After almost six years and a few cameos in the MCU, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) is finally returning in his own solo series once again. Daredevil: Born Again will be the characters first formal foray into the MCU proper, with the first three seasons of the Netflix series essentially being grandfathered into the canon. Along with Charlie Cox, many of the same actors are returning to reprise their roles, including Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, and Vincent DOnofrio as Wilson FIsk.The story of Daredevil: Born Again is set to pick up five years after the events of the original series and is meant to be a continuation of these characters stories in a slightly different context rather than a full reboot.Heres what you need to know before watching Daredevil: Born Again, including when and where to watch.When Does Daredevil: Born Again Come Out?The first two episodes of Daredevil: Born Again will be available to watch on Disney+ March 4 at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET for U.S. subscribers and March 5 at 3 a.m. BST for UK subscribers.Daredevil Season 3 RecapBullseye is BornSeason 3 of Daredevil introduced the character Benjamin Dex Poindexter (Wilson Bethel). Dex begins as an FBI agent assigned to Wilson Fisks task force. Dex is an excellent shot who rarely, if ever, misses his target, and ends up using his talents to save Fisk when his convoy transitioning him from prison to protective custody is attacked. However, Dex also has psychopathic tendencies and struggles to maintain control without routine and a moral North Star to guide him.After his therapist died, he adopted a coworker named Julie as his North Star, hoping that her kind heart would keep him from giving into his violent impulses. Fisk becomes aware of this and kills Julie, forcing Dex into a spiral and convincing him that the only right course of action forward is to help him. Wearing a Daredevil suit Fisk coerced out of Matts suit maker, Dex begins terrorizing the city, starting with an attack on the Bulletin that eliminates a key witness that could expose Fisks conspiracy within the FBI.Dex succeeds in making Daredevil public enemy number one, though Matt is eventually able to make him see how much Fisk has manipulated him, including the fact that Fisk killed Julie. This pushes Dex over the edge and sends him on a rampage in Fisks direction. He and Matt end up fighting Fisk, and each other, at the same time, and Dex ends up with a broken spine after Fisk gets a hold of him. In one of the final scenes of the series, we see Dex face down on an operating table undergoing an experimental spinal procedure. A bullseye can be seen in his eye, a hint at what was to come from the character as Benjamin Dex Poindexter is notoriously known as the villain Bullseye in the comics. Wilson Bethel is one of the actors confirmed to be returning in Daredevil: Born Again, so we may finally get to see whats next for Dex.Taking Down Fisk (Again)If theres one thing that Wilson Fisk does well, its manipulate people into doing his bidding either through money or other unsavory means. In season 3 this even included the FBI. Fisk found and/or created dirt on enough agents that he was able to use the FBI to not only get out of prison and into a cushy penthouse that one of his shell companies bought, but also to take out rival crime gangs that threatened his big return.Even Special Agent Ray Nadeem (Jay Ali) ends up under Fisks thumb. After trying to do the right thing and bring his knowledge of Fisks conspiracy to his superiors, he gets framed for an agents death. Eventually the weight of what hes had to do under Fisks control gets to him, and he refuses to comply, helping Karen escape the church where Fisk and Dex tried to have her and Matt killed. He tries to work with Matt, Foggy, and Karen to take down Fisk through the legal system with what he knows, risking time in prison away from his family to put Fisk back behind bars, but Fisk finds a way to get to the jury, forcing them to find him innocent. Seeing no other way out, Nadeem records his testimony as a dying declaration and sacrifices himself to Fisk and Dex to save his family from their ire and make his testimony admissible in court.It ends up being the smoking gun needed to take Fisk down, but not before Matt gets more than a few punches in. Even though his goal was to kill Fisk, Matt is ultimately unable to go through with it, instead convincing Fisk to turn himself in and stay away from Karen and Foggy in exchange for Matts silence on Vanessas (Ayelet Zurer) involvement in his criminal enterprise, especially her role in Nadeems death.Nelson, Murdock & PageThroughout season 3, Matt goes out of his way to alienate Foggy and Karen, thinking that hes keeping them safe. His near death experience at the end of Defenders has clearly changed him, and it takes him a while to realize that he doesnt have to push people away to take down Fisk. Theyre all involved whether he likes it or not, and he honestly couldnt have taken Fisk down without their help.Join our mailing listGet the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!At the end of the season, the three friends are finally able to reconcile, agreeing to return to their firm together as Nelson Murdock and Page. Matt has seemingly hung up his horns and wants to return to helping people within the confines of the law which is what he and Foggy set out to do in the first place. Obviously this doesnt last forever, as Daredevil: Born Again is all about Matt putting on the costume again and stepping back into his role as one of New Yorks defenders. Hopefully, this wont put too much of a strain on the Nelson, Murdock, and Page dynamic again, but well just have to watch and see.

