suit him. The show establishes Peacemaker's next steps -- he isn't returning to prison, but instead taking part in a black ops mission that will (again) get his hands dirty. The show often lands its jokes, and you'll especially enjoy its entertaining supporting cast. Max The Sex Lives of College Girls (2021- ) Mindy Kaling co-created this dramedy about four 18-year-old girls who start their freshman year of college together in Vermont. With distinct personalities, the college newcomers navigate love and sex in their own ways. The show is funny, easily bingeable and bolstered by the chemistry between its female leads. A contemporary teen comedy showcasing messy experiences, relatable characters and raunchy jokes. Max Hacks (2021- ) The great Jean Smart rightfully takes the spotlight in this acclaimed comedy-drama series. Throwing iPads into swimming pools and delivering withering looks, Smart plays Deborah Vance, a legendary Las Vegas comedy diva who must face the prospect of appealing to a younger audience or disappearing into obscurity. She's partnered with Ava (Hannah Einbinder), a young and equally snarky comedy writer, to freshen up her material. Perfectly balancing its biting insight into how the comedy business treats women, with the warmth of an odd couple buddy comedy, Hacks is one of the best original series to come out of HBO Max. Ryan Green/HBO The Righteous Gemstones (2019- ) This outrageous series highlights a highly dysfunctional family of famous televangelists called the Gemstones. In the show's first season, a member of the family is blackmailed and ridiculous antics ensue. John Goodman stars as the family patriarch, Eli, and Danny McBride, Edi Patterson and Adam Devine also commit to the bit, pulling off an absurd and addictive black comedy. The third season of the show is out now, and HBO has renewed the series for a fourth. HBO Somebody Somewhere (2022-24) Like feel-good shows? Somebody Somewhere is a great option you may have skipped over. In the first episode, 40-something Sam, living in her Kansas hometown and dealing with a recent loss, strikes up a friendship with a co-worker. Authentic, funny, with glowing performances, the half-hour series is the perfect thing to wind down to. Max Rap Sh!t (2022-23) A half-hour comedy series from Issa Rae (the star and creator of HBO's acclaimed series Insecure), Rap Sh!t introduces two former friends from high school. Shawna is an aspiring, socially conscious rapper, and Mia is a make-up artist and single mother who works multiple jobs. By the end of the first episode, the young women (now in their 20s) have reconnected and filmed a mesmerizing rap video that takes off on the internet. The show's protagonists are phone-obsessed, constantly checking up on social media and recording videos, and it impacts the viewing experience in interesting ways. Jake Giles Netter/Max Our Flag Means Death (2022-23) In this comedy set on the high seas, Rhys Darby plays Stede Bonnet, an aristocrat who abandons his cushy life and family to become the captain of a pirate ship. Spoiler: He hilariously bumbles through the gig. Game of Thrones fans may spot Hodor actor Kristian Nairn hanging out among the crew, and the series also stars Taika Waititi as Blackbeard. Max Starstruck (2021-23) Starstruck is a classic screwball comedy, starring the lovably goofy Rose Matafeo. She plays Jessie, a twentysomething Londoner who parties it up on New Year's Eve, then later discovers she had a one-night stand with Tom Kapoor, a celebrity played by Nikesh Patel. Follow Jessie as she juggles odd jobs, from cinema worker to nanny, and her blossoming relationship with a film star that involves no high jinks whatsoever. Watch out for scene-stealer Minnie Driver as Tom's agent in this witty, neatly crafted comedy package. Max The Other Two (2019-23) The sibling rivalry is strong and primed for hilarity in this comedy from a couple of Saturday Night Live writers. Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider tell the story of Cary (Drew Tarver) and Brooke (Helne Yorker), siblings in their late 20s who struggle with the sudden rise to internet fame of their 13-year-old Justin Bieber-channeling brother. Molly Shannon is a treat as their mother, Pat, ushering her children through open doors to success. Once you get over the gimmicky premise, The Other Two's pop culture satire and surprisingly heartfelt storylines are a winning combination. Schitt's Creek fans should give this a look. HBO Succession (2018-23) This satirical show follows the family controlling the world's biggest media and entertainment company, whose members become embroiled in a battle to take over as their father's health declines. John P. Johnson/HBO Barry (2018-23) In Barry's opening scene, SNL alum Bill Hader casually leaves a hotel room that contains a dead body. The actor plays hitman Barry Berkman, who isn't happy with life or his unconventional profession, but his path is altered when he travels to Los Angeles and gets roped into performing in an acting class. Barry features plenty of violence and a deeply troubled protagonist, leaning into the "dark" part of its dark comedy designation. But it's also really funny, and there are four seasons to binge. At the very least, you'll want to tune in for truly great scenes between Hader and his acting teacher, played by Henry Winkler. Crime Macall Polay/HBO The Penguin (2024- ) Set between Matt Reeves' 2022 film The Batman and the upcoming sequel The Batman Part II, The Penguin stars Colin Farrell as the underestimated and ambitious Gotham gangster (though you'll barely recognize the Oscar-nominated actor). The thrilling, eight-episode season chronicles Oz Cobb's rise and is enhanced by other complicated characters, such as Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone and Rhenzy Feliz's Victor Aguilar. Michele K. Short/HBO True Detective (2014-) True Detective may be best known for its first season starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but the anthology series continues to release intriguing new stories. The latest, which premiered in 2024 after a five-year hiatus, follows Jodie Foster and Kali Reis' characters as they tackle a chilling mystery in the fictional town of Ennis, Alaska. It includes a new showrunner, Issa Lpez, who will helm an upcoming fifth edition.