The Blade Runner franchise has truly found a second life on the printed page, with Titan Comics greatly expanding the scope of this cyberpunk universe through various spinoffs and prequels. Currently, Titan is in the midst of publishing Blade Runner: Tokyo Nexus, a series which has the distinction of being the first Blade Runner story set in Japan. As part of IGN Fan Fest 2025, we had the opportunity to chat with writers Kianna Shore and Mellow Brown to dig deeper into the new series and find out how they brought the Blade Runner aesthetic to a new corner of the globe. Check out the slideshow gallery below to see exclusive artwork showing how the series went from script to fully realized artwork, and then read on to learn more:Blade Runner: Tokyo Nexus Behind-the-Scenes Art GalleryAgain, this is the first Blade Runner story weve seen set in Japan, despite Tokyo being the backdrop of seminal cyberpunk stories like Akira and Ghost in the Shell. We were curious how the writers envisioned the Tokyo of this alternate universe version of 2015, and how it compares to the rainy, neon-soaked Los Angeles most Blade Runner fans are familiar with.Brainstorming Tokyo in the Blade Runner universe was such a fun process! Shore tells IGN. I was lucky enough to have lived in Japan (coincidentally in 2015) and more recently I was able to visit some interesting exhibits in Tokyo on envisioning the future. I wanted Tokyo to look and feel different from Los Angeles since their histories, experiences, and socioeconomics are completely different. My goal was to make a hopepunk Tokyo.I've always appreciated how Los Angeles (in Blade Runner) is a pretty broken, decrepit and fracturing place on its last legs and that the neon is sort of hiding all of that. But, if you ever turned it off, everyone would quickly see they're in a hellscape, Brown says. So, our Tokyo works in parallel. It is this beautiful utopia where people feel like they're on a short leash. And if you disobey the laws of this paradise, it will eat you alive. It is just as scary, just in a different way.Interestingly, both writers made a point of not homaging the aforementioned Akira and Ghost in the Shell, but instead looking to other media and to contemporary Japanese life for inspiration in crafting their version of Tokyo.Shore says, Although I watched the greats for inspiration, it was important for me to understand how Japanese media depicts the future after the 3.11 Tohoku Disaster, so I watched anime such as Your Name, Japan Sinks 2020, and Bubble.I actually had a personal goal to not iterate on the anime that have already been inspired by Blade Runner. Like Bubblegum Crisis or Psycho-Pass Brown says. When you write cyberpunk, you often are reflecting how you think your own environment will go into the future (which is why LA has an 80s theme and fear of Japan becoming a superpower from the original series). So, I wanted to reflect on the fears and hopes of Japan's society today. And what would go wrong or right if dangerous people had their way with it.The Blade Runner timeline spans the 21st Century, but this particular series is set in 2015, a few years before the events of the original film. We were curious how much Tokyo Nexus connects to the larger franchise. Will fans find certain similarities to the movie to latch onto, or is this really a whole new ballgame given the Japanese setting?Tokyo Nexus is a standalone in setting, time, and story, Shore says. Of course, it wouldnt be Blade Runner without the seemingly omnipresent Tyrell Corporation influencing the characters actions or a mystery to solve. There are some fun nods and easter eggs alluding to the Blade Runner films, but someone without BR knowledge can also enjoy the comics.Mellow adds, We are continuing to build our story that has been advancing since Blade Runner: Origins and just a short time before Blade Runner: 2019. We've been excited to answer some complex questions in the universe, like What was the Kalanthia War? and Why is Tyrell the only company that makes Replicants? All of these are building towards a massive, secret, civil war with Blade Runners of different organizations fighting for dominance. And it's exciting to see how this book, Tokyo Nexus, has the origins of one of those organizations we'll see ascend to a global superpower in that war.Tokyo Nexus is unique in that it revolves around a partnership between a human named Mead and a Replicant named Stix. As you might expect, their close-knit dynamic is at the core of the series, which paints them as two battle-scarred veterans who only have each other to rely on in this hellish landscape.Mead and Stix are best friends and platonic life-partners, Shore says. They have been through hell and back, bled together, wept together. They only want to protect one another, and sometimes that means from themselves. Their goal is to survive, but in order to do that they must be willing to trust again.It is beautiful in how unhealthy it is. Haha, Brown says. We wanted to play with the We're More Human Than Human quote of the franchise. And how that happens. While Stix is a Replicant with a constant thirst for life, Mead is a human who has been grinded down by systems and is very mechanical and economic in her reasonings. They need each other to make it through life. And they've survived a scenario so horrible together, this partnership has become a codependency that could shatter them both.PlayAs the series unfolds, Stix and Mead end up getting swept up in a conflict between Tyrell Corp, the Yakuza, and a Japanese group called Cheshire. The writers tease that Cheshire holds a very interesting place in the Blade Runner universe, as theyre a company trying to muscle their way in on Tyrells monopoly of the Replicant market.Cheshire is trying to compete in the business of Replicant manufacturing, Shore teases. Their newest Replicant is a military model, made for war. Supposedly stronger and faster, built on the bones that Tyrell fashioned.Mellow adds, Cheshire is a crime organization with ambitions beyond shaking down Mom & Pop shops. When they get a hold of refugee Tyrell Scientists who have escaped to Tokyo, they suddenly discover that the stars are the limit for what they're now capable of in this universeBlade Runner: Tokyo Nexus Vol. 1 - Die in Peace is now available in comic shops and bookstores. You can also order the book on Amazon.Also as part of IGN Fan Fest 2025, we got an early look at IDW's new Godzilla shared universe and a sneak peak of an upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog storyline.Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

