You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereThe First Descendant is set receive update 1.2.9, and this will add some new skins along with a buff and more. Then, in mid-March, we will be treated to Season 2 Episode 2, which is set to introduce new playable character Serena. While both of these imminent additions are exciting, The First Descendant director has also teased the possibility of relationship emotes and raids, while also sharing a goal for Season 2 Episode 2.The First Descendant dev responds to relationship emotes, raids and moreOn Discord, The First Descendant director, Jooms, provided an AMA follow-up to respond to unanswered questions. One of the questions Jooms responded to was, Can we have simple duo relationship type of emote. Examples used in the query were holding hands or maybe a hug emote.Jooms responded, That sounds like a great idea! Since the foundational system is already in place, this should be feasible. Ill bring this up with the relevant team. This doesnt confirm relationship emotes will be added, but at least the director considers it possible and is discussing the idea with the development team.Image credit: The First Descendant DiscordAs for raids, Jooms was asked if Nexon has Any plans to add true raid like content in the game. The user also queried about Day one raid races/leaderboards. Because raids are frequently asked about, Jooms admitted its something Nexon are currently considering, but need to figure out as The traditional raid formats seen in similar genres dont quite align with the core gameplay of The First Descendant.If raids are to be implemented, Jooms said they need the following:Maintain a fast-paced combat flowAllow players to stay fully engaged in battleIntroduce new monsters and multiple mid-boss encountersFeature an epic final boss fightImage credit: The First Descendant DiscordWhile relationship emotes and raids are possibilities for the future, Jooms also specifically discussed Season 2 Episode 2 arriving on March 13th. For S2E2, Jooms said Nexons goal is to implement a change allowing fire rate cores to affect tactical rifles.In addition, full character reworks are planned for S2E2 between late March and early April. Luna will be one of the characters included, and Nexon is considering making the bug that allowed buffs to persist after unequipping her unique weapon [to be] integrated as an official feature.Image credit: The First Descendant DiscordFor more The First Descendant, we have a guide to thebest skills and loadout for Viessa, along with thebest skills, gear, and mods for the hugely popular Bunny. We also have a guide forFreynaalong with fundamentaltips for beginners. Must-Listen: VideoGamer Podcast #10 - Cracking Atomfall w/ Ben Fisher The First DescendantPlatform(s):PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Action, Adventure, RPG5VideoGamerRelated TopicsThe First Descendant Subscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

I am not a political figure, I am a humanitarian figure, and always have been and always will be, Princess Diana said in 1997, months before her tragic death. Diana, who was 20 when she married King Charles in 1981, embraced that mentality throughout her time as a royal, devoting herself to causes that ranged from mental health to the AIDS epidemic. It was Dianas kindness and care for others that led Prime Minister Tony Blair to dub her The Peoples Princess.Its no surprise, then, that the Princess of Wales was a devoted parent and favored playful, colorful interiors that matched her warm disposition. Below, weve rounded up photos of Diana at her royal residences.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images1/15Honeymooning in the HighlandsDiana is pictured here with King Charles standing in front of the River Dee during their 1981 honeymoon on the grounds of Balmoral Castle, a royal retreat in the Scottish Highlands. The estate, which is also where Queen Elizabeth II lived out her final days, boasts 50,000 acres of breathtaking natural landscapes as well as manicured gardens. The newlyweds kicked off their honeymoon at Broadlands, the English home of the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma, where Queen Elizabeth (then a princess) and Prince Philip had also honeymooned 34 years prior. From there, Diana and Charles flew to Gibraltar for a 12-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia before ending their vacation at Balmoral.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images2/15Raising a royal familyDiana plays with Prince William at their home inside Londons Kensington Palace in this 1983 snapshot. They resided in apartments eight and nine inside the Jacobean mansion, which has been owned by the royal family since William III bought it in 1689. The Princess of Wales tapped South African designer Dudley Poplak to outfit the three-floor dwelling with elegant yet cheerful decor, including lots of pastels and floral prints.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images3/15Portraits at the palaceHere, the royal couple pose for a picture in their Kensington Palace drawing room in 1983. Diana opted for a yellow color scheme for the gathering space, which was anchored by a large floral area rug. Official meetings were often held in the drawing room, so furnishing for the area leaned more classic and antique than the rest of the residence.Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images4/15A day at the parkThe then Prince and Princess of Wales sit in the garden outside Kensington Palace in this 1983 photo as an 18-month-old Prince William wanders the grounds. What [Diana] loved above all at Kensington was to walk round the park while hiding her identity in drab clothes, an insider told Kensington Palace author Tom Quinn. Shed set off on her own, wearing dark glasses and sit on a bench by the Round Pond, just watching passersby.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images5/15The butter-yellow drawing room paletteCharles and Diana show off another angle of their Kensington Palace drawing room in this 1985 photo. The tall, stately marble fireplace was adorned with colorful figurines while matching round tables dressed in fringed polka dot tablecloths incorporated the pale yellow of the rooms walls.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images6/15Diana the pianistDiana and her two young sons sit at the grand piano in their Kensington Palace home in this 1985 photo. The drawing room corner was decorated with a gilded mirror and a collection of family photos. The princess was a talented pianist who reportedly liked to play Bach in her moments of downtime.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images7/15The frilly and fun sitting roomIn this 1985 photo, Lady Di works at the desk in her vibrant Kensington Palace sitting room, which doubled as her office. The space was decorated with feminine furnishings, including a pink sofa, baby blue ruffled drapes, and matching pink-and-blue wallpaper. The desk and customized yellow school trunk pictured here were later displayed in a Buckingham Palace exhibit to honor the 20th anniversary of the princesss 1997 death.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images8/15Sweet nurseryPrincess Diana helps Prince William work on a puzzle at their Kensington Palace apartment in 1985. The nursery, pictured here, made up the entire third floor of the home. Diana commissioned luxury childrens design brand Dragons of Walton Street to design whimsical furnishings for the sweet space, which featured a strawberry-printed carpet.