By Thomas Maxwell Published March 3, 2025 | Comments (1) | Car prices could rise by as much as $12,000 in the United States as tariffs go into effect on March 4. YouTube - Unsolicited Opinions As many now understand, President Trumps tariff plan serves as little more than a tax on consumers, even though the presidents aim is to punish Canada and Mexico, apparently over immigration and drug trafficking. With 25% tariffs on imports from the countries set to go into effect on Tuesday, new research shines light on just what it will mean for consumers trying to buy a new car: Prices on popular vehicles like crossover utility vehicles could rise by at least $4,000 or three times that amount for an electric vehicle. So much for ending inflation. Tesla, run by President Trumps right-hand man Elon Musk, may be the least impacted, as it manufactures its cars for U.S. customers domestically. Republicans are not the biggest buyers of EVs, though, so Trumps base is likely about to see some sticker shock at their local Ford dealership. The Ford Bronco Sport and Maverick pickup truck, for instance, are both built in Mexico, where tariffs could hit the latter with a price increase of $8,000. High-end SUVs with significant content from Mexico would see a nearly $9,000 increase. The research comes from the Anderson Economic Group, an automotive consultancy in Michigan. China is also being hit with 10% tariffs, and electronics companies, including Acer, have begun announcing their first price hikes. Acers most expensive laptop, a $3,000 gaming beast, will soon cost $3,300. It is worth noting that during his first administration, President Trump signed a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico that enabled more production to shift to those countries by incentivizing automotive production in North America. Now, Ford is rushing to ship products over the Canadian border so it at least has parts in America to keep manufacturing going for a little while. Typically, the parts in a car may cross the border multiple times before they end up in a vehicle, and those will all be taxed now. Tariffs are traditionally meant to make domestic goods more attractive by making imported products more expensive, but the automotive supply chain is so woven together between North Americas neighbors that manufacturing can not move stateside overnight. Ford CEO Jim Farley said the tariffs will blow a hole in the US industry that we have never seen. If consumers are hurt by more inflation and autoworkers lose their jobs, it does not feel like much of a win. Are truck drivers and blue-collar workers not the people Trump courted to win the presidency? Zero-sum thinking, the idea that Canada winning means America losing, is going to hurt real, everyday people trying to live their lives. And this all comes at a time when the economy has been doing quite well, despite the fear mongering. Why are we doing this?President Trump and Musk have both admitted that Americans could feel some pain from the tariffs, which automakers hope will end quickly. Canada and Mexico tried averting the tariffs by promising to ramp up border enforcement, but the president does not seem to have been satisfied and has said the measures will go into effect on March 4th. The saddest part of all of this is that electric vehicles will take another blow that they cannot afford as growth slows and Chinese vehicles continue to take over the world. Despite Musks earlier claims that he cared about doing anything to benefit the transition to electric, it seems he cares more about his influence in the White House todayand collecting SpaceX contractsthan the health of the EV industry or his own company. Tesla sales continue to dip in the U.S. and especially in Europe, even as sales of other EVs increase there. However, there is a cynical argument that he is satisfied with reduced subsidies for electric vehicles because Tesla is best positioned to survive against its competitors. It builds most of its parts custom in-house and does not have a manufacturing presence in Canada or Mexico.It is unclear what might satisfy President Trump and cause tariffs to be lifted. In the meantime, a decent hedge might be stocking up on Cardano, Solana, and other shitcoins, as President Trump indicates hell use government revenue to buy them up, perhaps using tariff revenue, for a new strategic reserve, bailing out the crypto industry and his crypto czar David Sacks who supported him so feverishly. The moneyed interests will do just fine, while everyone else will have to deal with the pain and suffering.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Thomas Maxwell Published February 26, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published February 21, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published February 20, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published February 19, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published February 19, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published February 18, 2025

