The iPhone 16e represents a huge change from the third-gen iPhone SE it replaces. A modern design, OLED screen, Face ID, latest(ish) A18 chip, Apple Intelligence, 48MP camera sensor, 26-hour battery, USB-C, C1 modem, and more.But theres one other huge difference, and its this one which I think makes the latest entry-level iPhone a crucial experiment for the Cupertino company The price tag.The iPhone SE 3 started at $429, while the iPhone 16e starts at $599.Of course, youre getting a lot more phone for your money, and its entirely possible to make the case that the latest model represents better value. But whats notable is that Apple didnt add the iPhone 16e to the line-up; it replaced the budget model altogether.Theres no iPhone SE 4 as such, and the 3rd-gen model is no longer on the companys website. Right now, if you want to buy a brand new iPhone direct from Apple, $599 is the new starting price.$600 is a lot of money when compared to an awful lot of mid-range Android phones, and Apple is gambling that enough of the people whod previously bought the iPhone SE are willing to pay an extra $170 to instead buy the iPhone 16e.It seems entirely obvious that some of the people who were willing to lay out $429 are not willing to hand over $599. The crucial question here is will enough of them do so to make the math work out in Apples favor?The equation here is ($429 x loads of sales) vs ($599 x fewer sales).Some might say Apple is confident that the second number will be bigger or, at least, the profit on the second number. But I dont think thats the case: I dont think Apple knows. In my view, this is an A/B experiment on the part of the company, and the result of that experiment will determine its future entry-level strategy.If Apple makes more profit by selling the more expensive phone to fewer people, the $400-ish price point will be gone forever; if not, some kind of iPhone SE will return.Image: AppleAdd 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

Feb 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananMalware / CryptocurrencyFreelance software developers are the target of an ongoing campaign that leverages job interview-themed lures to deliver cross-platform malware families known as BeaverTail and InvisibleFerret.The activity, linked to North Korea, has been codenamed DeceptiveDevelopment, which overlaps with clusters tracked under the names Contagious Interview (aka CL-STA-0240), DEV#POPPER, Famous Chollima, PurpleBravo, and Tenacious Pungsan. The campaign has been ongoing since at least late 2023."DeceptiveDevelopment targets freelance software developers through spear-phishing on job-hunting and freelancing sites, aiming to steal cryptocurrency wallets and login information from browsers and password managers," cybersecurity company ESET said in a report shared with The Hacker News.In November 2024, ESET confirmed to The Hacker News the overlaps between DeceptiveDevelopment and Contagious Interview, classifying it as a new Lazarus Group activity that operates with an aim to conduct cryptocurrency theft.The attack chains are characterized by the use of fake recruiter profiles on social media to reach out to prospective targets and share with them trojanized codebases hosted on GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket that deploy backdoors under the pretext of a job interview process.Subsequent iterations of the campaign have branched out to other job-hunting platforms like Upwork, Freelancer.com, We Work Remotely, Moonlight, and Crypto Jobs List. As previously highlighted, these hiring challenges typically entail fixing bugs or adding new features to the crypto-related project.Other than coding tests, the bogus projects masquerade as cryptocurrency initiatives, games with blockchain functionality, and gambling apps with cryptocurrency features. More often than not, the malicious code is embedded within a benign component in the form of a single line."Additionally, they are instructed to build and execute the project in order to test it, which is where the initial compromise happens," security researcher Matj Havrnek said. "The repositories used are usually private, so the vic-m is first asked to provide their account ID or email address to be granted access to them, most likely to conceal the malicious activity from researchers."A second method used for achieving initial compromise revolves around tricking their victims into installing a malware-laced video conferencing platform like MiroTalk or FreeConference.While both BeaverTail and InvisibleFerret come with information-stealing capabilities, the former serves as a downloader for the latter. BeaverTail also comes in two flavors: A JavaScript variant that can be placed within the trojanized projects and a native version built using the Qt platform that's disguised as conferencing software.InvisibleFerret is a modular Python malware that retrieves and executes three additional components -pay, which collects information and acts as a backdoor that's capable of accepting remote commands from an attacker-controlled server to log keystrokes, capture clipboard content, run shell commands, exfiltrate files and data from mounted drives, as well as install the AnyDesk and browser module, and gather information from browser extensions and password managersbow, which is responsible for stealing login data, autofill data, and payment information stored in Chromium-based browsers like Chrome, Brave, Opera, Yandex, and Edgeadc, which functions as a persistence mechanism by installing the AnyDesk remote desktop softwareESET said the primary targets of the campaign are software developers working in cryptocurrency and decentralized finance projects across the world, with significant concentrations reported in Finland, India, Italy, Pakistan, Spain, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, and the U.S."The attackers don't distinguish based on geographical location and aim to compromise as many victims as possible to increase the likelihood of successfully extracting funds and information.This is also evidenced in the apparent poor coding practices adopted by the operators, ranging from a failure to remove development notes to local IP addresses used for development and testing, indicating that the intrusion set is not concerned about stealth.It's worth noting that the use of job interview decoys is a classic strategy adopted by various North Korean hacking groups, the most prominent of which is a long-running campaign dubbed Operation Dream Job.Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the threat actors are also involved in the fraudulent IT worker scheme, in which North Korean nationals apply for overseas jobs under false identities in order to draw regular salaries as a way to fund the regime's priorities."The DeceptiveDevelopment cluster is an addition to an already large collection of money-making schemes employed by North Korea-aligned actors and conforms to an ongoing trend of shifting focus from traditional money to cryptocurrencies," ESET said."During our research, we observed it go from primitive tools and techniques to more advanced and capable malware, as well as more polished techniques to lure in vic-ms and deploy the malware."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Feb 20, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybercrime / MalwareA malware campaign distributing the XLoader malware has been observed using the DLL side-loading technique by making use of a legitimate application associated with the Eclipse Foundation."The legitimate application used in the attack, jarsigner, is a file created during the installation of the IDE package distributed by the Eclipse Foundation," the AhnLab SEcurity Intelligence Center (ASEC) said. "It is a tool for signing JAR (Java Archive) files."The South Korean cybersecurity firm said the malware is propagated in the form of a compressed ZIP archive that includes the legitimate executable as well as the DLLs that are sideloaded to launch the malware -Documents2012.exe, a renamed version of the legitimate jarsigner.exe binary jli.dll, a DLL file that's modified by the threat actor to decrypt and inject concrt140e.dll concrt140e.dll, the XLoader payloadThe attack chain crosses over to the malicious phase when "Documents2012.exe" is run, triggering the execution of the tampered "jli.dll" library to load the XLoader malware."The distributed concrt140e.dll file is an encrypted payload that is decrypted during the attack process and injected into the legitimate file aspnet_wp.exe for execution," ASEC said."The injected malware, XLoader, steals sensitive information such as the user's PC and browser information, and performs various activities such as downloading additional malware."A successor to the Formbook malware, XLoader was first detected in the wild in 2020. It's available for sale to other criminal actors under a Malware-as-a-Service (MaaS) model. In August 2023, a macOS version of the information stealer and keylogger was discovered impersonating Microsoft Office."XLoader versions 6 and 7 include additional obfuscation and encryption layers meant to protect critical code and information to defeat signature-based detection and complicate reverse engineering efforts," Zscaler ThreatLabz said in a two-part report published this month."XLoader has introduced techniques that were previously observed in SmokeLoader, including encrypting parts of code at runtime and NTDLL hook evasion."Further analysis of the malware has revealed its use of hard-coded decoy lists to blend real command-and-control (C2) network communications with traffic to legitimate websites. Both the decoys and real C2 servers are encrypted using different keys and algorithms.Like in the case of malware families like Pushdo, the intention behind using decoys is to generate network traffic to legitimate domains in order to disguise real C2 traffic.DLL side-loading has also been abused by the SmartApeSG (aka ZPHP or HANEYMANEY) threat actor to deliver NetSupport RAT via legitimate websites compromised with JavaScript web injects, with the remote access trojan acting as a conduit to drop the StealC stealer.The development comes as Zscaler detailed two other malware loaders named NodeLoader and RiseLoader that has been used to distribute a wide range of information stealers, cryptocurrency miners, and botnet malware such as Vidar, Lumma, Phemedrone, XMRig, and Socks5Systemz."RiseLoader and RisePro share several similarities in their network communication protocols, including message structure, the initialization process, and payload structure," it noted. "These overlaps may indicate that the same threat actor is behind both malware families."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

All jobs Manager of Branding & Communications Posted 1 hours ago Zanda Health is a complete practice management system, designed specifically for health clinics.At Zanda Health, our overriding goal is to create empowered and powerful health practices that benefit the practice owners, their teams, and their communities. Apply now ARE YOU READY TO LEAD THE WAY IN BRAND & COMMUNICATIONS? What is the role?As the Manager of Brand & Communications , you will be a public face of our brand. Youll play a critical role in shaping and amplifying our companys voice, driving brand awareness, and fostering strong customer relationships.Youll work across all channels to ensure our message resonates with both potential and current customers, while also leading and motivating a team to execute impactful campaigns.This is a hands-on leadership position, perfect for someone who is excited about being at the forefront of brand-building and communications strategy. Youll blend creativity, communication, and strategic thinking to drive both brand growth and customer engagement.What You'll Focus On?Customer Communications: Develop clear, engaging, and tailored messaging that speaks directly to the needs of our diverse customer base, driving engagement and retention.PR & Media: Design and execute innovative PR campaigns to increase brand visibility, securing press mentions and media placements across key industry platforms such as podcasts, webinars, and press releases.Partnerships: Cultivate and grow strategic partnerships to expand our reach and strengthen brand influence.Content Creation: Lead the production of engaging content (blogs, videos, podcasts, webinars) that showcases the value of our product and educates potential customers.Website & Engagement: Oversee the websites content strategy, ensuring it aligns with brand standards and fosters user engagement.Brand Integrity: Ensure that all communications are consistent with our brand guidelines, maintaining a strong and authentic brand presence across all platforms.Team Leadership: Manage and inspire a dynamic team of brand and communications professionals to achieve key objectives while promoting a collaborative and innovative environment.Your Key ObjectivesIncrease brand awareness through targeted campaigns, driving more signups from trials and demos.Execute on the new Zanda branding, and secure media mentions and placements across top industry channels, amplifying our brand visibility.Drive community engagement through interactive content and communication initiatives.Boost feature adoption and build customer confidence through clear and engaging training materials.Strengthen our partner program and ensure mutual growth with strategic partnerships.Establish Zanda as a leader in