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images9/15Diana the fashion iconIn this 1986 snap, Princess Diana selects fabrics for her royal tour wardrobe with the help of fashion designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who also designed the royals wedding dress. The trio are gathered in front of the white marble fireplace in Dianas sitting room, where five years later she secretly recorded the tapes that became the basis for journalist Andrew Mortons controversial 1992 book, Diana: Her True Story.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images10/15A seat at the tableDiana sits at the dining room table at her Kensington Palace home during a 1986 meeting. Dramatic velvet drapes and bamboo chairs with matching red upholstery stood out against the rooms beige walls, which were decorated with historic portraits for a more traditional look than some of the princesss other domestic spaces.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images11/15Home at HighgroveThe Prince and Princess of Wales also maintained a residence at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, where they are pictured here in 1986. Charles bought the 18th-century Georgian neoclassical dwelling in 1980. As with her Kensington Palace quarters, Diana hired Poplak to decorate the nine-bedroom mansion ahead of their 1981 wedding. The interior decorator once told the Times that the project was the most important assignment I have ever had. Per the outlet, he gave the homes interiors a youthful color palette that included lime green and aquamarine.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images12/15Resting in the gardenIn this 1986 image, Diana relaxes by a sundial in Highgrove Houses garden. Though it was a beautiful setting, the princess reportedly hated the country home. She referred to her trips to their Gloucestershire home as a return to prison and rarely invited her family or friends, Morton wrote in Diana: Her True Story. She feels that Camilla [Parker Bowles] lives just down the road and regardless of any effort she puts into the house, she never feels it is her home, Dianas longtime friend James Gilbey told the biographer.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images13/15Little princesPrincess Diana plays with Harry and William in this 1986 photo taken at Highgrove House. The young royal was known for being a particularly attentive parent. We have an obligation to care for our children in ways which clearly show our children we value them. They, in their turn, will then learn how to value themselves, she said in 1993.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images14/15Hands-on motheringIn this 1986 photo, the princess walks with William and his pony on the grounds of Highgrove. Dianas involved approach to parenting clearly stuck with her sons, who were only 15 and 12 years old when she died. I see my mums legacy when I look at my own children every day, Prince Harry said in 2022.Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images15/15Princess in pinkWhen Diana and Charles separated in 1992, the princess continued to reside at Kensington Palace. Charles stayed primarily at Highgrove, where the princess is pictured here in 1986. The royals were officially divorced in 1996. People think that at the end of the day a man is the only answer. Actually, a fulfilling job is better for me, Diana said in 1995.

There is immense power in being in control of your own data. As ownership and governance of apps and online services consolidate, its understandable if you want to consider your options when it comes to where you store your private data and records of your everyday activities.Fortunately, not every service out there is trying to monetize your personal data, and many offerings are just as good (if not often better) as their commercial or ad-supported rivals.Take a minute to think about what youd want to leave behind. Big Tech giants that hoard your data? Subscription services? Invasive ad tracking? Government surveillance? Your needs and risks are unique to you, but hopefully a few of these recommendations help to hit the spot.If you ever wanted to read something later, like a news story, feature article, or anything else with a web address, save it to your Wallabag. This read-later web-archiving service may not have the same ring to it as its main commercial rival Pocket, but Wallabag is a strong competitor with article-saving tools and features as good as what Pocket offers. You can save your must-reads for later on a Wallabag server you can run for free on a network attached storage (NAS) server that you host somewhere in a closet at home, or hosted in the cloud for a low-cost subscription.A story from The Guardian saved in Wallabag, a Pocket alternative.Image Credits:TechCrunch (screenshot)Why does this matter? Other read-later apps track usage in order to find trends and recommend content (often sponsored) to you. Some want this, and thats cool! But some dont.Signal is the encrypted messaging app to useSignal is one of the most revered secure messaging apps for the simple reason that, by design, it knows nothing about you. On occasion, Signal will make this point by publishing the search warrants it sometimes receives, knowing that it cant provide to the authorities data that it doesnt keep. Signals security has been called the gold standard of messaging apps by cryptography experts. Signal is free to download and use but relies on donations as a nonprofit.Why you should care: Its not just your private messages and calls that Signal keeps encrypted from prying eyes and ears, but Signal also crucially scrambles who you contact and communicate with, and when, which can also be incredibly revealing about a persons life.Nextcloud is a self-hosted Dropbox alternativeNextcloud is a Dropbox alternative that features all of the document editing and sharing features youd expect from a file storage system. A huge benefit to Nextcloud is that you can host a server yourself for free at home, where you can keep it private and under your control, or have a Nextcloud server run for you by a specialized hosting provider.Nextcloud is built with security in mind and provides you end-to-end encrypted access to your files from your phone or any other device you have. Or, if simply having a self-hosted Dropbox-like alternative as a storage backup for your most sensitive and personal files sounds like something youd want, Nextcloud is a great place to start.A screenshot of Nextcloud, a self-hosted Dropbox alternative.Image Credits:NextCloudWhy does this matter? Cloud storage is often secure and private in some ways, but the companies that run them are beholden to law enforcement and may also invisibly scan your files (for good reason, but still) that can get you suddenly and permanently banned from your online accounts. Hosting your own doesnt mean you are free from police showing up at your house with a warrant, but at least youd be aware of it.Never forget your passwords again with BitwardenPassword managers are a great investment in your personal security; these apps securely store your passwords, passkeys, credit cards, and other secrets, so you dont have to remember them. Bitwarden is a popular open source password manager that helps you log in quickly to your favorite sites and auto-fills your credit card details when you want to pay for something, and more. You can access your Bitwarden password manager anywhere, including from your phone. Bitwarden is free for anyone to use, but low-cost for additional features.Why does this matter? When it comes to security of password managers, the more eyeballs inspecting the source code to ensure its reliability and integrity, the better. And while other password managers are also good, open source systems like Bitwarden are more readily auditable and open about their software development process.Joplin and Notesnook keep your notes and scribbles encryptedFor those who want to leave Google Docs or