By Florence Ion Published March 3, 2025 | Comments (0) | Lenovo showed off a bunch of new concept laptops at MWC 2025, including this "flip over" display. Kyle Barr / Gizmodo Mobile World Congress, or MWC, has kicked off in Barcelona, Spain, with intriguing reveals across phones, laptops, and tablets. Samsungspecifically Samsung Displayshowed off a few concept pieces that offer a glimpse at whats to come from folding displays. Lenovo used the conference to announce a concept, too: its Yoga Solar PC, which runs on sunlight. TCL is still carrying the torch for its NXTPaper handheld displays. We also got to peek at the heavily rumored and almost-announced Nothing Phone 3(a) and Phone (3a) Pro with their cool, see-through, light-up chassis. Plus, new phones are coming from brands that no longer sell devices in the U.S. (cue our FOMO), while Qualcomm is touting faster 5G speeds coming your way. Samsung flaunts its R&D We love a show-off, particularly when its Samsung bursting through with whatever its hashing out behind the scenes in its research and development labs. Via CNET, we caught a look at one exciting concept device. It shows a Switch-like gaming console that folds the display into itself for more compact storage. Samsung also heavily flexed its display prowess with promises of a seamless OLED experience across the ecosystem. The idea is that no matter what Samsung-made screen youre looking at, the colors all look the same. Also, these display panels get really bright at 5,000 nits. Dont forget your indoor sunglasses. Samsung packed all the concept devices on the plane to Spain. In addition to the folding displays, the company offeredthose in attendance a closer look at itsProject Moohan Android XR headset. The demonstration let folks paw at the external battery and switch packs as needed, though it doesnt seem anyone received a live demonstration quite yet. So far, the rumored expected launch date for the XR headset is April 2025. Samsungs updated A-series Samsung Samsungs economical smartphone set, the Galaxy A-series, also got a bump-up during the conferences opening weekend. The Galaxy A56, A36, and A26 will all be heading for a global launch date soon enough, though the latter two devices will be the first to launch at the end of March. Theyre all 120Hz screen smartphones with dialed-down Galaxy AI features called Awesome Intelligence. Fortunately, that includes Googles Circle to Search. Lenovos sun-powered concept laptop Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo Leave it to Lenovo to trot out more of its concept hardware whenever possible. The PC maker showed off a Yoga Solar PC concept, and its primary selling point is that it will last you a heck of a long time, as long as you have sunlight to draw power from. We saw it behind closed doors before Lenovo flew the device overseas for the show. TCL trots out more Nxtpaper products TCL, best known in the U.S. for its economically priced smart TVs, also makes smartphones and tablets. Over the past few years, the company has picked up some steam with its Nxtpaper technology, a colorful e-Ink-like experience thats much easier on the eyes than your flagships bright OLED. The company announced a new tablet and three smartphones, including the sequel to last years TCL 50 XE. Only the TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper will be available in the U.S.-adjacent, launching in Canada first. It will cost about $230. Nothing almost launched something Nothing hasnt announced anything yet, but weve been following the rumors circulating about the Nothing Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro. Despite sharing a name, the two phones look nothing alike. The Phone (3a) has a Pixel-like camera bar, while the Phone (3a) Pro adopts its looks from OnePlus and Oppos brood of smartphones. Theyre both see-through, according to what we saw at 9to5Google. We should have more details on all the specifications inside this week, since Nothing is using the show to debut the phones. Honor wants a comeback story Honor is not a brand that we talk about in the U.S. I last covered it nine years ago, before the Great Big Ban of its devices and partner products. Honor is a subsidiary of Huawei, which has been doing fine in China the past few years despite no longer offering access to the Google Play Store on its devices.At MWC 2025, Honor announced a new Android-compatible smartwatch, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra, plus a super-economical $250 tablet with a 10,100 mAh battery with the promise of multiple days on a single charge. Honor also revealed that its working to solidify collaborating development with Google and Qualcomm to concoct a so-called intelligent ecosystem. The idea is to spoof what Apple has but in Android land, while also being able to support software updates for as long as Google and Samsung have on their respective devicesup to six years for every new device. Honor publicly committed to hopping on the AI bandwagon with its own set of algorithms for camera performance. Qualcomms new 5G chip Qualcomm would like you to know that even though some of its collaboratorscough, Appleare slowly moving away from featuring its chips and cellular modems, its got plenty to offer the rest of the smartphone world. The chip giant announced the X85 5G Modem-RF for Android devices at MWC 2025. If youre paying for this kind of 5G speed, your future phone will be able to access up to 12.5 Gbps download speeds and maximum 3.7 Gbps uploads. The last generations chip topped out at 10 Gbps.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Kyle Barr Published March 2, 2025 By Florence Ion Published March 1, 2025 By Florence Ion Published February 27, 2025 By Kyle Barr Published February 10, 2025 By Kyle Barr Published February 4, 2025 By Kyle Barr Published January 28, 2025

