If it wasn’t already evident, this year’s Google I/O proved that AI is very much the future of Android. The showcase even gave us the first look at Android XR smart glasses, a headset, and even a next-gen video conferencing kit in action. The crucial miss between all the snazzy product announcements? The upcoming Pixel 10 series phones.  Of course, I/O is never about hardware, but the focus on feature announcements this year was geared more towards mobile users than desktop. The Pixel’s absence was conspicuous, as even Google’s demos had executives showing off Gemini AI advancements on a Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra on multiple occasions.  Recommended Videos It was pretty surprising to witness. After all, Google sells the Pixel portfolio under the unofficial moniker of an AI phone. So, why was the focus not solely on the Pixel 9 Pro or its foldable sibling, arguably one of the best Android smartphones out there? Why not give a glimpse of the Pixel 10 and hype it a bit?  Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends Well, Google won’t say why, but most likely, the company is saving the excitement for a flashy launch event in the coming months. However, Google I/O gave a clear view of the software experience that you will get on the Pixel 10 series. Android 16, and the whole AI shebang.  Camera enhancements at the center There are predominantly two main reasons for investing in a Pixel phone: a fantastic camera and the latest from Android. Google already laid out the foundations for more creative control in the camera app during the beta testing phase of Android 16. Some of those enhancements include a software-assisted enhancement to low-light capture. Video hue and color temperature settings in Android 16. Google With the Camera2 API upgrade, a new hybrid auto exposure system will let users easily make adjustments to ISO and exposure levels, alongside granular tint and color adjustment controls. If the photographic styles on iPhone 16 Pro and its analog on the Galaxy S25 series, we are getting something of a similar caliber on the Pixel 10 series phones. Interestingly, the camera upgrades will also tag alongside some battery efficiency improvements. Thanks to the new native PCM offloading pipeline, Google notes that the onboard digital signal processor will be able to “handle more audio playback processing, thus conserving user battery.” In a nutshell, your phone will suck up less batery juice during video and audio capture.  Hi-res video capture is quite demanding on phones, and I can’t wait to see what improvements Google has in the pipeline for the Pixel 10. In a separate session targeted at developers, Google also shed some light on the CameraX and Media3 stack.  It seems the vanilla Android experience on the Pixel 10 series phones will offer more flexibility with adjusting aspect ratio and video resolutions. The Media3 effect connector will also open the doors for adding creative filters. Of particular  interest is the concurrent camera system that enables dual camera streams.  Leaks suggest that the Pixel 10 series’ hardware won’t offer any meaningful leg-up over the Pixel 9 family, so it’s highly likely that the focus will be on software-based enhancements. And that brings us to…  AI enhancements  One of the buzziest announcements from I/O 2025 was the release Veo 3 AI model, which can generate photorealistic videos and add a fitting audio, as well. But the more notable change was made to the older Veo 2 model, and these sound tailor-made for smartphones.  Google Users can now give it samples of pictures and videos as a style reference, define the camera movement (rotate, zoom, dolly, etc.), broaden the frame, and add or remove objects from videos. And it is possible on phones, though I’m not sure if it can be handled on-device.  Image-to-video generation has already landed on the Honor 400 series, while Veo video generation is possible in the Gemini mobile app. Meanwhile, the new Imagen 4 model has also improved at photorealism and typography, while increasing image output to 2K resolution.  The next obvious spot for all these AI photo and video upgrades is the native Pixel camera, or the Photos app. Imagine uploading a picture, and having its style picked up to capture photos and video. You can adjust the frame from portrait to landscape, and make specific changes to the objects appearing in the videos. Andy Boxall / Digital Trends These features are already possible with AI image editing for photos, and I won’t be surprised to see Google pushing it as a standout Pixel 10 perk. I am just hoping that Google doesn’t lock these features to the Pro models, especially because all the models will likely rely on the same silicon.  Moving away from apps Google has already created a system called apps, formerly known as extensions, that allows Gemini to interact with connected platforms. For example, it can pull up details from Gmail, add an entry to Tasks, handle WhatsApp, among others. It’s still a work in progress in terms of adoption, but on the Pixel 10, we are going to see agentic capabilities that go beyond apps. Google The secret sauce is Project Mariner, and it comes to life courtesy of AI mode in the Search app. To begin with, it can autonomously handle chores like ticket bookings, reservations, or shopping based on simple text input like “find me three tickets to the Arsenal game on Sunday, and prefer low-cost seats.”  Instead of having users dig through Google search and deal with booking apps, Project Mariner will handle the tedious part. While that is impressive in itself, AI mode queries will also take a look at tickets and reservations in the Gmail inbox  (and Google apps) for tailored responses.  