Starting today, Amazon has dropped the price of the official Xbox Series X|S wireless controllers to $39 with free shipping. Four different color options are available: Carbon Black, Robot White, Shock Blue, and Velocity Green. Not only is this still the de facto standard controller for Xbox, it's also one of the best PC gaming controllers as well.Xbox Controllers for $39Shock BlueXbox Wireless ControllerVelocity GreenXbox Wireless ControllerCarbon BlackXbox Wireless ControllerRobot WhiteXbox Wireless ControllerAesthetics aside, these Xbox wireless controllers are identical to the one that's bundled with the Xbox Series X and S console. Standard features include textured grips, hybrid D-pad, button mapping with the Xbox app, a 3.5mm audio jack that works with any wired headset, and a Share button to upload screenshots and video.The controller supports both Xbox wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. That means you can use it for your PC or mobile device. In fact, we think this is the the best PC controller you can get. If your PC doesn't have Bluetooth, you can still use it in wired mode with a USB Type-C cable or go out and buy a Bluetooth or Xbox wireless adapter.WD Black C50 1TB Expansion Card for Xbox for $109.99WD C50 1TB Expansion Card For Xbox Series XSAmazon has also dropped the price on the officially licensed WD Black C50 1TB Expansion Card for Xbox Series consoles to $109.99 shipped. That's a 30% price drop from its original $158 list price and the best price we've seen for an officially licensed 1TB Xbox expansion card since Black Friday. The C50 is one of the best SSDs for the Xbox, which isn't surprising since your options are pretty limited.Check out more of the best Xbox deals today.Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

For decades some critics have argued the Oscars award the most acting, not the best acting. The claim is demonstrable, too, as seen by Joaquin Phoenixs subtle work in The Master or You Were Never Really Here going looked over, but his big showy take in Joker gaining recognition. See, yet again, Jessica Chastains win for an over-the-top turn in The Eyes of Tammy Faye after putting in incredible work in The Tree of Life and Take Shelter.And, to be fair, at one point in Sing Sing, Colman Domingo does give what you might expect from a typically Oscar-nomianted performance. In the film, Domingo plays John Divine G Whitfield, an innocent man who finds meaning in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program while serving a life sentence in prison. Late in the story, Divine G learns that he has been once again denied parole. This news comes while the RTA mounts a theatrical production that he considers silly and disrespectful. Worse, he suffers a personal setback as well.The bad news breaks G down, which Domingo expresses in a big, over-the-top moment, full of shouting and wild gestures. Perhaps the scene is why the Academy recognized Domingo with a Best Actor nomination, his second consecutive honor after being nominated for Rustin last year. And yet, Domingo does so much more in Sing Sing. In its best scenes, Sing Sing asks Domingo to give a technically challenging performance, one that relies on quiet and stillness. It asks Domingo to give the best and most nuanced performance of the year. And he does, even if it goes ultimately awarded by the Oscars come Sunday night.Playing With RealityDirected by Greg Kwedar, who co-wrote the screenplay with Clint Bentley, Sing Sing adapts the story of Clarence Divine Eye Maclin and John Divine G Whitfield. Domingo steps into the role of Divine G, but Divine Eye plays himself, as do most of the others who appear as inmates. In fact, with the exception of Paul Raci as theater director Brent and Sean San Jos as Divine Gs friend Mike Mike (both fantastic), Domingo is the only professional actor in the cast.This use of non-professional actors lends Sing Sing an immediacy that sets it apart from most inspirational prison movies. A lesser film would make Divine G as an inspirational figure whose love for theater melts the resistance of Divine Eye, a testament to the power of art to soften even the most hardened criminal. Thats not what Sing Sing is though.By centering the experiences of real men who have really been incarcerated, Kwedar and Bentleys script never lets them become such simple tropes. These are complicated men who know firsthand the failures of the American justice system. Despite what the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program calls itself, these men are not rehabilitated by the arts, because they require no rehabilitation. Rather the arts help the men hold onto the humanity the prison system tries to erode.Its a complex story for the movie to tell, one that needs an incredible actor to pull it off. Thats exactly what Domingo provides.Doing the Most By Doing the LeastEarly in Sing Sing, Divine G leads a meeting of the prisons RTA committee, a group of five inmates sitting in a circle. Theyve gathered to discuss the next batch of potential applicants, and each of the men has an outsized response to the candidates. They wave their hands, crack jokes, and bounce off each other as they share their thoughts. G sits in the center, trying to push his friends for more specific answers for each of the applicants.Kwedar and his cinematographer Pat Scola shoot the first part of the meeting as a oner, the camera doing a steady push in on G, an unusual cinematic choice. Why use such a bravado move for something as mundane as a meeting? Why focus increasing attention on the most still and silent of the men, instead of keying in on the energetic people around him?The obvious answer is that the composition and camera movements communicate to us viewers the importance that G puts on the RTA. Its the thing that keeps him alive in the prison. At first glance, Gs reactions betray slight contempt for his fellow inmates, irritation that they dont take this as seriously as him. However, the push in forces us to look closer, to see everything that Domingo does in the scene. When G asks Mike Mike, his closest friend in the group, to give the long answer after getting a dismissive short answer, Domingo leans slightly toward his castmate and smiles. He displays the mans genuine affection for Mike Mike, which helps him stifle his annoyance.Conversely, when the rest of the men explode in laughter at a joke, G stumbles for a moment before he joins in too. And his laughter isnt insincere. Hed like to share in the joy theyre experiencing, but something prevents him. Domingo plays the temporary confusion in Gs eyes, the quick shuffle to change his posture. In short, this push-in does focus on something worth the viewers attention. Its just not the big, showy things were used to seeing in Oscar movies.