Much has been said about how the upcoming Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like a modern twist on the classic JRPG formula, with its flashy, turn-based combat, a massive overworld map to run around in, and customizable weapon sets. You dont have to look hard to see influences from the likes of Persona, Final Fantasy, and other titans of the genre. Mixed with its engaging race-against-the-clock narrative and compelling Belle poque-inspired art direction, Sandfall Interactives first game has all the ingredients needed for a sleeper hit when it launches April 24, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and day one with Game Pass.Recently, I had a chance to experience Expedition 33 for myself with an extended hands-on demo that guided me through the games opening hours, learning more about its characters, getting a handle on its engaging turn-based combat, and exploring its dark, fantastical world. Its a world that Ive been eager to run around in since it was first revealed during Xbox Games Showcase 2024. In a world much like our own, the mysterious Paintress, who looks like a towering Greek god, awakens once each year and paints a number upon a giant monolith upon which everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away. As the game begins, she has painted the number 33, and a small team of adventurers sets out to accomplish what other expeditions have not destroy the Paintress before even more souls are lost to dust.But the expedition gets off to a rocky start. Shortly after arriving on the shores of The Continent, most of the expedition is decimated by otherworldly enemies, leaving you and just a handful of survivors to continue the mission. This is where my hands-on experience drops me in, reeling from this surprise attack and left searching for survivors, and answers. RPGs by their nature are massive in scope, style, and depth. Expedition 33 seems to have taken a scrupulous scalpel to this principle, trimming a lot of the fat that can weigh down an RPG of this size. The zones weve seen so far in the early part of the game are incredibly dense and beautiful, but crucially linear in how youre left to explore them, with optional areas allowing you to deviate from the golden path, yielding some loot. Im OK with an RPG that doesnt feel the need to offer a massive open world, so having some clear direction while being able to take in the sights feels oddly refreshing. And having these focused paths means that the detail of this world can be much greater than if it were spread out. Every step is packed with colorful, and at times alien, foliage while off in the distance you can see a cracked, broken world on the horizon. Its a Mordor-like foreboding of what lies ahead for your party of heroes.Battles also load quickly and keep you occupied as youre tasked with parrying, dodging, or jumping over attacks that leave little room for you to go through the motions with any of the encounters Ive seen so far. Level grinding is required somewhat but the battle system is so engaging and beautiful to look at that I didnt mind having to spend some time leveling up by bashing on minions to advance past a boss guarding the next zone. Figuring out each enemys attack pattern and precise timings is a crucial component to success in Expedition 33, especially with the higher levelled enemy fights. Thankfully, this difficulty can be scaled a bit to give you a greater window of time to land these dodges and parries if you desire (we played on Expeditioner aka normal difficulty for our demo), but it remains a core component of its battle system, and a degree of skill will be required on this adventure especially on the higher difficulty. Its never Elden Ring hard, but just enough that youll need to refine your reaction skills for sure.Starting out, each of your characters is designed with a specific and logical build to fight these enemies, complimenting the other members of your party, that can be customized later as you acquire Pictos (passives) and other weapons. For my hands-on time, my party was made up of Gustave, a hard-hitting warrior/engineer class who can harness lightning and fire a pistol; Lune, a powerful flame-kicking mage with healing abilities; and Maelle, an agile rogue with a pinpoint blade. In battle, building up the AP meter (think mana in other RPGs) to unleash powerful Skills is at the core of your strategy with most encounters, but the only way to build that up is by either engaging in standard attacks or landing a successful parry (more on this in minute). So, theres a balance to when and where you choose to spend your AP on Skills in battle. Its here that the game keeps you dialed in as you must plan and execute your approach in every encounter with little downtime nowhere is that more evident when its the enemys turn to strike.Even though this is primarily a turn-based combat system, when the enemy attacks it switches to a real-time encounter that quickly raises the stakes. Ive found that if your concentration deviates for even a moment, it can have dire circumstances for your party. Some of these enemies can hit hard, and if youre not leveled up appropriately, youll