In a nutshell, even Google’s own apps will start losing their charm as the entire user interface shifts increasingly towards a unified AI-first Android experience. Likewise, for tasks that don’t require a Google Search, Gemini Live will take over. Given Google’s historical focus on AI accelerator chips and on-device processing, I am confident that the Pixel 10 will push these as a highlight benefit. Right now, Gemini Live can only hold conversations based on what you say or what it sees through the camera. Soon, you will be able to execute tasks mid-way through voice chats across apps such as Calendar, Maps, and Tasks, among others. This will tie broadly into the Project Astra capabilities, which you can see in action above. More of the same thing The theme of AI was recurring during Google’s developers conference. If you care about the numbers, it was heard 92 times during the I/O keynote. As far as the Pixel 10 series phones go, leaks suggest they would look almost identical to their respective Pixel 9 series counterparts.  Alleged design render of Pixel 10 Pro. Android Headlines That leaves Google in a position where it has to innovate more with software than hardware possibilities. The question is, just how far can Google go with the Android and AI experiences to make the Pixel 10 Pro feel fresh, when it serves essentially the same hardware formular as its predecessor.  Apple is no stranger to this strategy, and neither is Samsung. It’s a meaningful strategy, as it allows engineers to further refine the hardware at hand, and build meaningful software experiences. It remains to be seen whether the Pixel 10 series can make a leap.

Floyd Bennett Field is a massive piece of federal property in Marine Park, Brooklyn, a floodplain that’s regularly deluged since Hurricane Sandy. Noah Martz, a Brooklyn Law School student, has an idea for how to use it that has Reddit talking. What to do with Floyd Bennett Field (FBF) has long perplexed planners, and the site now finds itself entangled in an online tug of war match between competing architectural ideologies.  “Hero Village” is the name of Martz’s land use proposal for the former airfield. It would bring approximately 20,000 residential units designated for NYPD and FDNY officers, and EMTs to the 1,300-acre plot. The design is “inspired by President Trump’s vision to build beautifully again,” Hero Village’s promotional video states. “Mr. President, it’s time for New York to truly back the blue,” the video concludes.  Martz regularly makes appeals to “MAGA YIMBY” and “neotrad” accounts on X (formerly Twitter) to drum up support for the proposal through the Hero Village NYC X account, which arrives amid other traditional propositions for New York. Penn Station’s revival, for instance, could very well yield a neoclassical design. It’s safe to say trad architects and their sympathizers feel emboldened by this president. “The idea for Hero Village came from witnessing firsthand how increasingly unaffordable New York City has become, especially for those who protect and serve the city,” Martz told AN. “Today, over 52 percent of NYPD officers live outside the five boroughs, largely due to high housing costs. At the same time, the city faces a chronic shortage of new housing construction, especially larger, family-sized units. Hero Village is a response to these problems.” The proposal however hasn’t been without criticism from other very online interlocutors. Traditional loft buildings would line Hero Village’s main thoroughfare, supported by a cyberlink rail system. (Courtesy Hero Village) “In reality, there are much more efficient ways of building density, even if you want to add facade articulation in the unclear ‘historic’ style described in the post,” said AN contributor Ryan Scavnicky, author of Architecture and Videogames: Intersecting Worlds. As a professor at Marywood University, Scavnicky studies internet subcultures and how architectural ideas proliferate on social media. “Critiquing the proposal itself—it’s in a floodplain, its inefficient layout—are moot points because this proposal is just using architecture as a medium to sway political power,” Scavnicky added, with emphasis. (Anti) Co-op City? The FBF Shelter Complex, otherwise called the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center at FBF, was established at the South Brooklyn airfield in 2023 for migrant families inside shuttered aircraft hangars. By December 2024, there were at least 850 children living in the complex and attending New York City public schools. The complex was shut down in winter 2025 by New York City Mayor Eric Adams—teachers have since raised grave concerns over displaced migrant family welfare.  Hero Village was rolled out in the months after the Adams administration evacuated the FBF Shelter Complex. Its proposed architecture takes cues from Poundbury, a master planned community in the U.K. “endorsed by King Charles III,” Martz said, but also places closer to home like Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Brooklyn Heights. The Cumberland Street development near Barclays Center and Gateway Estates in East New York are other precedents Martz pointed to.  A cyberlink rail system would support Hero Village, with a direct connection to the 2/5. (Courtesy Hero Village) The main drag at Hero Village is a north-south thoroughfare lined by the kind of loft buildings you’d see in Soho or the Garment District of Manhattan. A cyberlink rail system would shuttle the main axis, which terminates at a monumental obelisk. This rail line would connect Hero Village denizens to the Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College (2/5) subway stop. The cyberlink rail system itself is inspired by Elon Musk’s Hyperloop and Tesla’s Robovan. In the future, “advanced tunneling technology” could extend the 2 Train down Flatbush Avenue, connecting Hero Village with New York City, Martz posited. Martz drew up the master plan himself in Google Sketchup, he said, which took “over a year.” He then hired a rendering studio for the final graphics. Every street at Hero Village would be named after an NYPD or FDNY officer killed in the line of duty.  “I believe it’s essential to create places that also serve as spaces of reflection and remembrance,” Martz said in regard to the obelisk and the street names. He added: “The idea of an obelisk as the central memorial was inspired by its deep historical significance in American public spaces. One of the earliest examples dates back to Williamsburg, Virginia, where an obelisk was erected to honor those who opposed the Stamp Act of 1765.” Martz finds inspiration from obelisks erected after the 1765 Stamps Act rebellion. (Boston Public Library/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 2.0) “Obelisks are now common markers of solemn remembrance, particularly for fallen service members,” Martz continued. “Hero Village will include several other memorials within park spaces and community centers dedicated to those who have given their lives in service to New York.” To mitigate flooding, Martz alluded to an unlikely example: Co-op City in the Bronx, which was likewise built on marshland. “There is ample precedent for successful residential development in flood-prone areas,” Martz noted. “While Hero Village differs significantly in style [from Co-op City], this precedent shows the feasibility of development with proper mitigation measures.” Martz does have misgivings about the comparison, however. “I am strongly opposed to the modernist ‘tower in the park’ planning approach championed by Le Corbusier, which shaped developments like Co-op City,” Martz replied when asked about his philosophy. “While Co-op City successfully provides a large number of affordable housing units, its 1960s-era design reflects a deeply flawed urban planning philosophy. The development suffers from an inefficient use of land, a lack of street-level connectivity, and an absence of human-scale, mixed-use environments.” “By contrast,” Martz continued, “Hero Village would deliver more housing on a smaller footprint through thoughtful design and land use. It emphasizes traditional urbanism with walkable narrow streets, mixed-use buildings, human-scaled architecture, and a transit-oriented layout that supports both residents and the broader community.” The main thoroughfare would terminate at a monumental obelisk. (Courtesy Hero Village) The North Forty Natural Area would be preserved and existing aircraft hangars would become museums and event spaces at Hero Village. Daycare centers, supermarkets, and playgrounds would abound. Martz elaborated Hero Village would incorporate best practices from New York’s East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. This means Hero Village would have a resilient seawall and ample park space which is not only “an aesthetic feature,” Martz said, but also “a core piece of flood protection infrastructure.” A Ruinous Ideology? Today, Martz is actively courting the Trump administration to help make Hero Village happen, but also New York City Councilmembers including Inna Vernikov, and Mayor Adams. He’s written letters to U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and NYPD and FDNY union associations. The promotional video for Hero Village congratulates Trump for his “stunning victory.” Floyd Bennett Field is in proximity to Councilmember Vernikov’s South Brooklyn district. Today, Vernikov is a polemic figure—she recently made headlines for showing up to a Brooklyn College protest “with a gun visible in her hip,” but she was later cleared of the “illegal gun charge.” Hero Village has publicly asked for Vernikov’s support on social media. Still, Martz affirmed he thinks Hero Village could garner bipartisan favor. “In March, a joint task force was launched to explore how underutilized federal land can be repurposed to increase housing supply and reduce costs across the country,” Martz added. “Utilizing [FBF] to provide housing for those who have dedicated their lives to public service is a logical and moral use of the site. It’s a bipartisan solution, one that should unite local, state, and federal officials.” Scavnicky however sees cracks in this logic: “In an attempt to woo Trump, Musk, and their base constituents, it seems almost like just an attempt to get their attention,” he said of the plan. “The proposal does create affordable housing for the working class, yet only members of the working class who serve the crown, err, I mean the state are worthy of purchasing units [sic].” “This X account wants to get retweeted so badly that they are willing to create architecture that betrays the needs of the people,” Scavnicky continued. “But more importantly, it serves as a fine example of an ideology’s inherent class discrimination through reasoning: Why wouldn’t these politicians support this project if it was for everyone instead of just for cops and firefighters?” Hero Village takes inspiration from Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, and other historic neighborhoods. (Courtesy Hero Village) Renderings of Hero Village are similar to another recent proposal for FBF shared last March by Eli Lever, a local real estate developer. Lever’s design calls for much larger proto-Hausmannian courtyard buildings, as opposed to Martz’s brownstones. The Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC) has also proposed a climate hub for the grounds, a decidedly different use from the housing ideas. When asked about who will be eligible to live in Hero Village, and whether or not it’d be open to teachers and social workers like Co-op City, Martz replied: “These details are still being developed. The proposal has only recently been made public. The current focus is on generating community interest and gathering feedback.” Scavnicky cautions against attempts to look to the past to inform the future. “The need for architecture to uphold some image of an ideal past is a ruinous ideology, as can be seen in any American suburban house with fake storm windows,” Scavnicky elaborated. “This is inefficiency in service of the image—all when we should be looking toward new ways of living rather than romanticizing the past. And it’s not just about aesthetic treatment—the architectural plan of the proposed city is also an exact duplicate of an older world that doesn’t, to me, deserve to be recreated with such monotony.”