Microsoft 365 behind, there are plenty of note-taking apps that keep all of your notes, thoughts, and scribbles in one place that you can access anytime. Joplin is a popular document and productivity app that keeps your files organized, encrypted, and in open formats (like Markdown) so you can take them with you anywhere else. Notesnook is another note-taking app that lets you export your notes to use with other apps and is end-to-end encrypted so that nobody can read your files. The same cannot be said for Google Docs!Joplin is a note-taking app that lets you sync your notes across devices.Image Credits:JoplinFor anyone looking for a downloadable and offline office suite that isnt made by Microsoft, LibreOffice is the best Office alternative youll find out there. LibreOffice is private by design and free to use (though its macOS app in the Mac App Store isnt), and works with all the common file and document formats you regularly use.Why does this matter? Big companies like Google and Microsoft are increasingly unifying their services, which today means exposing your notes, emails, and files to their AI systems. This can be useful for sure, but if youd rather just have a simple, cross-platform text syncing app, there are plenty of options that dont do any kind of invasive analysis at all.Ente is an encrypted vault for your photosIf you want to leave behind Apple Photos, Flickr, Google Photos, YouTube, and the like, Ente.io bills itself as a privacy-focused photo storage app designed simply to securely back up all of your photos and videos to the cloud. Ente scrambles your data with a password only you know, protecting your memories from anyone else, and backs up your data in multiple locations around the world for safekeeping. Plus, Ente offers all of the photo management and sharing features you need from a photo app. Ente is free for basic accounts and reasonably priced for more storage options.Why does this matter? Much like notes and documents, images are a huge target for AI systems. Auto-tagging your friends might sound helpful, but it requires consent. You should have to opt in before a machine learning model scans every face youve ever taken a picture of. That alone is a good reason to look at an independent service that gives you a little more choice.Block ads on most devices with your own Pi-holeAds arent just an invasive surveillance machine, capable of tracking your location and your website histories as you browse the web. Ads can leave anyone open to malware and scams even government spyware. While an ad blocker attached to your computers browser or phone can help protect that device, a Pi-hole serves as an ad blocker for your entire network, including smart devices, televisions, and more.A screenshot of the Pi-hole web dashboard.Image Credits:Pi-holeA Pi-hole can be run on any device that you have always-on and running at home, like a computer, an old laptop, or a Raspberry Pi microcomputer. Point any of your devices DNS networking settings to your Pi-hole and you will seldom have to think about ads again. For a more polished user experience for beginners, AdGuard Home is also a top contender in the category of self-hosted network-level ad blocker.Why does this matter? Ad blockers are good for your security and privacy, but not all ad blockers work with every device. A network-level ad-blocker solves this problem for a broader range of devices.Set up your own encrypted VPN that only you controlHosted VPN providers often claim to offer privacy and security, but dont be fooled. These companies can see all your web browsing history as your internet traffic flows through their systems, often under the guise of providing you security, privacy, or anonymity in return.But in our explainer of what VPNs are and what they do, we note VPNs are only helpful in a handful of situations, such as accessing your devices when you are away from home or the office. Even then, the best VPN is one that youve set up yourself and control so that nobody else can eavesdrop in.We have a guide on how to set up your own encrypted VPN server in just a few minutes using Tailscale, which makes it easy to create a virtual network allowing you to connect all of your various computers, phones and other devices to that network. You can even set up Tailscale on a home server in your closet, or an Apple TV thats always plugged-in and running.Tailscale is built on top of the Wireguard open-source VPN protocol. There are plenty of other Wireguard-ready implementations to explore if you want to experiment outside of Tailscale.Why does this matter? Most people dont need a VPN outside of specific use-cases. But if you do, an encrypted VPN server that you have set up and operate ensures that your internet traffic is encrypted using a private key only you have, meaning your web data cannot be seized, stolen, or sifted through.Home Assistant is the central hub for all your homes smart devicesFor anyone whos dabbled with a smart home, this one is for you. Home Assistant is, simply put, the hub that connects all of your smart home devices and lets you control them all from one place. This open-source smart home server can integrate with thousands of smart home vendor devices, ranging from voice assistants to light bulbs and robot vacuums and more, allowing you to start, stop, or otherwise control your devices from your browser (or a phone app). You can also automate your smart home devices just like you can in Apple Home or Google Home.Home Assistant is a hub for all of your smart home devices.Image Credits:Home Assistant / XHome Assistant is local by design and can be self-hosted on a variety of devices, from a home server in a closet to any other device thats always on, like a desktop computer. And for anyone who wants to access Home Assistant from outside your home, you can set up remote access through its cloud-based subscription service.Why does this matter? Not every smart home vendor can keep the lights on, and sudden closures or bankruptcies can result in customers equally unable to keep access to their lights. Projects like Home Assistant can step in when smart home tech goes defunct, saving customers from having to pay for costly replacements.Open Scanner is a very simple document-scanning appDocument scanning doesnt have to be a complicated or convoluted process. Open Scanner is an incredibly simple point-and-click document-scanning app for iPhones, and its code is published online. Thats it. Sometimes thats the true beauty of disconnecting from profit-driven corporations that bloat their apps with AI junk and features nobody really needs. Open Scanner can snap receipts, notes, textbooks, or anything else you can point your phone at. For Android users, OSS Document Scanner is a similarly simple, open-source and free app for scanning documents.Why does this matter? Unless you really need a professional scanner, your phone is more than good enough and probably better than a lot of cheaper scanners out there. Skip the need for any printer-brand hardware gear and use something simple and free.RSS is an amazing web technology that lets you subscribe to feeds of information from your favorite sites, blogs, news sources, and more. Most news sites offer RSS feeds (TechCrunch does!) that deliver the headlines to RSS-compatible apps, known as RSS readers. There are loads of RSS readers to choose from. For more than a decade, FreshRSS has been one of the most feature-packed RSS readers for its overall simplicity. You can self-host an instance, or deploy a private server to a specializing cloud host. Once you get your favorite feeds subscribed, the end result is like having your very own self-updating digital newspaper.FreshRSS lets you collect all of your news headlines in one place.Image Credits:TechCrunch (screenshot)Why