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!Smallest Is BestDomingo makes similarly subtle moves throughout Sing Sing. He freezes, starts to adopt a new posture, and then lets that drop after a parole board asks G if the RTA hasnt just taught him how to act reformed instead of actually reforming him. Up until that moment, hes hid his irritation at the sheer injustice of his situation behind a benign smile during his many scenes with Divine Eye. He even pretends to hide his frustrations with Divine Eye not investing the same amount of appreciation into the RTA that G does.So when Domingo does go big late in the film, he does so to communicate Gs desperation and his discomfort. After weeks of supporting his fellow actors as they mount a ridiculous production they wrote called Breakin the Mummys Code, after the one plumb dramatic role goes to the indifferent Eye instead of him, and after a heartbreaking loss, G finally breaks.Domingo stomps and shouts and gets belligerent. He cries and shudders. He shakes his fists. However, he does it not to be more believable but to show the audience how unmoored G has become. Gs lost himself and flails for attention, expressed through Domingos use of obvious acting tics.In this way, Gs rant shows exactly why Domingo deserves the Best Actor Oscar. And its not for the usual reasons. He doesnt deserve it because thats when he does the most acting. Rather he deserves it because he understands that his character is at his fakest when he does the most acting. When Domingo does his quietest acting, thats when he makes G into a real, complex person, and thats truly the best acting of 2024.

Jump to: This real estate inquiry started like most do: A seller reached out over email, expressing interest in putting up a piece of vacant land for sale, recalls Katie Hanner, a licensed realtor and broker owner of Thrive Realty in the Austin suburbs. The list price he suggested was slightly under market value, just enough to attract an interested buyer for a fast sale, but not so low that it would raise eyebrows.Again, nothing that seemed wildly unusual, Hanner says. In todays world, plenty of real sellers start conversations over email, text, or through an agents websiteits how we do business. But her intuition that something was off kicked in when the seller wouldnt meet in person or take a phone call. So, Hanner drove out to the property in Leander, a suburb of Austin, and thats when everything unraveled: The land she was being asked to sell was next to other vacant lots all owned by the same person. She was able to track down the actual owner who had a home on an adjacent lot and knew nothing of the potential sale, and, in fact, had no intent to list the lot. Left unchecked, a buyer could have wired hundreds of thousands of dollars to a fake seller, and the title insurance agency could have been on the hook to pay for the expenses.Title piratesscammers who hijack property ownership to make quick, illegal salesare becoming an increasing concern, particularly as real estate transactions shift to digital platforms, according to Hanner. This type of scam highlights a significant vulnerability in public records and raises an important question: why is it so easy for bad actors to steal a property title in the first place?Heres what real estate experts want you to know about how to spot this fast-growing scam.Related StoriesHow Do Title Pirates Steal Titles? The majority of people who are looking to buy a home set up showings at for-sale homes and tour open houses with their real estate agents. Theres usually no question as to who owns those homes. The title pirate scam, though, has historically been more likely to affect investors looking to buy up land, out-of-town buyers doing a sight-unseen purchase, or those who are looking to buy a lot for a new-build home. Vacant land, second homes, rental properties, or any home where the owner isnt actively present has been the prime target for title pirates, Hanner says. But, according to the real estate professionals I talked with, title pirates have become increasingly brazen in recent years. Los Angeles real estate agent Wesley Kang, founder of Realtor 1099Cafe, said one of his clients was going through a divorce and, during the chaos, a scammer monitoring county records filed a fake deed on the couples house: Theyre getting scary sophisticated, he says.So, how can a scammer get ahold of your homes title so easily? These scammers grab your information off public records, fake some signatures, pay off a sketchy notary, and boom, they've bought your house or land on paper, Kang says. Unfortunately, once that fake deed gets filed, it can appear like the real deal to banks, title officers, buyers, and real estate agents.Related StoryHow Common Is Title Fraud?Title fraud is on the rise. In 2023, the FBI received about 900,000 complaints of real estate-related crime, and, of these, more than 9,500 were for title fraud, according to the FBI Internet Crime Report that David Zawadzki, executive vice president of business development of Chicago-based Proper Title, points to. These scammers, he says, are working around the clock to find any weaknesses in the homebuying and selling process, and their techniques get more sophisticated as theyre using AI to generate fake documents that are harder to detect, Zawadzki says. It takes an extremely vigilant title insurer that stays educated on the latest techniques to spot these scammers, he says.In Florida, Kevin Tacher, founder and CEO of Independence Title, has become a pro at catching title thieves, working alongside FBI agents and the state attorney on fraud cases. In a 2018 sting, a title pirate forged a warranty deed and posed as the seller of a property. Tacher immediately noticed red flags in the paperwork, such as a mortgage that had been paid off six years before it was recorded with the county clerk. The scammer refused to connect Tacher with the actual homeowner who he purportedly was representing.On months when Tachers team handles 50 to 75 closings, he estimates that five to seven of these are scams he successfully flags and prevents. As part of their due diligence, his team sends letters to the property owners registered address to verify the legitimacy of the sale. They also perform reverse phone number searches to catch any discrepancies.Related StoryWhat Are the Red Flags of This Property-Selling Scam?While title pirates have become more sophisticated, there are some red flags you and the professionals involved in a real estate deal can be on the lookout for, according to Jennifer Haskins, an attorney at McCarthy Law in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Her firm focuses on estate planning, real estate, and elder law. Here are some potential indicators of title fraud, according to Haskins:1. The seller is not willing to meet in person.If someone refuses to meet with you in person or does not want to give you a tour of the property, then there is a good chance that they may not actually have the authority to sell that property.2. 