the AU market and increase traction in US & UKWhat We're Looking For?Education: Bachelors degree in Marketing, Communications, or a related field (or equivalent experience).Experience: Proven experience in brand management, communications, and PR roles, ideally within a SaaS or healthtech environment.Team Leadership: Experience managing and motivating a team, with a hands-on approach to executing campaigns.SaaS/Startup Experience: Comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic startup environment.Expert Communication: Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into simple, engaging content.PR & Media Savvy: Demonstrated ability to manage PR campaigns and build strong relationships with media and influencers.On-Camera Comfort: Comfortable creating video content and engaging with the public on camera.Creativity & Innovation: A creative thinker with a knack for generating new ideas and executing innovative campaigns.Bonus: Experience or connections within the allied health industry or private health practices to better relate with our market.Who You Bring?Energetic, positive, and action-oriented with a passion for driving brand success.A natural champion who thrives on building excitement and rallying the team.Extroverted and engaging, excited to connect with customers and partners.Results-driven with a keen ability to multitask and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.Adaptable and open to new ideas, always looking for ways to improve and innovate.Why Join Us?Be part of a mission-driven company transforming healthcare through innovative technology.Lead and inspire a talented team while shaping the future of our brand.Work in a collaborative, fast-paced, and dynamic environment with ample room for personal and professional growth.Competitive along with opportunities for career development and the flexibility to work remotely with a global team!Work-from-home while growing professionally, working alongside talented colleagues, and making a difference to allied healthcare practices.Why youll LOVE working at Zanda HealthIf youre ready to bring your energy, creativity, and leadership skills to a fast-growing company thats changing the future of healthcare, we want to hear from you! Apply today and help us continue to build Zanda into a brand that resonates with our customers and stands out in the healthtech space.When you join Zanda Health, youll benefit from perks like; Work from AnywhereThere are no offices at Zanda Health as weve been a distributed team long before everyone else caught on. We look for the best people around the world not just those who live within a 1 hour commute. If you like working from home, or really from anywhere, youll find a bunch of like-minded people here. Paid Time OffTheres no sense in working all the time we believe everyone needs balance and we want you to have enough time to do other things that enrich your life. We offer all of our permanent team members 30 days of paid time off and we expect you to take it. FlexibilityNeed to get the kids to school or want to do a gym class in the middle of the day? No problem. We need you to be available for some agreed core hours to work with your colleagues and cover our service requirements, but other than that your time is yours. Competitive PayWe aim to work with the best people wherever and whoever they are. We know this comes at a business cost, but we consider this an investment in the companys future. We offer competitive pay and we want all team members to feel well-rewarded for their contribution. Results DrivenAt Zanda Health, we detest bureaucracy and we strive to keep the focus on building and supporting great software that will help our customers (and in turn, help more of their clients). There are no pointless meetings, forms, or other impediments in your way. As we grow, we aim to stay agile in every way. Learning & GrowthWere big supporters of personal growth and development and our team is constantly learning and upskilling themselves in many different areas. Innovation is a big part of our culture and we welcome new ideas from everyone. Inspiring TeamWe truly love our team at Zanda Health and we hope you will too. Were a bunch of unique individuals from all kinds of backgrounds with a vast array of specialist skills and interests. Although we work remotely, the team works closely together and we also make time to know and support each other. Meaningful WorkWere constantly getting feedback from customers that are relieved to have found Zanda Health. In many cases, they refer to us as a life saver or a game changer, and it feels great to be part of something that helps people get the healthcare support they need. See our customer feedback here.About ZandaZanda Health is a leading healthcare practice management system used in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.Our mission is simple: To provide health practitioners with the ultimate Practice Management Software that makes running a health practice easier and more rewarding.Zanda Healths customer base is growing and we need smart, passionate people to join our team and help take us to the next level. Were looking for people who are genuinely excited to help health practitioners do their work, and be part of a globally distributed teamAs a healthcare company, we care about our workforce just as much as our clients and their patients. You will enter a fun, inclusive workplace with a dedicated and driven team.We are still a relatively small business, but self-funded and growing strongly. This is an exciting time to be at Zanda Health we have some great plans for the future and many challenging things to work on. We hope youll consider joining our team and being part of our story!See more information about Careers at Zanda Health Here.(*) Zanda Health collects and processes your personal data for the purposes of managing employment candidate application and recruitment-related activities as well as for organisational planning purposes, for further detail, please refer to the Zanda Health Privacy Policy.Apply NowLet's start your dream job Apply now Zanda Health View company Jobs posted: 22 Related Jobs Remote Sales and Marketing jobs