does this matter? Youd be surprised how different the news feels when you see it this way. And having your own RSS setup skips the kind of sponsored posts and tracking that you see on hosted services, much like the read-it-later ones.Own your livestreams with OwncastFor those who broadcast their own shows, gameplay, or anything in between, Owncast is a self-hosted streaming system for setting up and hosting livestreams. Owncast is wildly popular, as its free, fairly easy to use, and works with your existing livestreaming gear. You might not have thought about livestreaming before, but this is a good way to wade into unfamiliar but friendly waters.Why does this matter? Sites like Twitch are certainly popular, but you may notwant to rely entirely on the tools of a giant corporation for every step of a creative process (in this case, Amazon). Owncast and other open streaming apps are a great way to hedge your bets while maybe opening up a new audience.Stirling PDF is a one-stop PDF editing shopHandling and editing PDF documents has never been consistently easy. For those who dont want to pony up for Adobes software or upload their files to sketchy-looking file conversion websites, Stirling PDF is the Swiss Army knife for PDF documents. Convert, edit, merge, split, sign, and more, without having to hand over your personal or sensitive files to a cloud giant. Stirling PDF also lets you self-host if you prefer to handle documents with particular sensitivity.StirlingPDF is a self-hosted PDF editor.Image Credits:TechCrunch (screenshot)Why does this matter? Frankly, any time theres a realistic alternative to Adobe, take it.Read more on TechCrunch:First published on November 24, 2024. Devin Coldewey contributed.

Companies around America have started cutting DEI programs and eliminating DEI commitments from public documents in response to legal and political threats from the Trump administration.Just a few weeks ago, Attorney General Pam Bondi instructed the Department of Justice to investigate, eliminate, and penalize, DEI programs deemed illegal in private sector companies that receive federal funds.Trump has signed an executive order banning DEI in the federal government with the approval of his right-hand companion Elon Musk, an immigrant from South Africa and a long-time denouncer of DEI.The reaction to the governments anti-diversity push has taken many forms. One contractor said NASA has started to scrub mention of terms like environmental justice or anything specifically targeting women. PBS had to shutter its DEI office.In corporate America, McDonalds, Harley-Davidson, Booz Allen, John Deere, Tractor Supply Company, Polaris, Lowes, Ford, Molson Coors, Walmart, Nissan, Accenture, and Target, among others, have all announced some form of rollback to their DEI policies. Goldman Sachs said in February that it would ditch its requirement for corporate boards filing to go public to include women and people of color.Other companies are trying to strike a balance. Some companies like Apple, Costco, Delta, McKinsey, and JPMorgan have indicated a commitment to sticking with their diversity efforts.Last year, companies like Telsa, GameStop, Workday, and Salesforce started scrubbing mentions of DEI from their 10-K filings, a trend that has accelerated so far this year. Heres a list of where DEI stands, so far, among tech companies in 2025.Weve reached out to each of the companies for comment.AmazonAmazons website positions page still showcases its diversity, equity, and inclusion commitment. However, it is winding down some DEIoutdated programs and materials, according to a leaked memo reported by Bloomberg. It removed a post from 2021 that expressed a focus on DEI and removed some mentions of diversity from its latest annual 10-K report.AppleApples website still says, as it has for years, Were continuing to create a culture of inclusion, increasing representation across teams, and holding ourselves accountable at every level.Shareholders at Apples latest meeting rejected a proposal from a conservative group to strike DEI complies from the companies. Apple previously advised its shareholders to vote against the proposal.GoogleGoogle is eliminating diversity hiring targets and evaluating releasing new diversity reports, which its done since 2014, The Wall Street Journal reported. It also said it would review its DEI initiatives to ensure all comply with the latest executive orders aimed at curbing DEI.Google updated its 10-K filing, making no mention of diversity in its latest one, compared to the eight times it was mentioned in its 2023 filing. Late last year, it removed many cultural events from the default Google Calendar.IBMIBM still has its inclusion page up. Working with a shareholder, the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation requested the company drop its DEI pay incentive targets, though IBM has moved to block the proposal.IntelIntel cut back some of the language about DEI on its recent 10-K filing and removed some diversity targets. On its website, though, the company still states that diversity and inclusion are among the most important forces driving the companys evolution and reinvention.Meta is eliminating some DEI programs targeting hiring, suppliers, and training according to a leaked internal memo reported by Axios. Meta also said it eliminated its DEI team and end representation goals as the latter to eliminate any impression that decisions are being made based on race or gender, the memo read. While this has never been our practice, we want to eliminate any impression of it. Meta declined to comment.MicrosoftMicrosoft released its 2024 inclusion report in October where CEO Satya Nadella reiterated the importance of a diverse workforce. However, in July of that year Microsoft laid off its internal DEI team because of changing business needs, according to a memo leaked to Business Insider.NVIDIANvidia still has its diversity, inclusion, and belonging page up and released its 2024 Sustainability Report where it has a section still dedicated to people, diversity and inclusion.OpenAIOpenAI quietly changed its Commitment to Diversity website to now read Building Dynamic Teams, and removed all mention of diversity and inclusion from the webpage.OracleOracle still has its Culture and Inclusion page up, which reads that diverse perspectives make our teams stronger and empower collaboration.SalesforceAlthough Salesforce swabbed mention of its diversity targets in its 2023 10-K filing, it still released a 2024 equality update. In that update, the company reiterated its commitment to diverse representation and how much more it still needs to achieve. In a conversation with Axios recently, CEO Marc Benioff said he would stand by his employees amid the Trumps administrations anti-DEI orders.TelsaTesla scrubbed mention of diversity, equity, and inclusion from its 10-K last year. Elon Musk, the CEO of the company, is an outspoken critic of DEI. The company only released one diversity, equity, and inclusion report, back in 2020.WorkdayAlthough Workday erased mention of diversity targets in its 2023 10-K form after expressing commitment to increase the representation of Black and Latinos at the company, its DEI page is still up on the website. On that page, the company wrote that diversity isnt just a business imperative. Its core to everything we do. It released a 2024 Global Impact Report and it still has a chief diversity officer.ZoomZoom laid off its DEI team during a round of layoffs last year, telling staff it would work with external consultants who will engage all of our employees, while focusing on inclusion, according to a memo leaked to Bloomberg. It doesnt appear to have released a diversity report since 2022, the first of which came out in 2020, according to its website.