'Agents' who are not licensed.If the party claims to be a real estate agent, you can research their company to determine whether it seems legitimate and call the company directly, asking to speak to the individual that you have been discussing the sale with.3. Low sale prices that seem too good to be true.Scammers often lure victims in with enticing deals and great prices that seem too good to be true. If the price is surprisingly low or the agent makes promises of extremely favorable financing, they may be trying to scam you.4. The seller is not willing to provide details of the property when asked.Whether they are claiming to be the homeowner themselves or a real estate agent, any seller should know and be able to provide information about the property that is available to them. If the seller cannot answer basic questions about the property, this may be cause for concern.5. There's a strong urgency to close quickly.Having a strong sense of urgency may be one of the clearest indicators of a scam. While there may be some legitimate reasons for a homeowner to want to sell their property quickly, if they are not allowing you to conduct reasonable checks, then you should take a step back and examine their legitimacy more carefully. You should be able to tour the property, request a third-party inspection, and ask detailed questions about the history of the property at the very least.Another red flag Tacher has noticed is that scammers often insist on using their own notary instead of one vetted by the title company. The scammer will often come up with excuses about why theyre unavailable to the notary, such as being out of the country or at the hospital with a family member.Related StoryHow Are Title Pirates Stopped?Weve got to slow down just enough to ask the questions scammers dont want us to ask, Hanner says. That means insisting on phone calls and video verification, verifying identities through multiple sources, comparing signatures with county records, cross-checking seller details, and involving trusted title companies that know what to look for.And if a seller pushes backif they refuse to meet, refuse to verify, refuse to follow standard proceduresthats not just a red flag; thats a deal-breaker, she says.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Fifteen days ago, Apple released a tool for iPhone and iPad that allegedly allows you to migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another. The primary requirement is that you must be logged in with both Apple Accounts on the same iPhone or iPad.The only problem is that there are also secondary, tertiary, quaternary, quinary, senary, septenary, octonary, nonary, and denary requirements as well. There were so many requirements that I had to learn what comes after tertiary!Best of all is that the tool doesnt explain what went wrong when your two Apple Accounts dont meet the very strict criteria. It just fails.Some of you at home may be wondering how one could end up with two actively used Apple Accounts. My situation is like that of the others for whom Apple apparently made this Rube Goldberg migration tool.I primarily use the Apple Account that is associated with iCloud. However, my iTunes and App Store purchases are associated with a different Apple Account that I used prior to the Apple Account used with iCloud.Since iOS 5, this issue has haunted me. It requires maintaining separate passwords and billing information for each Apple Account.At times, Ive accidentally subscribed to iCloud storage using my Apple Account associated with App Store purchases. Its surprisingly difficult to cancel an iCloud subscription from an Apple Account not associated with iCloud. I think the process has required going through the Music app or App Store app on the Mac.The way Ive realized I paid $10 for iCloud using the wrong Apple Account is also a pain. Past examples include realizing that my photos havent been syncing for days, my devices havent backed up to iCloud in weeks, and my iCloud Mail has been bouncing back for senders who had to find other ways to contact me.As I mentioned, Ive been dual-wielding Apple Accounts on each device since 2011. It started even before that.When I was 18 or 19, I started a free trial of Apples MobileMe cloud service with the email address zachall@me.com. Short and sweet. (The only better email address Ive had was zhall@apple.com when I worked at an Apple Store in college, and shoutout to whoever has zac@mac.com. I envy you.)Anyway, being a broke college student, I didnt see the value in paying $99/year for 20 GB of email and file storage when Gmail and Dropbox were free. (Dropbox was also really good for Mac users at the time, and you could add capacity to your free storage quota in a number of simple ways.)MobileMe ran from 2008 to 2011. Then iCloud replaced the artist also formerly known as .mac and iTools, and the still unchanged 5GB tier meant iCloud was free to use. During the iOS 5 beta period, I changed my one and only Apple Account from using a Gmail address to using a free iCloud email address. Thats when zacheryhall@me.com became my Apple Account for my many iTunes and App Store purchases.Once iOS 5 came out of beta and iCloud.com officially launched, Apple unlocked access to Apple Accounts that were previously tied to a lapsed MobileMe/.mac/iTools subscription. At last, zachall@me.com was available for me to use again and without an upfront payment of $99 or any money for that matter.At that point, I wanted to switch from using zacheryhall@me.com anywhere to using zachall@me.com everywhere. The only problem was that I couldnt merge Apple Accounts, and there was no mechanism for transferring purchases from one Apple Account to another.Since 2011, Ive maintained two Apple Accounts with two passwords and two sets of billing information on each Apple device, carefully remembering not to subscribe to iCloud or AppleCare+ from the wrong Apple Account. AppleCare+ is another subscription that cancelling from the Apple Account used for purchases is near impossible to do.For the reasons listed here, I was rather ecstatic when Apple quietly released the ability to migrate purchases from one Apple Account to another. Who was this tool for? Picture me standing under a dozen illuminated signs all pointing down at ME!But alas, two weeks later, Im no closer to migrating purchases from my Apple Account used for iTunes and the App Store than I was 14 years ago.Ive tried fulfilling each requirement listed by Apple, including saying goodbye to every TestFlight app associated with my Apple Account used for purchases. Workflow, the predecessor to Shortcuts that Apple bought years ago, was the hardest TestFlight to remove from my history.I guess my next move is to stop making any purchases