quickly find that out. But if youre reacting accordingly, you can flip the script on these enemies with powerful counterattacks. Its technically possible to finish every encounter with zero damage from dodges and parries, so skilled players may be able to excel here but that is not a skill in my personal repertoire. While Gustave and Lune played out as you might expect for Warrior and Mage classes and thats not to say they were any less fun to play with I was struck by the complexity of Maelles abilities and really liked how different she felt from the other party members, and from other games of this kind. Thats because her Skill powers are tied to her Battle Stance, which can cycle through three different damage effects when she strikes an opponent: Defensive Stance (takes less damage, gains AP on parry or dodge); Offensive Stance (50% damage dealt, but 50% more damage taken); and Virtuous Stance (deals 200% more damage). Being able to switch these without interruption (e.g. getting hit), is how you can maximize her Skills.The way this can play out in battle is like this: She starts off Stanceless, basically neutral. If she attacks with Offensive Switch as her first Skill attack, she then switches to Offensive Stance to use on her next turn. Or she can strike with Spark, which sets enemies on fire, kicking off a prerequisite to activate Virtuous Stance on the next go around to land some high damage attacks. Its an awesome and in-depth approach to combat encounters that really kept me thinking about the next attack, and then the one after that, keeping me engaged with every encounter and not taking any turn for granted. Other hallmarks of RPGs are here as well, with weapons that you can level up and the previously mentioned Pictos that you can swap in and out from your party members each hero can have up to three passive abilities equipped at once with varying ranges of effects. Examples include Dodger (grants AP with successful dodges) or Burning Shots (gives your characters ranged attacks a chance to inflict burn damage). I found nine Pictos to play around with during our demo, and as we saw during the Developer_Direct, there are hundreds of these to uncover giving you an incredible amount of depth and customization.I also got to experience a bit of downtime between battles in the form of a party camp. Here, you can interact with members of your expedition, giving the actors some breathing room to bring these characters to life, with Charlie Cox (Daredevil: Born Again) as Gustave, Jennifer English (Baldurs Gate III) as Maelle, and Kirsty Rider (The Sandman) as Lune lending their talents here. When I first met him, Gustave was traumatized by the events from the start of the journey, with Lune becoming his steady force of reason and Maelle, the youngest of the group, realizing some untapped power of her own. By the end of my hands-on time, Gustave had steadied himself, Lune was becoming even more intrigued by the Continent, and Maelle had begun to grow into a powerful fighter. Seeing this character development over only the start of the game left me eager to learn more and these characters and their stories (not to mention excellent performances from the actors) have helped bring them and this world to life.Theres a lot to like already about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Ive just scratched the surface. Theres at least two other characters to play as, so Im intrigued to see how they complement the other members of the expedition. The game hints at an epic yarn and Im eager to pull that thread to see where it goes when Expedition 33 launches on April 24, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and day one with Game Pass. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Deluxe EditionKepler Interactive$59.99Pre-orderClair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle poque France in which you battle devastating enemies.Get the ultimate Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 experience with the Deluxe Edition!The Deluxe Edition includes:Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Base GameThe Flowers Collection Six outfits and hairstyles inspired by the Flowers of Lumire, along with six additional Gommage outfit variations. One for each playable character.Clair A custom outfit for MaelleObscur A custom outfit for GustaveClair Obscur: Expedition 33Kepler Interactive$49.99Pre-orderYear by year, She erases us.Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow shell wake and paint 33. And tomorrow we depart on our final mission Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.We are Expedition 33.