A study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus by researchers from Penn Engineering, the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences, and Aarhus University shows that incorporating controlled disorder into the structure of certain materials can enhance their resistance to cracking.The findings underscore the potential to advance mechanical metamaterialsengineered materials with precise geometric designs that impart unique physical and mechanical properties, fabricated through 3D printing. This discovery addresses one of the key challenges of these materials: their fragility. By simply altering the internal geometry, without changing the material itself, toughness can be increased by 2.6 times, said Kevin Turner, Professor, Penn Engineering.This research was made possible with help from the National Science Foundation (NSF) MRSEC program, which supports interdisciplinary research in materials science, the National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program which supports graduate students pursuing advanced degrees in STEM disciplines, and the Villum Foundation, a private philanthropic organization based in Denmark.Sage Fulco, Researcher in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics. Photo via: Bella CiervoResearch on How Disorder Toughens MaterialsThe researchers explored how small-scale disorder influences material performance, taking inspiration from natural materials like bone, nacre, and mussel threads, which exhibit minute, seemingly random variations. With this in mind, the team conducted computational simulations on various triangular lattice patterns, including both symmetrical designs and those with variations in node positions.Lab and simulation tests revealed that the best-performing samples, where cracks were hardest to propagate, had varied geometries. The samples that performed the best, in which it was most difficult for a crack to grow, did not consist of regular repeating patterns. They had different geometry in different areas, said Sage Fulco, Lead Author and Postdoctoral Researcher, MEAM.The study also identified an optimal level of disordertoo little or too much led to less effective performance. There was a specific level of disorder, so that the patterns we cut into the material looked somewhat regular but not exactly symmetrical, where we were able to achieve the highest level of performance, says Fulco.Three representative designs with different levels of disorder. Photo via: Sage Fulco.Future Prospects: Expanding the Potential of Disordered PatternsLooking ahead, the researchers hope to inspire further exploration of disordered patterns in mechanical metamaterials and engineering. They emphasize that the success of their design reveals the untapped potential of studying natural materials, with applications in critical sectors like aerospace, where crack resistance and damage tolerance are vital. Combining diverse materials and integrating geometries across multiple scales offers exciting opportunities, says Fulco.Advancements in 3D Printing for Enhanced Material ResistanceRecent innovations in 3D printing aim to improve material strength and resistance through bio-inspired designs and advanced techniques. In 2022, a team from the Southern University of Science and Technology in China, the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham, UK, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, and the HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Collaborative Innovation Research Institute developed 3D-printed ceramic composites with enhanced toughness. By integrating mantis shrimp-inspired structures with digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing, the team sought to overcome the limitations of traditional methods like ice templating and freeze casting.Elsewhere, researchers from the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), developed a method to make 3D-printed polymeric lattice parts 100 times stronger. By partially carbonizing the material, they achieve both increased strength and improved ductility, enabling the creation of customized, durable prints for applications like coronary stents and bio-implants. This process offers a cost-effective, scalable solution for producing lightweight, strong, and versatile mechanical metamaterials.What 3D printing trends should you watch out for in 2025?How is the future of 3D printing shaping up?To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, dont forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us onLinkedin.While youre here, why not subscribe to our YouTube channel? Featuring discussion, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays.Featured image shows the disordered design (bottom) cracked less than the structured one (top), shown by the spread of red dots. Image via: Sage FulcoPaloma DuranPaloma Duran holds a BA in International Relations and an MA in Journalism. Specializing in writing, podcasting, and content and event creation, she works across politics, energy, mining, and technology. With a passion for global trends, Paloma is particularly interested in the impact of technology like 3D printing on shaping our future.