or maintaining any subscriptions and seeing if that helps. I could also make a third Apple Account to which I could transfer my kids Apple Accounts, but theres a real chance they could get stuck there for a while and not return to my theoretically unified Apple Account.For now, the Migrate button in the Settings app on my iPhone and iPad is just something that Ill stare at in utter confusion, poking it from time to time while asking, Why?Best Apple accessoriesFollow Zac Hall on X, and listen to Runtime with co-host Sophia Tung on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apple is reportedly developing a new Apple TV 4K device that will launch later this year. While I wasnt pining for an upgrade before, Amazons new demo of Alexa+ features changed that. It showed me just how great an Apple TV 4K upgrade with Apple Intelligence could be.Alexa+ shows the potential for AI in home entertainmentEarlier today, Amazon unveiled its long-in-the-works Alexa+ upgrade. The new AI-infused version of the popular Alexa assistant can do an awful lot. But I was especially intrigued by its TV-related features.From Amazons press release:Jump to your favorite scene on Fire TV.Ask Alexa+ to jump to a specific scene in a movie on Prime Video without having to fast-forward just by using details like the actor or characters name, or a quote. For example, just say whats that movie where Bradley Cooper sings a duet? Jump to that sceneCasually chat with Alexa+ to discover what to listen to next.With Alexa+ you can search for that song you heard during the credits of a TV show without knowing the artist or song titleChat with Alexa+ about new movie and book ideas.Tell Alexa+ what youre in the mood to read or watch and get helpful, personalized recommendationsEssentially, these three AI capabilities boil down to:Jumping to different TV or movie scenes based on a brief descriptionGetting info on music from various parts of a show or filmAsking for content recommendations based on your viewing historyAll three of these capabilities would be fantastic in a new Apple TV 4K with Apple Intelligence.So far we dont know a whole lot about the upcoming Apple TV revision, but hardware upgrades to bolster AI support seem like a given.Apple Intelligence requires new Apple TV 4K hardware?Some may wonder: why would AI features need to be tied to new Apple TV 4K hardware? Couldnt Apple add AI through a software update, like theyre doing with Vision Pro?The problem is, to this point all Apple Intelligence support has been tied to an A17 Pro chip at minimum, with at least 8GB of RAM.Apples most recent Apple TV 4K hardware launched in 2022 and has an A15 chip and 4GB of RAM. Thats significantly underpowered for what modern AI features demand.Is it possible Apple could find a way to support a subset of AI features in current hardware? Perhaps, but it seems highly unlikely.For years its felt like the Apple TV 4K was actually overpowered for a streaming box, but thats about to change.Just as Apple Intelligence has spurred big hardware changes across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac lineups, expect to see the same with the new Apple TV 4K this fall.Would you buy a new Apple TV 4K to get Apple Intelligence support? Let us know in the comments.Best Apple TV 4K and Home accessoriesAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

While his so-called Department of Government Efficiency is laying waste to the federal government, unelected White House advisor Elon Musk has massively benefited from government contracts propping up his business over more than 20 years.As the Washington Post reports, Musk and his businesses have collected at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits.The entrepreneur's EV maker Tesla and space company SpaceX, in particular, have relied greatly on cash infusions, especially when facing existential crises a perfect example of how the government spending that Musk is now ripping apart can help innovative businesses thrive.The investigation paints a dire picture of the current state of the US government. Despite Musk receiving huge amounts of government funds over the last two decades, his DOGE is slashing federal spending and firing thousands of government workers. It's also laying waste to federal grant programs and other initiatives that could help nascent businesses compete with Musk's established enterprises.Put simply, it's a sign that Musk has no interest in furthering the interest of taxpayers it's his own bottom line that matters, and little else, even if it comes directly at the cost of the American people and their social safety net.He got wealthy off the taxes others paid, and now he's slamming the door in everyone else's face.The majority of the $38 billion we know about went from NASA and the Defense Department to SpaceX. Tesla accounts for less than a third, and includes federal and state programs designed to boost EV adoption.And given the many classified defense and intelligence contracts, the total amount of funds Musk has extracted from the government is likely even higher. According to the WaPo, many grants and reimbursements didn't include specific amounts of money."Not every entrepreneur at this scale has been this dependent on federal money certainly not Nvidia, not Microsoft, nor Amazon, nor Meta," Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told the newspaper. "With DOGE, there does seem to be a paradox there. He has been a big beneficiary of national industrial policy, especially Democrat industrial policy, through government funding."Musk has also been gutting key government agencies that have investigated his companies in the past, showing a clear willingness to abuse his power to benefit his business interests.After greatly benefiting from government payouts, Musk has attempted to pull the ladder up behind him, effectively trying to shut out the competition."Im literally saying get rid of all subsidies," he tweeted in response to former president Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act bill in 2021 even though subsidies helped Tesla immensely in the past, turning it into one of the most successful EV makers."Pretty much every aspect [of Tesla] has benefited from direct government subsidy or financing," George Washington University professor John Helveston told WaPo. "Its not a weird phenomenon for Tesla to benefit from this, but it is certainly hypocritical."Share This Article