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle poque France in which you battle devastating enemies.Reactive Turn-based CombatIn this evolution of JRPGs, real-time actions enhance the heart of turn-based combat. Craft unique builds for your Expeditioners that fit your playstyle via gear, stats, skills, and character synergies. Open an active dimension in combat dodge, parry, and counter in real time, chain combos by mastering attack rhythms, and target enemy weak points using a free aim system. Tomorrow ComesWith only one year left to live, join Gustave, Maelle, and their fellow Expeditioners as they embark upon a desperate quest to break the Paintress cycle of death. Follow the trail of previous expeditions and discover their fate. Get to know the members of Expedition 33 as they learn to work together against impossible odds.A Hauntingly Beautiful WorldExplore an enchanting realm populated by surreal adversaries. Wander through breathtaking landscapes, from the Island of Visages to the Forgotten Battlefield, discovering secrets and hidden quests along the way. Find allies of fortune in creatures of legend. Recruit special companions to access new travel methods and discover secret areas in the World Map.Experience the debut game from Sandfall Interactive, fully realized in Unreal Engine 5 with stunning graphics and a heartbreaking soundtrack.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Deluxe Edition UpgradeKepler InteractiveGet it nowLead the Expedition in style with the Deluxe Edition Upgrade.It includes:The Flowers Collection Six outfits and hairstyles inspired by the Flowers of Lumire, along with six additional Gommage outfit variations. One for each playable character.Clair A custom outfit for MaelleObscur A custom outfit for Gustave

One of the odder aspects of Apples history is that the company has gone in 14 years from one of the leaders in intelligent assistants to one of the biggest laggards.Weve gone from the futuristic-feeling Siri way back in 2011 to a painfully inadequate-feeling Apple Intelligence in 2025 .14 years of SiriI can still remember the keynote presentation for the iPhone 4S, where Siri was the reason I had to rush out and buy one.Apple didnt create Siri: it first debuted as a third-party iPhone app. But it was Steve Jobs decision to buy the tech and integrate it into the iPhone that brought it into the public eye and made an intelligent assistant such an integral part of what we now expect from a smartphone.Fourteen years should have given Apple plenty of time to turn Siri into a phenomenally powerful assistant, and yet that hasnt happened. Back in 2015, I outlined the future capabilities Id like to see, including giving it the ability to interact with our apps. Its taken a full decade for Apple to even begin providing this feature!Whats even wilder to me is that in 2018 I created a list of really basic things Siri still couldnt do, and it still cant do several of these things today!Today, Siri looks like a Lada while ChatGPT and its peers are Mercedes.Apple does, however, have a couple of excuses for failing to match the performance of todays LLMs. Reliability is one factorFirst, reliability.OpenAI, Google, and others took the move fast and break things approach to AI. When ChatGPT and Google Bard were still new, I highlighted their ability to get things spectacularly wrong. For example, when asked to help write a scientific paper, ChatGPT simply made up non-existent references. Googles Bard even gave the wrong answer to a question during a live demo of how clever it was.I made the point then that Siris spoken responses made this sort of error even more dangerous.If theres one thing more dangerous than not knowing something important, its asking for the information and being given the wrong answer with great confidence.When a Google search shows you conventional results next to a chat window answering the same question, its very easy for the company to include prominent warnings that the chat answer may not be accurate.But Siri is designed to provide spoken answers to verbal questions. Even more annoying than Siri answering a question with Heres what I found on the web, would be Heres a lengthy answer which you first have to listen to, then Ill note that it may not be correct, and recommend that you search the web.Privacy is anotherThe other huge factor here is privacy. Siri has always operated according to two fundamental privacy-respecting principles:On-device processing wherever possibleAnonymized requests when Apple servers are neededOn-device processing can never be as smart as processing done by powerful machines in data centers, and ensuring a Siri server doesnt know who you are also hampers its ability to be as smart as a Google server that has access to your search history to know a million things about you.I argued last year that while the wait for LLM Siri is frustrating, the privacy payoff will be worth it in the long run.A massive amount of the personal data needed to allow Siri to be a truly intelligent and helpful intelligent assistant is stored right there on our own devices, in Apple Calendar, Contacts, Files, Health, Mail, Maps, Messages, Wallet and so on. We will also have the option to grant Siri access to the specific third-party apps we choose, again right there on our own devices.Once Siri isable to access those apps, then it can finally become every bit as powerful as competing systems while still protecting our privacy.Long-term, thats the AI future I want: an assistant which knows a great deal about my life so it can act like a human PA, but only on my devices with my permission. Thats the LLM Siri Apple is building, and while Id love to have those capabilities right now, I do think the wait