In one small step toward lunar commercialization, the first-ever privately funded lander touched down March 2, 2025 on the moons surface. The lander, named Blue Ghost, launched from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 15, 2025, then travelled more than 2.8 million miles before safely coming to rest in a 300-mile-wide basin near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille on the moon.First-Ever Private LanderThe lander was developed by Texas company Firefly Aerospace. Its mission is the first by five vendors to make 11 lunar deliveries under NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). CLPS contracts thus far total $2.6 billion through 2028. NASA paid the Texas-based company $101 million for the delivery, plus $44 million for the science and tech on board. Such operations are intended to pave the way for further NASA exploration.Were sending these payloads by working with American companies which supports a growing lunar economy, Nicky Fox, a NASA administrator, said in a press release.Samples and ExperimentsThe lander delivered 10 NASA science and technology instruments that will collect samples and perform experiments on the moon over one lunar day about 14 Earth days. The surface operations include lunar drilling as deep as 10 feet to measure temperatures below the satellites surface, vacuuming up moon dust samples, and taking X-ray images. Equipment also includes a device to eliminate pesky lunar dusk, which has caked spacesuits and equipment in earlier lunar visits. The data will provide how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth. The lander is also tasked with several photographic assignments. On March 14, 2025, it is scheduled to take high-definition pictures of a lunar eclipse when the Earth blocks the sun from the moons horizon. On March 16, 2025, it will photograph a lunar sunset. A key aspect of that imagery will be capturing how lunar dusk levitates due to the suns influence.The lander will share some of this imagery via a blog. Firefly is literally and figuratively over the Moon, Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, said in a press release.Are There Other Landers?Thus far, only five countries have successfully landed on the moon: Russia, the U.S., China, India, and Japan. Another privately funded lander is scheduled to join Blue Ghost March 6, 2025 but closer to the moons south pole. The company behind that project, Intuitive Machines, had an unsuccessful event previously last year when its lander broke a leg and tipped over. Another commercial lander, funded by a Japanese company, also rode the same rocket into space with Blue Ghost. Like the Intuitive effort, this is the companys second attempt after a crash in 2023.Wreckage from a few dozen or so landers now litter the moons surface. NASA intends to propel two private landers to the moon a year over the next several years.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Firefly Aerospace. Firefly Successfully Touched Down on the Moon on March 2!Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik spent over 20 years as a science journalist, specializing in U.S. life science policy and global scientific career issues. He began his career in newspapers, but switched to scientific magazines. His work has appeared in publications including Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.