Scientific Management, sometimes called "Taylorism" after its founder, Frederick W. Taylor, is the idea that human workers can be fine-tuned to be more efficient. If a garment factory worker could make a shirt two seconds quicker by standing instead of sitting, then a Taylorist boss would have them stand, because those two seconds per shirt add up over time.That was back in the 1880s, but latelyTaylorism hasn't just been surviving it's thriving, as wireless gadgets and management software allow bosses to monitor workers in ways Taylor could only dream of.For examples, look atAmazon's tracking wristbands for its warehouse workers, UPS fittingits trucks with cameras but not air conditioning and monitoring software that follows remote workers at home.Add to that lista startup called Optifye, a Y Combinator-backedventure that's "building AI performance monitoring for factory workers, boosting line efficiency for manufacturing companies." The company is founded by two undergrads from Duke university who brag that their families "run manufacturing companies."The surveillance platform caused a firestorm on the internet this week after a demo video surfaced showing a supervisor use the software to hone in on a workerwho he referred to as "Number 17"instead of a human name, berating him for poor performance on the factory line. According to the demo, Optifye represents each worker with a numbered rectangle, colored green if performance is up and red if performance is down."Hey Number 17, what's going on man?" Optifye's co-founder Kushal Mohta asks his theoretical sweatshop pawn. "You're in the red... You haven't hit your hourly output even once and you had 11.4 percent efficiency. This is really bad."The worker responds that he's just been having a rough day. Mohta zooms out onto number 17's day-by-day profile, showing a calendar of red squares. "Rough day? More like a rough month," he retorts.The video was panned across the web, including on Y Combinator's own Hacker News blog."Basically modern slavery," wrote one user there. "They were missing a whip robot there as well, and maybe a drum playing robot.""I want to see the rest of the story where the boss fires him and is visited bythreeghosts," one user posted on X-formerly-Twitter.The backlash was so fierce that Y Combinator a startup incubator that's backed ventures like Reddit, Doordash and Instacart pulled its announcement and demo video down, and deleted some Optifye videos on social media.Y Combinator still lists the panopticon-as-service startup as active on its website, though, where it refers to the factory floor a place where workers trade huge chunks of their lives to earn a living as a "black box," meaning a system producing products for unknown reasons.It's a dehumanizing sales pitch, to say the least.Unfortunately for workers around the world, public backlash only goes so far when profits are on the line."Software like this already exists, is being used, and factory managers want this," wrote Vedant Nair, a founder whose robotics startup was backed by Y Combinator.He's not far off.Indeed, corporations like Walmart, Delta, Starbucks, and Chevron are already partnering with AI monitoring companies like Aware to surveil workers for thought crimes like talking about unions, wages, and working conditions.In the early 1900s, Frederick Taylor and his boys weren't afraid to brag that scientific management would bring about the "degradation of workmen into obedient oxen under the direction of a small body of experts into men debarred from creative participation in their work." (see page 461 of Scientific Management in American Industry, basically the Taylorist manifesto).In 2025, their spirit lives on now embodied by 20 year old startup bros backed by millionaire venture capitalists. Oh, how the times change.More on AI and labor: AI Hype Will Plunge America Into Financial Ruin, Economist WarnsShare This Article

All jobs Information Security Lead Posted A few minutes ago Enveritas provides sustainability assurance for the coffee and cocoa industries. We visit smallholder coffee and cocoa farms around the world to understand their social, economic, and environmental practices. Each year, we visit more than 100,000 farms across more than 31 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Apply now Do you want to work for a mission-driven non-profit, managing the cybersecurity of systems that will contribute to helping the livelihoods of millions of coffee farmers around the world? Enveritas is a 501(c)3 non-profit and Y Combinator-backed startup looking to hire an information security lead for our Engineering & Data Group. You can learn more about this job at https://www.enveritas.org/jobs/infosec/We are looking for an experienced information security lead based out of the EU or United States with a focus on security policy and risk management to join us on a remote work, full-time basis. In this role, you will work as part of the Engineering and Data Group a quirky, talented, and humble group of about twenty with diverse backgrounds ranging from journalism to academia to international industry.About Our Engineering & Data GroupThe Engineering & Data Group builds software to collect, analyze, and report data about coffee farmers conditions and practices. This large-scale data-collection effort requires many moving parts to work together, and we use technology to support that effort at every step of the process from identifying coffee farms in satellite imagery, to coordinating survey edits across country teams, to detecting data anomalies in real-time that can be investigated while teams are still in the field. A core part of our work is in data aggregation and report generation, with insights ultimately being shared with roasters and other stakeholders on how to assist in improving the social, economic, and environmental conditions of smallholder farmers.While our tooling varies across products, our organization primarily uses Google Workspace for collaborating, and our Engineering & Data Group uses AWS and Google Cloud for running the platforms that power our Impact, Ops, and Partnerships groups. We also use a standard assortment of SaaS platforms.What Youll Be DoingYou will be responsible for cybersecurity policies and practices, ensuring compliance with cybersecurity frameworks and working across teams to implement security best practices. As a dedicated security specialist, you will work closely with our IT, legal, and engineering teams to assess risks, define policies, and enhance security across the organization.Your work will include:Assess and improve security policies and risk posture by reviewing audits, prioritizing key improvements, and ensuring compliance with best practices.Manage security configurations and access controls across Google Workspace, AWS/GCP, and SaaS vendors.Lead security operations and incident response, including monitoring alerts, running tabletop exercises, and implementing MDM, patch management, and Zero Trust initiatives.Drive security awareness and training, working with internal teams to enhance security practices, refine IAM roles, and strengthen data protection.Support IT operations and system security act as a backup for our Head of IT, assisting with access management, IT troubleshooting, and ensuring secure day-to-day operations.QualificationsRead this first: research shows that people of different backgrounds read job postings differently. If you dont think you meet all of the qualifications but do think youd be a great match for us, please consider applying and sharing more in your application. Wed love to talk with you to see what skills you can bring to our team. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications listed below:5+ years of experience in cybersecurity, IT security, or a related field, with a focus on policy development, risk management, and incident response.Strong understanding of identity and access management (IAM), data protection, compliance frameworks (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2, ISO 27001), and security operations.Hands-on experience managing security configurations in Google Workspace, AWS/GCP, and SaaS applications.Experience developing and implementing security policies, including asset management, risk governance, and third-party risk management.Strong communication skills and experience collaborating across IT, legal, and engineering teams.Who You AreOur team is fully distributed, so you should be comfortable with remote work. This role is a full-time individual contributor role. While you can be located anywhere in the United States or European Union regions that our EOR (Deel) supports, note that the core hours for this role are 9 am to 2 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, with flexibility to start earlier or finish later based on your schedule.You should be inspired by our mission to improve the lives of smallholder coffee farmers, and have an interest in sustainability. You should have a deep empathy for users of our tools and understand the importance of supporting the work of other teams. Because operational and business needs can be ambiguous and change on a short time-scale, you should have a love for environments with uncertainty, and enjoy not only solving problems, but discovering and demystifying them.We are a small team! You should be comfortable working both independently and as a thoughtful collaborator, and have experience working in smaller organizations where flexibility and adaptability are keys to success.About Working With Us & CompensationEnveritas has teams around the world: we are about 100 people spread over almost two dozen countries, and of all backgrounds, faiths, and identities. To learn more about working at Enveritas, see https://www.enveritas.org/jobs/For a US-Based hire, base salary for this position will be between $110,000 and $135,000 annually (paid semi-monthly). This is a full-time exempt position. Full benefits include 401k with matching contributions, Medical/Dental/Vision, and Flexible Spending Account (FSA), 4 weeks vacation in addition to 13 standard holidays, and personal/sick time.For a hire outside the US, our offer will be competitive; the specific benefits and compensation details will vary as required to account for your regions laws and requirements. Salary for this position will be paid in relevant local currency.For all staff, we are able to offer:Annual education budget for conferences, books, and other professional development opportunities.Annual all-company retreat and annual Engineering & Data meetup.Field visits to our Country Ops teams in coffee-growing countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, and Indonesia.Interview ProcessWe are committed to fair and equitable hiring. To honor this commitment, we are being transparent about our interview process. We are interested in learning what working with you would be like and believe the below is the fairest method for us to see you at your best and for you to learn about us! If you feel that a different method would be better for us to learn what working together would be like, please tell us in your application.After your introductory interview, the process typically takes four to six weeks (but will depend on scheduling), and consist of four conversations that total about five hours of time. You should plan to also spend about four hours in total preparing for interviews. See the hiring page at https://www.enveritas.org/jobs/infosec/ for details about each of these interviews.Introductory Interview (30 minutes; Google Meet; audio-only)First Technical Interview (60 minutes; Google Meet)Second Technical Interview (60-90 minutes; Google Meet)Manager Interview (45-60 minutes; Google Meet)How to ApplyPlease apply using our Greenhouse application form. Feel free to contact us at [emailprotected] should you have any questions about the position or the interview process. Questions about this opportunity or process will not reflect negatively on your application.We care deeply about diversity. Our work is complex and nuanced, so the more diversity we have in the voices working on our problems, the larger of an impact our work can have for the world. Enveritas is an Equal Opportunity Employer encouraging an inclusive and diverse workforce. We embrace and celebrate the unique experiences, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds that each individual brings to the workplace. We are dedicated to hiring employees who reflect the communities we serve and strongly encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to apply.A few notes about our communications: We are not able to reply to messages sent to staff outside of either our application process or our jobs email address, as this is unfair to other candidates. Also, Enveritas has been made aware of fake job postings by individuals pretending to hire persons seeking employment. These individuals are looking to collect personal information about you for fraudulent purposes. All legitimate Enveritas job openings are posted under https://enveritas.org/jobs/ and all recruiting emails from Enveritas team members will come from @enveritas.org.Apply NowLet's start your dream job Apply now Enveritas View company Jobs posted: 3 Related Jobs Remote DevOps and Sysadmin jobs