will be worth it.Were now expecting an even longer delayI wrote that when conversational Siri was expected to launch in early 2026, which already felt like a long wait. But the latest word from Bloomberg is that the launch has now been pushed back to 2027 and maybe even later!Gurman says that employees within Apples AI division now believe that a more conversational version of Siri wont reach consumers until iOS 20 at best.That really ups expectationsTwo things are universally true about anything for which we have to wait a long time. One, the wait is painful, and feels like forever. Two, once its over, the joy of obtaining it means we soon forget the pain of the delay.Fast-forward to a future when conversational Siri is on our phones, then if it truly lives up to expectations, and finally delivers the level of smarts we really want, then this will be true. Well roll our eyes about how long it took Apple to get there, but all will be forgiven.But that length of delay dramatically increases expectations of what 2027 Siri needs to be. Just think about what ChatGPT and Claude and Gemini and Llama and DeepSeek will be able to do by then! Think about Amazons new conversational Alexa, and what that will be capable of with another two years of development, using all of the data the company has amassed about the requests people are making of it.Siri will no longer be judged against the capabilities of todays chatbots, it will be judged against the ones well have two years from now. Thats going to be a phenomenally high bar, and Apple really needs to reach it.Image: Michael Bower/9to5MacAdd 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

Mar 03, 2025Ravie LakshmananCybercrime / MalwareCybersecurity researchers are calling attention to a new phishing campaign that employs the ClickFix technique to deliver an open-source command-and-control (C2) framework called Havoc."The threat actor hides each malware stage behind a SharePoint site and uses a modified version of Havoc Demon in conjunction with the Microsoft Graph API to obscure C2 communications within trusted, well-known services," Fortinet ForEGuard Labs said in a technical report shared with The Hacker News.The starting point of the attack is a phishing email containing an HTML attachment ("Documents.html") that, when opened, displays an error message, which uses the ClickFix technique to trick users into copying and executing a malicious PowerShell command into their terminal or PowerShell, thereby triggering the next-stage.The command is designed to download and execute a PowerShell script hosted on an adversary-controlled SharePoint server. The newly downloaded PowerShell checks if it's being run within a sandboxed environment before proceeding to download the Python interpreter ("pythonw.exe"), if it's not already present in the system.The next step involves fetching and executing a Python script from the same SharePoint location that serves as a shellcode loader for KaynLdr, a reflective loader written in C and ASM that's capable of launching an embedded DLL, in this the Havoc Demon agent on the infected host."The threat actor uses Havoc in conjunction with the MicrosoQ Graph API to conceal C2 communication within well-known services," Fortinet said, adding the framework supports features to gather information, perform file operations, as well as carry out command and payload execution, token manipulation, and Kerberos attacks.The development comes as Malwarebytes revealed that threat actors are continuing to exploit a known loophole in Google Ads policies to target PayPal customers with bogus ads served via advertiser accounts that may have been compromised.The ads seek to trick victims searching for assistance related to account issues or payment concerns into calling a fraudulent number that likely ends with them handing over their personal and financial information."A weakness within Google's policies for landing pages (also known as final URLs), allows anyone to impersonate popular websites so long as the landing page and display URL (the webpage shown in an ad) share the same domain," Jrme Segura, senior director of research at Malwarebytes, said."Tech support scammers are like vultures circling above the most popular Google search terms, especially when it comes to any kind of online assistance or customer service."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Mar 03, 2025Ravie LakshmananData Privacy / ComplianceThe U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has opened an investigation into online platforms TikTok, Reddit, and Imgur to assess the steps they are taking to protect children between the ages of 13 and 17 in the country.To that end, the watchdog said it's probing how the ByteDance-owned video-sharing service uses the personal data of children in the age range to surface recommendations and deliver suggested content to their feeds."This is in light of growing concerns about social media and video sharing platforms using data generated by children's online activity in their recommender systems, which could lead to young people being served inappropriate or harmful content," the ICO said.Separately, the data protection