The RoleWe are looking for a Senior Software Engineer who wants to be an impactful part of a small team looking to change the way technical hiring is done. In this role, you will be an integral part of our Product Engineering team and will make significant contributions to the skills simulations that power our core products: Assessments, Interview, and Learn.To learn more about the kinds of projects we work on, check out our Engineering blog! Some noteworthy projects include:The CompanyCodeSignal is how the world discovers and develops the skills that will shape the future. Our skills platform empowers teams to go beyond skills gaps, with hiring and AI-powered learning solutions, and helps individuals cultivate the skills they need to level up. Wherever you are on your journey, CodeSignals hiring and learning solutions meet you there and get you where you need to go.Having powered millions of skills evaluations, CodeSignal is trusted by leading companies like Netflix, Capital One, Meta, and Dropbox, and is used by learners across the globe. Some of our latest accomplishments include:Being recognized by TIME magazine as one of the Worlds Top EdTech Companies of 2024Getting Certified as a Best Place to Work 2023-2024Launching our AI-tutor Cosmo alongside our practice-first learning product.Seeing Cosmo featured in Times Square three times in as many months.What makes a Signalite?Signalites are the incredible people who make up CodeSignals global team. We believe every Signalite should be given the context to understand decisions, the freedom to act independently, and the responsibility to do whats right. These principles build upon each other to drive motivation, speed, innovation, and a results-oriented, high-performing culture. We believe that culture is not just about principles, but also behaviors. This belief can be seen and felt in everything we do as Signalites.Day-to-DayLead technical design discussions on features where you're able to lend your expertiseContribute to building product features across the full stack (from the front-end to the back-end to separate microservices)Develop clean and maintainable code, with an emphasis on quality and craftsmanshipConduct code reviews and collaborate with your peersBasic QualificationsAt least 4 years of professional, full-time software engineering experienceClear and effective communication skillsDrive and initiative for getting things doneAvailable to work full-time. Candidates must be based within GMT-GMT+6 timezones.Bonus Points for the FollowingExperience with TypeScript/JavaScript (browser, Node, or both)Experience with any part of our stack:ReactGraphQLNodeMongoDBDockerAny experience in a related industry, including assessments, HR tech, or education.Why Youll Love It Here Competitive salaries based on local market Medical, dental, and vision insurance Team activities and get-togethers to connect with your fellow Signalites Unlimited PTO and remote-first work policy Continuous learning with educational reimbursements provided Equipment provision and generous home office setup stipend A challenging and fulfilling opportunity to join a fast-growing SaaS companyWe know that great work comes from great, and inclusive teams. At CodeSignal, we specifically look for individuals of varying strengths, skills, backgrounds, and ideas. We believe this gives us a competitive advantage to better serve our customers and helps us all grow as Signalites and individuals. We hire candidates of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital or family status, disability, Veteran status, and any other status. CodeSignal is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. A new Microsoft chip could lead to more stable quantum computers Microsoft has announced that its made significant progress in its 20-year quest to make topological quantum bits, or qubitsa special approach to building quantum computers that could make them more stable and easier to scale up. The company says its developed a chip containing eight of these qubits, and has also published a Nature paper that describes a fundamental validation of the system. Its a different approach to competitors like Google and IBM. But, if it works, it could be a significant milestone on the path to unlocking quantum computers dramatic new abilities to discover new materials, among many other possible applications. Many of the researchers MIT Technology Review spoke with would still like to see how this work plays out in scientific publications, but they were cautiously optimistic. Read the full story. Rachel Courtland What's driving electricity demand? It isn't just AI and data centers. Electricity demand rose by 4.3% in 2024 and will continue to grow at close to 4% annually through 2027, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. Theres been a constant stream of headlines about energy demand recently, largely because of the influx of data centersespecially those needed to power AI. These technologies are sucking up more power from the grid, but theyre just a small part of a much larger story. Whats actually behind this demand growth is complicated. Read our story to learn whats going on. Casey Crownhart This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter all about the tech that could help us combat climate change. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. This company is trying to make a biodegradable alternative to spandex It probably hasnt been long since you last slipped into something stretchy. From yoga pants to socks, stretch fabrics are everywhere. And theyre only getting more popular: The global spandex market, valued at almost $8 billion in December 2024, is projected to grow between 2% and 8% every year over the next decade. That might be better news for your comfort than for the environment. Most stretch fabrics contain petroleum-based fibers that shed microplastics and take centuries to decompose. Alexis Pea and Lauren Blake, cofounders of Good Fibes, aim to tackle this problem with lab-grown elastics. Read the full story. Megan DeMatteo This story is from the next edition of our print magazine, which is all about relationships. Subscribe now to read it and get a copy of the magazine when it lands on February 26! The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 DOGE has god mode access to government systems The risk of harm, abuse, or revenge is clear. But simple, brazen corruption is also a concern. (The Atlantic$)+Elon Musk is hunting for social security fraud. Its not very common.(Business Insider$)+DOGE claimed it had saved $8 billion in one contract. It was, at most, $8 million. (NYT$)+Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Evil Housekeeper Problem.(MIT Technology Review)2 The Trump administration is scrambling to rehire people working on bird fluThis exact pattern is being replicated across multiple agencies right now, and its straight from Musks playbook. (Gizmodo)+Trump just issued an executive order giving the President power over independent agencies.