Who We AreFloat is the leading resource management software for professional services teams. Since 2012, weve grown every yearindependently, self-funded, and profitably. Were rated #1 for resource management on G2 and trusted by 4,500+ customers worldwide.As a certified B Corporation, were committed to making a positive impact on our team, customers, the environment, and the remote community. Our 50+ person team works 100% remotely across the globe, with perks and benefits designed to support us in living our Best Work Life. You'll collaborate with teammates across Australia, Mexico, the UK, Nigeria, Canada, and the US. Learn more about our data security practices for employment or service contracts here. Browse our blog to get a glimpse of life at Float and check out our Glassdoor employer reviews. See why our customers love Float on G2 .Were on a scale-up journey, and were seeking people who thrive in this stage. We want Float to be the place where you have the autonomy and opportunity to do the best work of your career.Why Were Hiring For This RoleOur Mid-Market customers need smarter ways to optimize resources, while SMBs are looking for clearer insights into project success patterns. To meet these needs, were investing in a dedicated Product Manager to lead the development of data-driven insights and proactive intelligence that help teams optimize resources with confidence. As part of a focused Intelligence Team alongside engineering and design, this role will shape how Float transforms from a scheduling tool into a platform that provides smarter, more strategic resource planning.This role is essential for transforming our rich scheduling data into actionable insights, helping teams make better decisions without adding complexity. As the competition in resource planning evolves, this role will be pivotal in ensuring Float stays ahead with AI-enhanced yet intuitive insights that set us apart from both legacy ERPs and new AI-driven entrants. We need someone who can drive this evolution while maintaining our commitment to simplicity, ensuring we continue to deliver a product that is both powerful and intuitive.Our Director of Product, Michael Luchen, explains the important role you will play within our Product team. Watch this video!Youll be working asynchronously with a bright, dedicated team from across the globe, with a strong focus on taking complex problems and creating solutions that feel simple and intuitive for our customers.What Youll Be Responsible ForEarly on, youll start to:Define and validate initial success patterns by analyzing Floats existing customer data to uncover trends that drive effective resource management.Design the initial rollout of pattern detection, ensuring it delivers measurable impact and meaningful insights for our customers.Collaborate with design to seamlessly integrate recommendations into core scheduling workflows, enhancing usability without adding complexity.Develop a framework for measuring pattern confidence and assessing the effectiveness of recommendations to ensure they drive real value.Work closely with platform teams to establish scalable foundations for pattern detection, enabling future innovation and expansion of intelligent optimization capabilities.Once you are a bit more settled, we expect that you will jump into the following projects:Own the vision and strategy for Float intelligence , shaping how we deliver intelligent optimization to our customers.Lead the evolution from pattern detection to predictive optimization, enhancing how teams make smarter, data-driven resourcing decisions.Define and execute our intelligence roadmap, driving key initiatives across project risk prediction, resource allocation optimization, and strategic capacity planning.Collaborate with product teams to seamlessly integrate optimization insights into core workflows, ensuring they enhance decision-making without adding complexity.Advance platform capabilities through evidence-based iteration, continuously demonstrating clear customer value and driving the next phase of Floats evolution.What Youll Need To Be SuccessfulWe want you to love your work and believe that these skills will allow you to succeed in the role. Applying these skills requires:Experience building recommendation or optimization systems, with a strong ability to identify patterns, validate insights, and deliver meaningful customer impact.Strong analytical and quantitative skills, using data to guide decision-making and assess cost-effectiveness as systems scale.Understanding of data processing, performance considerations, and technical tradeoffs in optimization system design.Proficiency in modern API design and integration patterns, ensuring seamless connections between data sources and optimization logic.Familiarity with modern LLMs and their practical applications in B2B workflowsno AI/ML expertise required, but a pragmatic understanding of their potential.Proven track record of shipping features that users love, balancing immediate value with long-term platform evolution.Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration with design, engineering, and go-to-market teams.Collaborate with Go-To-Market teams (Marketing, Sales, Customer Success) to ensure intelligent features are positioned effectively, driving customer activation and upsell opportunities.Ability to simplify complex systems into clear user value, ensuring solutions remain intuitive and impactful.Experience with B2B SaaS products, understanding enterprise customer needs and how to build solutions that drive adoption and success.As a fully remote team, were looking for someone comfortable with asynchronous communication as the default, which means you have previous remote experience and are comfortable using tools like Slack, Loom, and Linear to communicate as needed. Dont worryyou will have significant deep work time since we have very few meetings.Why Join UsPay for this role is US $129,200 (Level 3). Heres a blog post with more information on how we determine our salaries.Were a global async remote company with a diverse team of people from all over the world who share a common belief in living our best work life. We believe deeply in the idea of transparency and share our Float Handbook publicly so potential new team members can see first hand our perks & benefits as well as our ways of working. If you feel like you can thrive at Float to do your best work, we would love to hear from you.Hiring Process For This RoleYoull find a lot of useful information about our interview process and what its like to join our global team on the Float careers page. The hiring process for this role looks like this:Initial First Meet (20 min): You'll meet with Ashley, Talent Coordinator, to discuss your interest in the role and review your questions about working at Float.Manager Interview (45 min): Youll meet with Michael Luchen, Director of Product, to discuss how youll add value to the product team and your goals for this role.Co-Worker Interview (30 min):Founder Interview (30 min): Youll meet with Glenn, Floats CEO, to get to know you and see if you have potential to be a great addition to the team.Note: Industry research shows that women and those in traditionally underrepresented groups generally dont apply to jobs unless they check all the boxes for the role. If you feel strongly that you have what it takes for this role but dont check 100% of the boxesthats okaywe encourage you to apply anyway and highlight what you can bring to the table.