US-based researchers have developed a method to precisely control the molecular alignment of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) during 3D printing.Ensuring more predictable shape-morphing and mechanical properties, the discovery allows designing soft materials with highly controlled behavior, which could be applied in fields such as soft robotics, prosthetics, and adaptive structures.Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this study brings together experts from Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Princeton University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).Led by Harvard SEAS professor Jennifer Lewis, and Emily Davidson, a faculty member at Princeton, the research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Army Research Office, and a research initiative at LLNL. Experimental work was carried out at the National Synchrotron Light Source II at BNL.When this project began, we simply didnt have a good understanding of how to precisely control liquid crystal alignment during extrusion-based 3D printing, said first author Rodrigo Telles, a SEAS graduate student, Academic Cooperation Program scholar and collaborator with LLNL. Yet it is their degree of alignment that gives rise to varying amounts of actuation and contraction when heated.Emily Davidson and Rodrigo Telles, far right, at the X-ray instrument with former and current Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers. From left: Benjamin Yavitt, Lutz Wiegart, Guillaume Freychet and Mikhail Zhernenkov. Photo via Harvard SEAS.Improving alignment control in 3D printed LCEsAs explained by the team, LCEs are no ordinary materials. They behave much like biological muscles, expanding and contracting in response to heat. This ability makes them ideal candidates for applications that require materials to shift shape on demand.But theres a catch. This behavior depends entirely on how well the materials rigid molecular components, called mesogens, are aligned. And getting that alignment right during 3D printing has traditionally been an unpredictable process, involving a lot of trial and error.To bring precision to this process, the researchers turned to wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), a technique that allowed them to monitor mesogen alignment inside the nozzle of a 3D printer in real time. By fine-tuning the nozzle shape, printing speed, and extrusion temperature, they established a set of conditions that reliably control molecular orientation.It turns out that nozzle design plays a bigger role than one might expect. The study compared tapered and hyperbolic nozzles and found that hyperbolic designs created a far more uniform alignment of mesogens, producing more consistent mechanical properties in the final printed structure.In the 3D printing community, most of us use a relatively small number of commercially available printheads. This study showed us that its important to pay attention to the details of both nozzle geometry and flow and that we can exploit them to control material properties, Davidson said.The researchers identified two types of filaments, one where the outer layer was well-aligned while the core remained disordered, and another with uniform mesogen orientation throughout. Their findings showed that the way material flows through the nozzle directly determines these structures.To make sense of this relationship, the team introduced a key parameter known as the Weissenberg number. This dimensionless metric consolidates multiple flow-related factors, allowing researchers to predict how printing conditions will impact molecular alignment. In essence, it provides a roadmap for ensuring LCEs print with the exact mechanical properties required, eliminating much of the guesswork.The implications of this work extend well beyond the lab. With this level of control, researchers can now design LCE-based materials with precision, whether for artificial muscles, self-adjusting textiles, or structures that change shape in response to their surroundings.By shifting 3D printing of LCEs from an experimental art to an exact science, this study lays the groundwork for more advanced, functional soft materials that can be reliably manufactured at scale.The researchers used an X-ray microbeam, during printing, to locally measure liquid crystal alignment and direction inside the printer nozzle. Image via Harvard SEAS.Research into 3D printing liquid crystal elastomersWhile this study refined LCE alignment, other researchers explored ways to enhance its adaptability and mechanics. For instance, researchers at UC San Diego introduced a 3D printing method for LCEs, allowing for functionally graded properties by adjusting printing parameters.By fine-tuning temperature during extrusion, they gained precise control over stiffness and contraction, making LCEs more adaptable for soft robotics and artificial muscles. Instead of relying on external methods like mechanical stretching or magnetic fields to align mesogens, the team modified the direct ink writing technique, where liquid ink is extruded and cured under UV light.Experiments revealed a core-shell structure, with the outer shell cooling quickly and stiffening, while the inner core stayed warm and flexible. Printing at varied temperatures led to different shape-morphing behaviors, including a rudimentary robotic gripper with improved adhesion.Elsewhere, University of Colorado Denver and the Chinese Southern University of Science and Technology researchers developed a 3D printing material that mimics biological tissues behavior. Using Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D printing, they created a honey-like LCE resin that cures under ultraviolet light, forming photopolymer layers that replicate cartilage-like shock-absorbing properties.Unlike traditional thin-film LCEs, this method allowed for large-scale, high-resolution structures, including a prototype spinal fusion cage. Mechanical tests showed 12 times greater rate-dependence and 27 times higher strain-energy dissipation than commercial resins, making it ideal for protective gear and medical applications.What3D printing trendsshould you watch out for in 2025?How is thefuture of 3D printingshaping up?To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, dont forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on Twitter, or like our page on Facebook.While youre here, why not subscribe to our Youtube channel? Featuring discussion, debriefs, video shorts, and webinar replays.Featured image shows Emily Davidson and Rodrigo Telles, far right, at the X-ray instrument with former and current Brookhaven National Laboratory researchers. From left: Benjamin Yavitt, Lutz Wiegart, Guillaume Freychet and Mikhail Zhernenkov. Photo via Harvard SEAS.Ada ShaikhnagWith a background in journalism, Ada has a keen interest in frontier technology and its application in the wider world. Ada reports on aspects of 3D printing ranging from aerospace and automotive to medical and dental.

She was born in 1898 in a barn. She died on the 37th floor of a skyscraper. Shes an astronaut. Bert Cooper, Mad Men, season 4, episode 9, The Beautiful GirlsIn 1983, Goldman Sachs opened its own skyscraper at 85 Broad Street in New York City, which cemented the investment banks presence in the citys financial district. This was the era of the open-plan office, lauded for its flexibility and adaptabilityit facilitated the modern way of working, at the time. But what the open plan couldnt have taken into account was the radical change in the way we have worked since the development of the internet and, most importantly, postpandemic. Today we can take meetings from our cell phones, email while doomscrolling in bed, and conduct research 35,000 feet in the air from an airplanes middle seat. Why does the modern office worker need an office?Unfortunately, we previously sunk many billions of dollars and millions of tons of extracted material into building temples to old ways of working. The structures we erected to facilitate the flow of global capital turned out to have a shorter shelf life than we imagined: Goldman Sachs moved into its 1.1 millionsquare-foot headquarters at 85 Broad in 1983. It moved out in 2010, just 27 years later, trading up to 200 West Street, a new building designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partnersless than a mile from Goldman Sachss old home.A view of the project from above at dusk showcases the newly constructed rooftop green spaces. ( Robert Deitchler/Gensler)As of Q4 2024, the commercial real estate company Avison Young reported that New York City has 99.1 million square feet of vacant office space, a record high. In contrast, the city is also breaking records regarding rental vacancy: As reported in the most recent New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, its at 1.4 percent, a multidecade low. And most New Yorkers spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, which qualifies them as rent-burdened. Many politicians, architects, and policymakers are asking the obvious question: Why cant we turn our vacant office stock into housing?Demolishing millions of square feet of steel, glass, and concrete is expensive in terms of dollarsand carbon footprint. What if we could save a lot of that material from landfill? Todays office-to-residential conversionsor