(Ars Technica)3 DeepSeek is considering its first external funding roundIt badly needs more chips and more servers to meet exploding demand. (The Information$)+Meanwhile, Alibaba is opening up its first data center in Mexico. (South China Morning Post$)+How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions. (MIT Technology Review)4 Electric truck maker Nikola has filed for bankruptcy protectionIt was once (on paper) worth more than Ford. But then a fraud scandal hit, and now its run out of money. (Business Insider$)+The race to clean up heavy-duty trucks. (MIT Technology Review)5 How a crypto scammer turned a small town against itselfShan Hanes drained Elkhart in Kansas dryand turned neighbor against neighbor in the process. (NYT$)6 Googles has unveiled a new AI co-scientist toolResearchers are excited, but its hard to say what its true impact will be. (New Scientist$)+A data bottleneck is holding AI science back, says new Nobel winner.(MIT Technology Review)7 People are logging offEight years ago, social media became a battleground. This time, many dont see much point in fighting online. (New Yorker$)8 What Americas first generation chipmakers enduredThey had to work in unsafe conditionsand never got answers about why their kids were born with birth defects. (The Verge)9 Can you use ChatGPT to learn a new language?Kind of, a bit? But notreally. (Wired$)+Translators in Turkey are training the AI tools that will replace them.(Rest of World)10 The latest TikTok trend? Using AI to time travel And not just to disasters like Pompeii or the Titanicyou could just be an American teen in 1983. (Fast Company)Quote of the day They destroyed everything here, and now were supposed to give up? How does that work? Alla Kriuchkova, a resident of Bucha in Ukraine, where Russian soldiers slaughtered hundreds of people in March 2022, tells theNew York Timeshow angry she is at President Trump for suggesting the war is Ukraine's fault. The big story The $100 billion bet that a postindustrial US city can reinvent itself as a high-tech hub KATE WARREN July 2023 On a day in late April, a small drilling rig sits at the edge of the scrubby overgrown fields of Syracuse, New York, taking soil samples. Its the first sign of construction on what could become the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States.The CHIPS and Science Act was widely viewed by industry leaders and politicians as a way to secure supply chains, and make the United States competitive again in semiconductor chip manufacturing. Now Syracuse is about to become an economic test of whether, over the next several decades, aggressive government policiesand the massive corporate investments they spurcan both boost the countrys manufacturing prowess and revitalize neglected parts of the country. Read the full story. David Rotman We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + Wilson Bentley found snowflakes so beautiful, he created a whole new way to photograph them. + You cant really eliminate stress in life, but you can get better at managing it.+ The best Quentin Tarantino movies, ranked.+ You only need a few minutes and a kettlebell for a great full-body workout.

Submitted by WA ContentsFoster + Partners unveils masterplan for Constana, Romania Romania Architecture News - Feb 20, 2025 - 14:11 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Foster + Partners has unveiled design for a masterplan for a 38-hectare site at the heart of Constana, a port city in the Dobrogea historical region of Romania. To create the masterplan, the practice collaborated closely with regional stakeholders and IULIUS, a Romanian real estate developer and operator that specializes in mixed-use urban redevelopment projects. With its cultural and educational institutions, retail stores, entertainment venues, sports facilities, and botanical gardens, the design revitalizes the formerly industrial area and creates a bustling "city within a city.""It is a great honour for us and a unique opportunity for Constana to create a new destination, which stitches together the urban landscape and completely transforms the experience of the city," said Stefan Behling, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners."Greenery is woven through the masterplan, with a series of interconnected parks, gardens, and vibrant community spaces that make use of existing industrial structures.""The city's unique character and historic significance is celebrated and enhanced through our design," Behling added.Ideally situated in the heart of Constanta, the masterplan's impact is expected to go beyond the site and will benefit the entire city. The mixed-use plan provides a variety of year-round activities and attractions that appeal to both locals and tourists, addressing seasonal variations in visitor numbers.The project incorporates new building and public space typologies that are currently absent from the city's urban fabric, drawing on insights from comprehensive community surveys.The site's extensive landscaping is inspired by the local ecological background, and hundreds of mature trees improve the city's inhabitants' quality of life and the environment.For community events and gatherings, existing buildingslike silosare transformed into theaters and pavilions. The site's boundaries are surrounded by new bike lanes and green spaces that improve mobility and bring together previously disconnected areas of the city.Extensive landscaping across the site draws inspiration from the local ecological context, with hundreds of mature trees providing environmental benefits and enhancing wellbeing for the citys residents"We are excited to be part of Constanas future. By transforming the urban wasteland into a vibrant hub, we invite locals, investors and tourists to be a part of this transformative journey," said Maximilian Zielinski, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners."Capturing the essence of the Black Sea, the regeneration project embraces the natural elements and landscapes. The proposal is deeply anchored in the citys rich history, from its Greek and Roman origins to its more recent industrial heritage," said Daniel Zielinski, Senior Partner, Foster + Partners.Before construction starts, IULIUS will prepare the formerly industrial site with a comprehensive bioremediation effort.The masterplan provides new typologies of buildings and public spaces, which are currently missing from citys urban fabricFoster + Partners' BDO Unibank Campus broken ground on Manilas Makati Avenue, Philippines. In addition the firm created a three-dimensional layered roof for Apple's new store in Malaysia. Moreover, the firm unveiled a revitalization masterplan for an earthquake-hit region Hatay in southeast Turkey, after the terrible earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023. Foster + Partners' BDO Unibank Campus broken ground on Manilas Makati Avenue, Philippines.All images courtesy of Foster + Partners.> via Foster + Partners