regulator said it's also looking into Imgur and Reddit to see how they are using children's information and the measures they are taking to assess the age of their users and tailor content based on that criteria.The ICO noted that it's examining whether the services have infringed on data protection laws, and that it will share any discovered evidence, if any, to the companies to seek their "representations" before arriving at a final conclusion."The responsibility to keep children safe online lies firmly at the door of the companies offering these services and my office is steadfast in its commitment to hold them to account," John Edwards, U.K. Information Commissioner, said."In announcing these investigations, we are making it clear to the public what action we are currently taking to ensure children's information rights are upheld. This is a priority area, and we will provide updates about any further action we decide to take."The development comes in the aftermath of the enforcement of Children's code in September 2021 that requires online services to follow a set of standards when using children's data.Since then, X (formerly Twitter) has stopped serving advertisements to users under 18 and removed the ability for those below the age of 18 to opt in to geolocation sharing. Viber has also committed to disable personalized advertising for children.Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

TechTarget and Informa Techs Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTechTarget and Informa Techs Digital Business Combine.Together, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.Is Regulation Thawing on Decentralized Finance?Is Regulation Thawing on Decentralized Finance?There may be a new era of DeFi in the offing if regulation eases up, and stakeholders in this sector see new potential understandings with watchdogs.Joao-Pierre S. Ruth, Senior EditorMarch 3, 2025It is no secret the current administration in the White House favors less business regulation and that could be part of a change in oversight of decentralized finance (DeFi).As players in blockchain and cryptocurrency gather for industry events in Denver, Colo., the DeFi sector still has its share of ups and downs. The Ether cryptocurrency saw a 20% sell-off and Bitcoin sank to a new yearly low in recent days. Meanwhile memories of prior crypto winters have not entirely faded.Still, there may be a new era of DeFi in the offing if regulation eases up -- and stakeholders in this sector see new potential understandings take shape with policymakers and watchdogs.This episode of DOS Wont Hunt brought together Wenny C., partner with SynFutures; Martin de Rijke, head of growth for Maple Finance; Alan Orwick, co-founder of Quai; and Gerald Gallagher, general counsel at Sei Labs.Changing perspectives on DeFi include the interest incumbent financial institutions take in the sector, how other jurisdictions regard the space, and the way US regulators communicate with DeFi companies. Could this mean regulatory plans for DeFi will do an about face? Has DeFi matured beyond prior expectations? Can DeFi show naysayers what its innovations may bring to the financial world?Related:Listen to the full episode here.About the AuthorJoao-Pierre S. RuthSenior EditorJoao-Pierre S. Ruth covers tech policy, including ethics, privacy, legislation, and risk; fintech; code strategy; and cloud & edge computing for InformationWeek. He has been a journalist for more than 25 years, reporting on business and technology first in New Jersey, then covering the New York tech startup community, and later as a freelancer for such outlets as TheStreet, Investopedia, and Street Fight.See more from Joao-Pierre S. RuthWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore ReportsNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also Like

We are about to see the triumphant comebacks of some of the biggest brands from the 80s and 90s.Long-forgotten clothing, soda, and restaurant chains from another era are quietly working their way back to prominence.For some, like the multiple mall clothing brands on the list, it was a matter of certain styles going viral on social media. Others are making comebacks after hitting a rough patch with sales several years ago.READ MORE: 21 Fast-Growing Chains Opening Just About Everywhere In 2025Regardless of how they got there, here are 11 brands from your childhood that have a chance to come roaring back in 2025.11 Retro Brands Quietly Making Big ComebacksSome familiar names from your childhood are ready to come back into your life. From video games to soda, here are a few notable brands you can expect to have huge returns this year. Gallery Credit: Rob CarrollREAD MORE: Forgotten 90s Movies You Need to SeeGet our free mobile appTotally 80s: The Pictures That Take You BackTake a nostalgic journey through the '80s with these iconic photoscapturing the fashion, toys, and unforgettable news events that left a lasting impact on a generation. Keep scrolling to relive the moments that defined the decade.Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. How DeepSeek became a fortune teller for Chinas youth As DeepSeek has emerged as a homegrown challenger to OpenAI, young people across the country have started using AI to revive fortune-telling practices that have deep roots in Chinese culture. Across Chinese social media, users are sharing AI-generated readings, experimenting with fortune-telling prompt engineering, and revisiting ancient spiritual textsall with the help of DeepSeek.The surge in AI fortune-telling comes during a time of pervasive anxiety and pessimism in Chinese society. And as spiritual practices remain hidden underground thanks to the countrys regime, computers and phone screens are helping younger people to gain a sense of control over their lives. Read the full story.Caiwen Chen Are you interested in learning more about DeepSeek? Read our stories: + How DeepSeek overcame US sanctions and managed to turn restrictions into innovation. Read the full story. + How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbookand why everyones going to follow its lead. The Chinese firm has pulled back the curtain to expose how the top labs may be building their next-generation models. Now things get interesting. + DeepSeek might not be such good news for energy after all. New figures show that if the models energy-intensive chain of thought reasoning gets added to everything, the promise of efficiency gets murky. Read the full story.+ Three things to know as the dust settles from DeepSeekand four other Chinese AI startups to keep an eye on. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 A private lander has touched down on the moon US startup Firefly is the second private company to land on lunar soil. (The Guardian)+ The mission is part of NASAs plans to lower costs via private enterprises. (NYT $)+ Nokia is putting the first cellular network on the moon. (MIT Technology Review)2 Donald Trump may create Americas first strategic crypto reserve Crypto champions believe it could finally lend the industry a sense of legitimacy. (CoinDesk)+ But some Republican lawmakers worry it could put taxpayer funds at risk. (FT $)+ Other crypto investors are pushing for the reserve to hold only bitcoin. (CNBC)+ Meanwhile, Elon Musk is throwing his weight behind Dogecoin. (Ars Technica)3 AI firms are racing to create cheaper models And theyre pinning their hopes on a process called distillation to do just that. (FT $)+ How DeepSeek ripped up the AI playbookand why everyones going to follow its lead. (MIT Technology Review)4 Amazon has lost its bid to escape regulatory oversight Its been denied permission to skip permitting rules for a proposed data center. (WP $)5 The US federal layoffs are bad news for aquatic ecosystems Firing wildlife workers could lead to an outbreak of parasitic lampreys, which wreak havoc on freshwater fish. (Ars Technica)+ Its just one of the many cuts that could make life in the US worse. (The Atlantic $)6 Smart cameras can detect wildfires before they spreadTheyre also adept at spotting blazes overnight. (WSJ $) + How AI can help spot wildfires. (MIT Technology Review)7 Beware the creep of AI chatbots aimed at kidsThey cant be relied upon to always dispense correct information. (Insider $) + Some parents are teaching children how to use models safely. (The Guardian)+ You need to talk to your kid about AI. Here are 6 things you should say. (MIT Technology Review) 8 RIP Skype Microsoft is shutting it down in favor of Teams. (CNN)+ Youve got until May to decide what to do with your data. (The Register)9 This artificial tongue could allow you to taste flavors in VR Yum, tasty hydrogels. (New Scientist $)+ The device helped volunteers taste coffee, fried eggs, and fish soup. (NYT $)10 How social media drove a Japanese matcha shortage The tasty green drink is a TikTok sensation. (Bloomberg $)Quote of the day This is the real, actual revenge of the nerds. Hasan Piker, an online political commentator, reflects on how DOGE feels like the culmination of Elon Musks eternally-online existence, the New York Times reports. The big story These artificial snowdrifts protect seal pups from climate change April 2024 For millennia, during Finlands blistering winters, wind drove snow into meters-high snowbanks along Lake Saimaas shoreline, offering prime real estate from which seals carved cave-like dens to shelter from the elements and raise newborns.But in recent decades, these snowdrifts have failed to form in sufficient numbers, as climate change has brought warming temperatures and rain in place of snow, decimating the seal population.For the last 11 years, humans have stepped in to construct what nature can no longer reliably provide. Human-made snowdrifts, built using handheld snowplows, now house 90% of seal pups. They are the latest in a raft of measures that have brought Saimaas seals back from the brink of extinction. Read the full story.Matthew Ponsford We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.) + This behind the scenes look at how they created the podracing scenes in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace is remarkably cool.+ Has Shrek had botox? Much to think about.+ The largest live game of Dungeons and Dragons ever played looks incredible ($)+ Five years ago in the UK, we collectively lost our minds.