O2R, if youre in the businesshave been a hot design topic since the dawn of the pandemic. In New York, Metro Loft is a name nearly synonymous with the O2R movement. Starting in 2003 with 63 Wall Street, the developer has pioneered the conversion method. Helmed by Nathan Berman, Metro Loft has taken on the incredible risks associated with converting big buildings. While earlier projects like 63 Wall and 71 Leonard converted older, prewar structures, starting in 2017 the firm was tackling more challenging midcentury office towers. Its most recent conversion has taken shape at 55 Broad. Millions of dollars were needed to acquire the property and millions more to cut shafts for ventilation and light through its inner core. In some midcentury buildings, floor plates can be as deep as 60 feet, meaning that sunlight in these monoliths rarely reaches the inmost parts of the interior. Once illuminated, the floors were divided into dozens of oddly shaped apartments to maximize rentable square footage, with each requiring new plumbing cores to add bathrooms in what used to be a shared per-floor amenity.55 Broad Street, once home to Goldman Sachs, will be converted into residential space under a CetraRuddy design. (CetraRuddy)These improvements are needed to make old offices palatable to luxury renters, but it can work: What the industry first deemed crazy has now earned Berman the title King of FiDi. With the help of architects at CetraRuddy, he transformed 55 Broads warren of cubicles into a maze of 535 apartments.For others, the tough reality is that making housing out of office stock is a lot like sticking a square peg in a round hole. The complex entanglement of legislative red tape, habitable versus occupiable unit code standards, and developer ROI have made this commonsense move hard to stomach for many developers and landlords. And perhaps understandably so: Office towers that sold for over $300 million just a few years ago have changed hands for as little as $8.5 million in 2024. Is O2R the Hail Mary commercial real estate owners are holding their breath for?A rooftop terrace on top of Pearl House with a communal amenity inside. ( Robert Deitchler/Gensler)A bedroom inside a model unit at Pearl House. (Vanbarton Group)Two options have emerged in the attempt to save these increasingly obsolete office spaces, the wallets of developers, and the planet: market-rate O2R conversions and single-room occupancy (SRO) programs. Interestingly, both options are being studied and implemented by Gensler.Making O2R a RealityRobert Fuller and Peter Wang, two designers in Genslers New York office, have become leaders in the emergent field of conversions. Gensler developed software called Conversions+ that generates a scorecard for office buildings whose owners are considering O2R action. Context, building form, location, floor plate size, and local regulations all factor into the score. Creativity and budget can make any building a successful conversion, Fuller explained, but [out of a possible 100 points] its viewed as most eligible if it scores in the 70s or 80s. Conversions+ was first tested in the fall of 2020 as part of a collaboration with Calgary Economic Development, a nonprofit entity in the Canadian city. The algorithm was used to score 6 million square feet of vacant offices in downtown Calgary, and the partnership has resulted in five ongoing conversions, with ten more in the pipeline. But the firms most recent completion of Pearl House, at the time the largest O2R conversion in New York City to date at 160 Water, is turning heads as it takes on the legislative labyrinthand high real estate valuationsof New York City. Originally designed by New Yorkbased firm Hausman & Rosenberg in 1973, the tower used to house offices for AIG. Gensler worked with development partner Vanbarton Group to turn the 525,000-square-foot office tower into 588 new apartments. By cutting blind shafts, creating new rooftop green spaces, and optimizing the buildings envelope for efficiency and operability, the developers have been able to nearly sell out. Beyond the allure of the amenities, Pearl House has set a new standard for O2R methods as well as more sustainable development in New York City.Still, these units are all market rate (although, as AN reported last month, another Gensler O2R conversion, at the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown, will feature affordable units). As of this writing, the most economical studio unit in Pearl House starts at around $3,700 per month. Are there cheaper solutions?The living area inside a unit in Pearl House. (Vanbarton Group)SROs: Radical or Retrograde?Fear not: Gensler has also been involved in a very different type of O2R conversion. Once a popular and affordable living option across U.S. cities, SROs came under fire as real estate prices soared. The often-neglected buildings housing these units were sold and demolished so the land could be redeveloped into more profitable typologies. In Genslers coauthored report with the Pew Charitable Trusts, which was published last October, the authors, quoting a 2018 piece in Bloomberg by Ariel Aberg-Riger, write that between the 1970s and the 1990s alone, the United States lost one million SRO units to conversions and demolitions. But through regulatory reform and the reintroduction of lower-cost residential typologies, the supply of SRO-style housing can beincreased to meet the current needs of renters. The question is: Is this a good thing?Three cities were examined for this first iteration of the study. Denver, Minneapolis, and Seattle were selected based on (1) high median rent, (2) high rate of homelessness and housing insecurity, (3) high downtown office vacancy rate, and (4) lack of significant regulatory barriers that would impact the feasibility of the concept.What would an SRO look like today? Well, a lot like a college dorm. This is a typology that prioritizes affordability by making kitchens, bathrooms, and workspaces communal amenities rather than keeping them in private rooms. The SRO results in a small personal space that doesnt sacrifice the essentials. (Maybe you are familiar with YouTuber Van Neistat, who in 2022 recorded a video ode to his SRO in New York, which was 144 square feet, 12 feet on a side. Every square inch was accounted for. Every possession that was in there was important, he told the camera.) While, historically, SROs have done heavy lifting to make cities affordable to new residents, low-income and working-class people, and artists and students, there has been pushback over whether this limited dwelling unit is a good fit for contemporary cities. Reconsidering the SRO invites revisiting feminist and collective visions for city planning and domestic life rather than the modern obsession with convenience and individual consumerism.Gensler test-fit SRO scenarios to see how to convert an office building in Denver. (Courtesy Gensler)In the report, Gensler test-fit SRO scenarios in the three regional markets. It found that 1,232 SRO units would fit in a standard, midcentury Denver office tower that has 31 floors. Each unit was set against the fully glazed curtain-wall facade and would include one twin XL bed, a desk and nightstand, a mini fridge, and a microwave. A proposed plan included in the report shows the SRO room as being 7 feet 6 inches wide and 20 feet long, or 150 square feet. This is shown in contrast to a standard studio layout, which includes a full kitchen and bathroom and measures 14 feet by 31 feet, or 434 square feet.A core tenet of co-living and SROswhich are two different housing configurations but are seemingly combined in the reportis shared resources. Kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry are still available, but you must leave your room. In Denver, four shared kitchens, two living rooms, laundry, and storage are proposed for every floor, each of which has about 40 SRO units. Bathrooms are included too, of course: There are to be two restrooms with three toilets and two sinks each in addition to four single-occupant bathrooms and a central shower facility. Floor plates are often measured in terms of residential efficiency: How much space is given over to individual units? The result of Genslers Denver test-fit is an efficiency of nearly 71 percent, with the remaining 29 percent of the gross floor area dedicated to shared facilities and the buildings core and interior circulation.The big question: How much will it cost? The report estimates between $500 and $1,000, based on the residents income, which is targeted to be between 30 and 40 percent of AMI in Denver for a single person. Adjusting for New York City AMI, these numbers would be $750 to $1,250. Living alone in an old office building could either cost $750 or $3,700. The difference is whether you share a shower, couch, and cooktop with your neighbors.The promise of O2R and SRO conversions is the opportunity to reduce ones carbon footprint and rent burden. We shouldnt keep constructing new buildings when so many sturdy ones sit empty, and our lives shouldnt be weighed down by the artificial scarcity of the real estate market. If you could pay less than $1,000 for a decent apartment in Manhattan, what other things would you do with your one wild and precious life?Emily Conklin, formerly ANs managing editor, is a design historian and critic based in Manhattan.