New team brought in after previous scheme went into receivershipAerial view of BGY's plans for the northern half of the former Shredded Wheat factory site in Welwyn Garden City1/5show captionBuckley Gray Yeoman (BGY) has replaced Collado Collins on a 579-home redevelopment of the formerShredded Wheat factory site in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.Collado Collins was originally appointed as lead architect on an earlier version of the scheme for 1,340 homes, approved in late 2018, for joint venture partners ZM Land & Capital and Metropolitan Thames Valley.The site fell into receivership in February 2023 after nearly four years of no progress and was split into two halves, with the northern site purchased by Malaysian developerIJM Land and Treble Eight Group in December of the same year.The new development team has brought in BGY to rethink the scheme but has retained much of the former project team, which includes Bradley Murphy Design aslandscape architect, Gateley on costs, Iceni on planning, Entran on transport and Civic as engineer. Lottie Delamain has also joined the team as an additional landscape designer.The scheme will include 303 flats for rentA planning application has been submitted to Welwyn Hatfield borough council for the new development, called the Wheat Quarter, which will include133 homes with private gardens, 141 retirement living homes and 305 flats for rent.Existing silos on the site are set to be repurposed to create a sky bar and restaurant, alongside competitive leisure space on the ground floor with potential uses including a climbing wall, skydiving experience, zip wires and bouldering.A food and beverage area is planned for the boiler house and grain store, incorporating a tap room and retail facilties, with surrounding public realm designated for community and pop-up events.Improvements to the pedestrian footbridge from Welwyn Garden City station, such as a new lift, new stairs and retail unit also feature in the proposals, as well as 6.5 acres of public open space.Collado Collins has been contacted from comment

RIBA survey finds firms expecting to cut staff over the next three months ahead of planned rise in National Insurance ContributionsPractices are considering redundancies and have pared back recruitment plans following the governments decision to increase National Insurance Contributions (NICs), RIBA has reported.The institutes latest Future Trends survey found architecture firms are expecting to make staff cuts over the next three months as its staffing index figure for January dipped below zero to -4.Any index figure below zero in the survey indicates practices on average expect to see reduced numbers of permanent staff over the next three months.RIBAs staffing survey found practices expect to make cuts over the next three monthsThe index for future workload expectations was also below zero for the third month in a row as practices reported a weak architectural market with a lack of new enquiries and continued intense fee competition.RIBA head of economic research and analysis Adrian Malleson said firms believed planned increases in NICs were making future recruitment less likely and lessening the scope for staff pay rises, adding: Some are considering redundancies.In the context of an under-performing economy and global uncertainty, the architects market remains challenging. The profession remains pessimistic about future work, he said.Practices also describe policy and regulation changes negatively affecting workloads, including changes to the Building Regulations, the Listed Places of Worship VAT rebate Grant Scheme, and High-Risk Building procedures.However, most regions saw some improvement in their outlook last month, with Londons future workloads index seeing a marked rise to +10 from zero in December and the capitals staffing index remaining positive at +2.Sentiment on workloads in Wales and the West and the Midlands and East Anglia also recovered despite remaining below zero, although confidence fell back in the South of England from -3 to -10 and in the North from +21 to +8.Meanwhile, workload expectations in the public sector have deteriorated to -14 from -5 and from -4 to -8 in the commercial sector, although the outlook for private housing has bounced back to zero from -5 in December.

Alienware Aurora R16 Desktop Pros Slick and fairly compact design Largely quiet even under load Tool-less access and parts abound Nice I/O Cons Underwhelming performance for the price Proprietary as can be Likely a dust magnet Table of Contents Alienware has never been known for its value. It has always had more going on with style and performance. The Alienware Aurora R16 desktop fits that mold with a curious design that eschews a lot of typical approaches to PC building in favor of something a bit offbeat. It's not as wild as the Aurora R15 externally, but it's still a curious sight. As for performance, the Alienware Aurora R16 has plenty. The airflow might be a little confusing, and regular dusting will probably be high on the maintenance list, but the Aurora R16 can deliver where speed is concerned. That said, it's not exactly punching above its weight. That's especially true as configured here for $2,365 with just an RTX 4070 inside. However, that is paired with a monster of an Intel Core i9-14900KF. That's not the most sensible pairing, as it goes a little CPU-heavy. Consider that Lenovo's Tower 7i Gen 8 is only slightly more, at $2,549, with the same CPU, beefier liquid cooling, fewer proprietary parts and most importantly, an RTX 4080 Super. With a choice between the two, I wouldn't even hesitate to opt for Lenovo's far more value-minded option. Alienware Aurora R16 Specs Price as reviewed $2,365Size 38-liter custom (16.5 x 7.8 x 18.1 in/418 x 197 x 458 mm)Motherboard Alienware 0RF96M Z690 customCPU 3.2GHz Intel Core i9-14900KFMemory 32GB DDR5-5600Graphics NVIDIA RTX 4070Storage 1TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD (boot) (SK Hynix PC801)Networking GbE, Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1675x 802.11AX, Bluetooth 5.3Connections USB 2.0 (x2 rear), USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (x3 front, x2 rear), USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (x1 front, x1 rear), USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C (x1 rear), 3.5mm audio connector (x1 front, x6 rear), Optical SPDIF, Coaxial SPDIF, Gigabit Ethernet, Antenna x2, HDMI (x1 on GPU), DisplayPort (x3 on GPU)Operating system Windows 11 Pro The Alienware Aurora R16 starts at $1,344. This gets you an air-cooled Intel Core i7-14700F, Nvidia RTX 4060, 16GB of DDR5-5600 memory, 1TB of NVMe storage, a 500-watt 80 Plus Platinum power supply, Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 and no peripherals. From there, Alienware offers a ton of upgrade options. Before we get