Submitted by WA ContentsMASK Architects unveils the worlds first hydrogen-powered luxury floating resort in Middle EastSaudi Arabia Architecture News - Mar 03, 2025 - 13:50 html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"MASK Architects has unveiled design for the worlds first hydrogen-powered luxury floating resort in Middle East. The project is conceived as a ground-breaking combination of cutting-edge hydrogen technology, sustainability, and architecture.According to the studio, this innovative concept redefines the future of Middle Eastern tourism and hospitality by setting a new benchmark for environmentally conscious luxury.The resort offers visitors direct access to a pristine stretch of shoreline surrounded by untouched natural beauty, spanning an impressive 10-kilometer coastal beach.In addition to being a breathtaking feature, this expansive area serves as the resort's focal point and offers the ideal environment for the harmonious fusion of luxury, sustainability, and nature."Our mission is to integrate hydrogen technology into the field of architecture, shaping a sustainable future where energy production and architectural design are seamlessly combined," said znur Pnar Cer and Danilo Petta of MASK Architects."We strive to revolutionize the industry by utilizing hydrogen not only as a clean energy source but also as a fundamental element of innovative, eco-friendly architectural solutions.""By merging cutting-edge technology with design, we are pioneering a new era where sustainability and energy efficiency are the core of every project," Cer and Petta added.In order to achieve total energy self-sufficiency and reduce its environmental effect, the resort incorporates a hydrogen-based energy system that is a pioneer in off-grid living. With flowing, biomorphic elements that merge in perfectly with the coastal surroundings, the design celebrates the organic forms of palm leaves found in nature. The project balances design, utility, and environmental harmony while optimizing efficiency through the use of cutting-edge modular building techniques.The hydrogen-powered infrastructure, which uses patented hydrogen technology to generate clean, sustainable energy, lies at the heart of this ambition. Hydrogen generated by water electrolysis powers the energy system, guaranteeing carbon-free operations across the resort. The resort is the pinnacle of eco-friendly luxury thanks to its cutting-edge water desalination, solar energy, and sustainable waste management technologies.Transparent solar glass panels positioned strategically will capture solar energy around the resort, boosting efficiency and assisting in the creation of hydrogen.While smart climate control systems produce an intelligent and responsive atmosphere, AI-driven energy management systems will optimize energy use, hydrogen production, and overall sustainability. AI-powered predictive maintenance will guarantee the resort's operational effectiveness by reducing downtime for critical infrastructure.The resort is an unparalleled location for eco-conscious tourists because of its 10-kilometer coastline and the floating villas, beach clubs, and restaurants that surround it. A beach club, restaurant, caf, sauna, and fitness facility are all located in the resort's core recreational area, which also houses 36 private floating homes.Every villa features a little harbor for convenient maritime transit, and visitors can arrive at their private floating cabanas by private boat, guaranteeing total seclusion and elegance.In addition to supporting net-zero carbon programs and the UAE and Saudi Arabia's sustainability goals, the hydrogen-powered resort also closely complies with Saudi Vision 2030. The region's dedication to sustainable development, economic diversification, and tourism with an eye toward the future is embodied in this initiative.This historic project is expected to become a global model for upscale, environmentally responsible tourism destinations, drawing in investors and progressive tourists looking for a well-balanced combination of luxury, nature, and technology.Previously, MASK Architects revealed design for the world's first eco-tourism resort producing its own water autonomously by using Air to Water technology in Africa. In addition, Istanbul-based practice MASK Architects and Shenzhen-based Jiang & Associates Design(J&A) designeda conceptual interior designfor Zhengzhou metro line-7 stations in China.All images courtesy of MASK Architects.> via MASK Architects

Climate Change Committees latest report sets out progress needed to stay on track with net zero targetsHalf of homes should be installed with a heat pump by 2040 but hydrogen should not be used to heat buildings, the government has been told.The Climate Change Committees (CCC) Seventh Carbon Budget report said the annual rate of heat pump installations needs to rise from 60,000 recorded in 2023 to almost 450,000 by 2030 and hit 1.5 million by 2035.But it said it sees no role for hydrogen in heating buildings, including homes, and only a very niche, if any role in transport.Source: ShutterstockOnly 1% of homes were heated using a heat pump in 2023, according to the reportThe report instead called for the gas to play a small but important role in the UKs net zero transition in powering certain industrial sectors such as ceramics and chemical production and as a long-term storable energy that can be used as a backup for electricity supply.The CCC is a non-departmental public body set up in 2008 to advise the government on policy aiming to reduce carbon emissions and was a key influence on former prime minister Theresa Mays decision to commit to the 2050 net zero emissions target in June 2019.Its latest report, which uses 2023 as a baseline, calls for offshore wind capacity to increase six-fold from 15gw to 88gw by 2040 and onshore wind capacity to double to 32gw, accompanied by a rapid expansion of the transmission grid and distribution network.To hit the 2050 target, around 50% of homes would need to be heated using heat pumps by 2040 compared to 1% in 2023, with all new and replacement heating systems to become low carbon after 2035 to ensure a fully decarbonised housing stock.This rate of increase would be in line with other European countries including Ireland and the Netherlands, according to the report.Anil Sawhney, head of sustainability at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, welcomed the report but urged the government to ensure low carbon interventions in homes were of a high quality.For these installations to reach their potential, we must uphold good installation standards through the greater inclusion of skilled professionals in government-backed installation programmes, he said.The RICS has also called on the government to introduce legislation requiring measurement and reporting of embodied carbon.