Monograph, a project management platform for architects and designers, has released a report chock full of business data sourced from its clients about statistics like net revenue per full-time employee, net cost per full-time employee, utilization rate, realization rate, time to payment, and salary. Seen with other financial information, like the AIAs Architecture Billings Index, the report is another way for a firm to see how its financial metrics stack up to industry averages. The Architecture & Engineering Salary and Business Benchmarks Report 2025 builds off the data and analysis of past reports from Monograph. This year, the report also includes insights on salaries. Robert Yuen, founder of Monograph and a former juror for ANs Best of Practice Awards, created the company to make tracking project progress more streamlined. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had raised a $20 million in a Series B funding round led by Base10 Partners.Throughout the report simple calculations allow firms to see how they stack up to industry averages and offer insights on what the calculations signify in the industry landscape. (Courtesy Monograph)Most A&E firms dont actually know their own numbers, Yuen said. If it takes you more than five minutes to see where you stand, youre flying blind.Profitability Over Salary GrowthTwo major findings emerge from the report, which is based on data from Monographs clients: Principals only earn 68 percent more than Designers in salaries on average, suggesting that profitabilitynot salarydrives career income growth, and top firms make over $100,000 more per employee than low performers, work +35 percent more billable hours, and bill over +100 percent of their billable fees. Data on salary growth shows that from designer position to principal salary growth is surprisingly low. According to the report, data shows that rather it is profit that leads to bigger paychecks, often leaving those without a head for business earning less.Yuen observed: If youre looking ahead in your career as an architect or engineer, heres the reality: salary growth wont take you as far as you think. What actually drives real career earnings is learning how to influence profitability. The sooner you start building those skills as a future firm owner, the sooner you create opportunities to take part in the profit structure and drive significant income.New data in the report presents salary information across the industry. (Courtesy Monograph)A checklist of 30 items that concludes the report organizes the actions and practices firms can take to see how they measure up to industry averages and where improvements can be made from a business perspective. The tips include: assigning workloads based on budget, planning future hires, hiring administrative staff, and others.Some Advice From ExpertsJacob Reidel, assistant professor in practice at Harvard Graduate School of Design and a juror for this years Best of Practice Awards, commented on role of benchmarking data when making business decisions: I am always surprisedthough for many reasons I know I shouldnt beby how heavily siloed information is in the architecture industry, especially when it comes to anything regarding money. The result is countless practices relying on passed-down rules-of-thumb, small sharing networks of firm owners, a limited number of professional association reports, and paid consultancies. These are not the conditions for a healthy and stable spatial design industry, let alone one that encourages responsible risk-taking and innovation. Hence, the need for up-to-date operational benchmarking data is real. Such data not only empowers designers at all levels (not only firm leadership) and across the entire spectrum from small/new to large/established practices to make informed decisions on a daily basis, but alsowhen shared, which it should be gives clients and architects myriad collaborators and consultants an important view behind the curtain, fostering a more transparent and trusting project and practice environment. Reidel also has advice for small to midsize firms: 1) dont only rely on received wisdom and 2) err on the side of sharing more financial performance data with your staff. This is easier said than done, as most architects were never actually trained to be managers, let alone business owners, and Im pretty certain firm operations is not why anyone went to architecture school. However, so many supposed best practices that firm leaders and managers rely on have been inherited from a pre-2008 practice context that in many respects no longer exists, so we have to begin from a position of questioning everything. Rigorously tracking financial performance data on a regular basis and using it to make regular decisions is low hanging fruit. And sharing this (sometimes admittedly sensitive) data with multiple levels of staffnot only top leadership and managementbuilds trust and empowerment within your teams, and can be a useful check on the tendency to slide back into old ways of working.Rena Klein, senior partner at CVG, offered the follow guidance: Pay attention to Realization Rate, which reflects both operational productivity and pricing of services. Project management tools like Monograph can provide valuable data on project time and cost, as well as real-time tracking of project progress. However, the effective use of this data depends on developing a culture of time sheet discipline and awareness of project budgets and schedules. This will help prevent overdelivery and scope creep while fostering excellence in project delivery.A full copy of the Architecture & Engineering Salary and Business Benchmarks Report 2025 can be accessed here.

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