into that, however, it's worth noting that as of this writing, Nvidia's new 50-series cards are available and should find their way into the Aurora soon enough. The exact build of our test PC might not be available. So the pricing below, accurate as of this writing, will likely be different by the time you read this. It should give you a general idea about the R16's value and other upgrade options, though. With that in mind, you can get a selection of Intel CPUs, including the Core i7-14700F, -14700KF, i9-14900F, -14900KF and even a 13th-Gen i9-13900F. All of the K Series processors require upgrading to a 1,000-watt power supply and liquid cooling. On the GPU side, there's everything available from an RTX 4060 Ti to an RTX 4090, with many steps in between. You can even go the AMD route with a Radeon RX 7900XTX. Everything above the RTX 4070 also requires upgrading the power supply to a 1,000-watt model. Mark Knapp/CNETDDR5 memory at 5600MT/s is available in 16GB or 32GB capacities and 64GB at 5200MT/s. Storage also comes in a wide range with 1, 2 and 4TB M.2 SSDs available to populate a single slot or both available slots. Alienware also offers a 7,200rpm hard drive with 1TB of storage. There's both air cooling for the CPU or 120mm or 240mm radiators for liquid cooling. One liquid cooling option has AlienFX lighting, but that includes only a 500-watt power supply and 120mm radiator.Our test unit costs $2,364 as configured. Dell doesn't offer this config with Windows 11 Pro but our test unit came with it instead of Windows 11 Home. If we were building one ourselves, and again this was before the 50-series GPUs became available, we'd opt for the RTX 4070 Super configuration since there was no additional charge at the time of this writing, or we'd spend the extra $100 for the 4070 Ti Super. The Intel Core i9-14900KF seemed a bit overkill when paired with an RTX 4070. Instead, we'd opt to save a little and get the cheaper Core i7-14700KF or even the air-cooled Core i7-14700F. Doing so would largely offset the cost of the faster video card. Generally speaking, while there were a plethora of upgrade options available, they quickly could balloon the price of the R16 to far above what a similarly- outfitted PC would be from a more value-oriented manufacturer. It's just something to keep in mind. Speedy, but not exceedingly or class-leadingly Mark Knapp/CNETIn many ways, the Alienware Aurora R16 is a performance powerhouse. The processor included in our test unit is a proper beast, and even though the fans can ramp up a bit to keep it cool with just a single 240mm radiator, they don't make much more than a calming hum while the Core i9 blasts through workloads. In Geekbench 6, it even zipped past the Core i9-14900KF inside the Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 by a modest margin. However, the Lenovo came out ahead in the Cinebench R24, where its 360mm radiator likely helped keep up the sustained performance required for that test. The combined performance of the R16's CPU and GPU, as well as its fast memory and storage, make it a force to be reckoned with in the holistic PCMark10 benchmark, where it hit a huge 9,778 points. So just about any everyday computing task thrown its way will be a breeze. Its gaming performance is predictably strong, with the RTX 4070 putting up solid numbers in our benchmark suite. Despite the graphics card being on the small side, it appears to get plenty of air from the one front intake fan and the side vents, which helped it keep heat down and speed up. There's a good gap between it and the performance of the RTX 4060 in the Lenovo Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 I tested, but it's also a far cry from the Tower 7i Gen 8's RTX 4080 Super. Mark Knapp/CNETThe system is able to put up triple-digit frame rates at 1080p easily enough, hitting a little over 200fps in Guardians of the Galaxy at High settings and in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at Highest settings. However, there's still room for improvement. It underperformed in some areas next to the RTX 4070 FE in our tests of that card, which managed better results in 3DMark's Port Royal Time Spy and Fire Strike Ultra benchmarks and The Riftbreaker's GPU benchmark. On the plus side, the Alienware Aurora R16 can sustain its performance. Running 3DMark's Steel Nomad stress test, which pushes the system with a demanding benchmark run 20 times in a row, the Alienware Aurora R16 passed with 99.1% consistency, seeing scores ranging from 3,610 to 3,644 with only light noise coming from the system. Some alien oddity inside to get a somewhat smaller outside Mark Knapp/CNETThe Alienware Aurora R16 is an interesting-looking machine. It's not quite as out-there as the alien heads of yore, but it features a unique air channel at the front with a ring of RGB lighting that syncs with an exhaust fan in the back. The top of the system and half of the glass side panel both feature a lattice of honeycomb-shaped holes that provide stylish ventilation. Out in front, Alienware has an almost barren case except for the glowing Alienware logo that doubles as a power button, a recess with three USB-A ports, one USB-C port and a headphone combo jack. Those ports are complemented by a good collection of connections on the back: six USB-A and two USB-C ports (one clocking in at 20Gbps), plus surround-sound-ready audio ports, Wi-Fi antenna connections, Ethernet and the typical array of video outputs coming from the graphics card. The system isn't massive, but it's not exactly small either, at 16.5 by 7.8 by 18.1 inches. It fits neatly between the ATX-sized Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 and mATX Legion Tower 5i Gen 8 while being slightly narrower than both. However, where those two desktops conform to some standards, the Alienware Aurora R16 largely doesn't. As the name might suggest, the inside of the Alienware Aurora R16 is truly alien. Having messed around with PCs a good bit, I felt like I wasn't in Kansas anymore when I cracked open the case. It's easy enough to get inside, with a quick-release glass side panel and toolless entry on the opposite side. That's where the normality ends. The R16 has a custom motherboard, special power supply and all sorts of internal case accouterments. A bulky plastic bracket attaches to the single front case fan and seems to channel the air toward the graphics card while also slotting into a GPU support bracket. Another bracket attaches atop the PSU's own cover, and it seems to simply serve as a plug for holding onto the ends of unused power connectors. Like the outside, a ton of parts inside use toolless attachments, which can be handy but may make upgrades and replacements difficult (apart from the part