Camera stabilization has come a long way in recent years, but if you want genuinely smooth video, theres no substitute for a precision gimbal. DJIs new RS4 Mini is burly enough to stabilize full-frame mirrorless cameras but relatively compact enough that you wont need a dedicated case just to carry it around. We spent two weeks putting this $369 gimbal setup to the test.Stan Horaczek Pros30 percent lighter than the larger modelSolid battery life of up to 13 hoursFast recharge in a pinchQuietEasier to navigate than some higher-end modelsAuto-lock is handyConsSetup still takes some practiceI wish it was blackThe abundance of locking mechanisms can get confusingThe verdict: At this price point, this is likely the best bet for most enthusiasts and aspiring pros. It offers a solid mix of features without the added complexity of higher-end models. It has a few quirks common with DJI gimbals, but overall, its sturdy, silent, and reliable.How we tested the DJI SR4 Mini GimbalI have used just about every generation of the RS-series gimbals, and I set this one up just like I would any other model. I spent several hours operating it with a Canon R5 Mark II, as well as an iPhone 16 Pro Max (using the optional smartphone mounting kit).During our two-week review period, I tested the built-in tracking modes, re-balanced it with various cameras, and shot several hours of varied subjects, from walking around a farmers market to capturing CrossFit athletes working out. I am not a great filmmaker, but I shoot solid B-roll, so thats the majority of my testing process.The setupThis is my least favorite part of using any gimbal, and the setup process here is still a bit quirky. The app provides helpful videos on how to get things up and running, but the gimbal has to be connected to the app in order to view them. That wouldnt be an issue if the gimbal didnt have to be turned off while youre balancing it. Annoying but certainly not a deal breaker.It was roughly 15 minutes from taking it out of the box that I was using the gimbal with setup 95 percent complete. The metal frame has a Teflon coating for protection, which does seem very tough but can also give some resistance when it comes to moving the arms around. These are small complaints, though, and once everything is balanced, the RS4 Mini kept everything balanced like a champ.The featuresOnce everything is set up, operation is fairly simple, though you have to get the hang of it. The color touchscreen makes navigating menus simple enough. The sturdy joystick and scroll wheel offer precise control over movements and camera functions. The handle is a great size with enough mass to make it feel sturdy. The device comes with an extender handle that opens up into a table tripod, and I find the whole rig much easier to maneuver with it attached.The RS4 Mini weighs 2 pounds and can handle a rig up to 4.4 pounds (or 2 kg), which allows it to handle a full-frame mirrorless camera with a lens. The heaviest rig I tried mounting was a Canon R5 Mark II with an RF 50mm f/1.2 lens. In total, that gear weighs roughly 52 ounces, and the RS4 Mini handled it with no problem.I did notice that the battery drops considerably faster when a heavy camera is onboard, but thats true with every gimbal. The motors must work harder to stabilize so they burn through power more quickly. I didnt do a continuous use test, but DJI promises up to 13 hours out of a single charge. In the real world, Id expect about 10. That said, the battery does offer a quick charge, which can get you up to five hours of operation after just 30 minutes on the cord.The USB charging port can connect to a power bank as well, but that makes the rig much harder to handle. Just charge it up before you go out shooting. This is particularly relevant because the battery no longer detaches from the RS4 Mini like it did with the previous model, so you cant swap in the field.Is the RS4 Mini Combo worth it?For $459, you can get a combo version of the RS4 Mini, which includes a briefcase-style handle for the gimbal as well as DJIs precision Intelligent Tracking Module. The handle is little more than a bracket, but it does make carrying the camera at a low angle much more manageable.The Tracking Module attaches via a magnetic port to the side of the gimbal and allows the device to track a subject during more complex moves. The module is a simpler version of the DJI Raveneye system, which works with more advanced gimbals. With the module attached, the gimbal can ActiveTrack a subject and receive commands via gesture from up to 10 meters (33 feet) away. It maintains the subjects position in the frame, so its great if you want to make content on your own without running back and forth to the camera constantly.If youre going to use the tracking, then the Combo is worth buying for the Tracking Module. It really unlocks the full functionality of the gimbal. That said, the module is only $69 on its own, so youre not getting that much of a savings by buying the combo, so its a toss-up based on what you expect to shoot.The conclusionAfter two weeks with the RS4 Mini gimbal, I didnt find much to complain about. As with any stabilizer, it freaked out or went to sleep every once in a while for no appreciable reason. But those instances are very few and far between. If you plan to use it primarily with a phone, youre likely better off getting something smaller and easier, like the new $149 Osmo 7P smartphone gimbal, which also has an embedded telescoping rod/tripod and Multifunctional Module with tracking/gesture control/LED fill light that you can flip for front or selfie camera. The RS4 may be overkill for you, and the Osmo 7P, which weve also used, is a three-axis option with excellent automatic tracking, as well as a responsive joystick.But, if youre trying to take video content seriously with a dedicated camera, this is a great balance of features and cost. Its reliable, responsive, and simple without depriving you of necessary features. The RS4 Mini is the best gimbal for most enthusiasts right now.

Check out these destructive effects from a Troubled Passage by @psergiomr, an upcoming indie game with a mouse-based combat system.See more: https://80.lv/articles/this-upcoming-game-with-mouse-based-combat-system-received-updates/

SideFX's Content Library has been updated with projects designed to de-jitter faulty simulation results and enable ML-powered geometry generation from user sketches.Grab them here: https://80.lv/articles/grab-pca-data-de-jitter-ml-sketching-from-sidefx-s-content-library/

RTHUXLEYIf you could describe the Demon in one word, what would it be?

RT/

Folks, we have just updated the subtitles .zip for Game Asset Workflow course, on both Blender Market and Gumroad (the naming was wrong) - apologies for the inconvenience.Kudos to @ATeRSa_NDUcC for the headsup!ATeRSa NDUcC:@gleb_alexandrov That was fast!Looks like everything's fixed now, thank you!

Re @ATeRSa_NDUcC Awesome! thanks again for your help We'll let everyone know it's been updated (we're also implementing a few other updates, including a new video).