removal). Mark Knapp/CNETThe motherboard itself isn't the usual ITX, mATX or ATX shape, instead stretching out horizontally about as much as an ATX board but only about as tall as an mATX. It's not even rectangular: a section protrudes near the case's front. Cables run in unexpected places and are unusual types. Upgrading or replacing components in this system looks like it might be a considerable headache outside of storage upgrades. Those, however, should be simple with a free M.2 2280 slot and a cage for a single 3.5-inch drive. Upgrading the GPU would require not only ensuring it's short enough but also not too thick, as anything above a 2.5-slot thickness is liable to run into the PSU enclosure. It would also definitely call for a blower-style cooler. Memory upgrades are also a letdown, as there are only two slots, so you'd likely have to sacrifice the existing sticks rather than add to them. Then again, you may want to, since they're unsightly sticks with no heat spreaders, just bare green PCB. With one intake fan, three exhaust fans and plenty of unfiltered inlets, the Alienware Aurora R16 is all but guaranteed to end up having negative pressure inside the case, which will suck in dust. I'd encourage regular cleaning, which the quick-release side panel thankfully makes easy. Overall, the Alienware Aurora R16 is an interesting system: powerful and attractive but also pricey, which is pretty standard for Alienware. With Nvidia's RTX 50-series cards coming soon, you'll probably want to hold off either for the latest CPU and GPU options or if the prices come down to clear out the remaining stock of the R16.Geekbench 6 (single-core) Alienware Aurora R16 3092Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 3062Dell XPS 8960 2948Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 2833HP Omen 35L 2656Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 2427Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 2273 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Geekbench 6 (multi-core) Alienware Aurora R16 19924Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 18735Dell XPS 8960 18699Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 16959HP Omen 35L 12745Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 12091Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 9947 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Cinebench 2024 GPU Dell XPS 8960 27034Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 26537HP Omen 35L 25725Alienware Aurora R16 18063Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 11444Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 10474Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 10038 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Cinebench 2024 CPU (multi-core) Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 1896Alienware Aurora R16 1806Dell XPS 8960 1554Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 1431HP Omen 35L 961Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 783Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 749 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance 3DMark Steel Nomad Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 6636HP Omen 35L 6445Dell XPS 8960 5239Alienware Aurora R16 3659Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 2878Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 2366Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 2335 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 17565Dell XPS 8960 17525HP Omen 35L 16426Alienware Aurora R16 9927Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 7277Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 6232Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 6007 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance PCMark 10 Pro Edition Alienware Aurora R16 9778Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 9720Dell XPS 8960 9539HP Omen 35L 8732Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 8533Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 8128Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 7531 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Guardians of the Galaxy (High @1920 x 1080) Alienware Aurora R16 219Dell XPS 8960 213Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 207Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 184HP Omen 35L 146Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 144Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 129 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance The Riftbreaker GPU @1920 x 1080 Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 560Dell XPS 8960 550HP Omen 35L 523Alienware Aurora R16 354Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 269Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 243Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 235 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Highest @ 1920 x 1080) Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 255Dell XPS 8960 250Alienware Aurora R16 226Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 174HP Omen 35L 174Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 148Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 142 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance 3DMark Port Royal Dell XPS 8960 18402Lenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 18139HP Omen 35L 17936Alienware Aurora R16 10736Minisforum AtomMan G7 Ti 7868Lenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) 6186Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) 5985 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Systems configurations Lenovo LOQ Tower 17IRR9 (90WY0000US) Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-144400F; 16GB DDR5 RAM; 8GB Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics; 1TB SSDDell XPS 8960 Microsoft Windows 11 Home;3.4GHz Intel Core i7-14700K; 21GB DDR5 RAM; 16GB Nvidia RTX 4080 Super graphics; 1TB SSDMinisforum AtomMan G7 Ti Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.2GHz Intel Core i9-14900HX; 32GB DDR5 5,600MHz RAM; 8GB Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics; 1TB SSDHP Omen 35L Microsoft Windows 11 Pro; 4.2GHz AMD Ryzen 7 8700G; 64GB DDR5 3,600MHz; 16GB Nvidia RTX 4080 Super graphics; 2TB SSD + 1TB SSDLenovo Legion Tower 7i Gen 8 34IRZ8 Microsoft Windows11 Home; 3.2GHz Intel Core i9-14900KF; 32GB DDR5 4,400MHz RAM; 16GB Nvidia RTX 4080 Super graphics; 1TB SSDLenovo Legion Tower 5i 26IRB8 (90UT001AUS) Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-144400F; 16GB DDR5 5,600MHz RAM; 8GB Nvidia RTX 4060 graphics; 1TB SSDAlienware Aurora R16 Microsoft Windows Pro; 3.2GHz; 3.2GHz Intel Core i9-14900KF; 32GB DDR5 5,600MHz RAM; 12GB Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics; 1TB SSD