Bad To The Bravil “What if I was the bad guy?” Oblivion Remastered’s best new faction quests so far exist because a modder was doing evil stuff, and they’re now teasing “a secret project” Also, it’ll take some work for the remaster’s modding scene to get to the next level without Bethesda helping "grease the wheels". Image credit: Bethesda/VG247 Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on May 23, 2025 If there’s one thing us folks who love a good RPG can never have enough of, it’s quests. Oblivion Remastered has plenty in its base form - The Elder Scrolls 4 not being short on stuff to do - but of course modders were always going to add to that. We’re still at a pretty early stage in terms of folks digging underneath the Unreal Engine second skin Virtuos has cocooned the classic game in and seeing what they can accomplish by pushing the boundaries. However, there’ve been plenty of mods that have already come out and had everyone going full Uriel Septim ‘I’ve seen you in my dreams’ mode. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The latest of these, in my case, had been modder ColdTyrant’s “Infinitum” series, a bunch of mods released in rapid succession that overhaul Oblivion’s already pretty stellar faction questlines by adding in new infinitely accessible radiant quests and systems. They offer nice rewards in return for your character doing more of the job they signed up for - be it assassin, warrior, thief, gladiator, or mage - in a way that’s perfect for roleplaying. So, having also been intrigued by his earliest works that made it possible to join the Mythic Dawn and become a necromancer in Oblivion Remastered, I decided earlier this week to reach out to ColdTyrant. We chatted about how the quest mods he's created so far came together, what the next steps in Oblivion Remastered modding might require, and what his future modding plans are. Here’s that conversation: VG247: What drew you to modding Oblivion Remastered, and has your previous modding experience come in handy when getting up to speed with it? ColdTyrant: I've been playing Oblivion since I was a kid, in 2007 on the PS3. At that age I was absolutely astounded that I could do whatever I wanted, go wherever I wanted, fight, kill, or help whoever I wanted - the game absolutely blew me away and had a fundamental effect on myself and my creativity. I've been modding Bethesda games ever since my dad first let me play on his PC, and I was able to download the Construction Set for Oblivion and start poking around to see how things work and what I could make. I had been following the rumors of an 'Oblivion Remake' since January of this year leading up to its eventual shadow drop, and was absolutely floored by the incredible visuals and gameplay overhauls made by the extremely talented team at Virtuos. They breathed new life into one of my all-time favorite video games, and it's been so exciting to see everyone playing and talking about Oblivion again just like when I was a kid. Naturally, after I'd already sunken about 100 or so hours into Remaster, I started feeling that itch to get back into the Construction Set. People were (and still are) pumping out mods, tweaks, and tools for Oblivion Remastered like crazy, and I really wanted to sort of get on that wave and see if I could contribute my own content to help enrich players' experiences further. Being back in Cyrodiil can do that to a guy. | Image credit: Bethesda/VG247 VG247: How did you go about creating your first couple of quest/faction expansion mods, Mythic Dawn Rising and Dark Path of The Necromancer? Was it a case of wanting more evil options and finding out what was possible, or did you go in with a set vision? ColdTyrant: When I decided it was time to start modding Remastered, I really wasn't sure where to start. I've always been fascinated with the villains Bethesda has created, and I know many players (including myself) have a desire to explore the idea - what if *I* was the bad guy? I started re-learning Oblivion's scripting and quest system, and ultimately decided I wanted to create an alternate path to the Main Quest, where the player could decide to explore what it would be like to actually be a member of Mehrunes Dagon's Mythic Dawn cult. This mod was sort of a test of what I could get away with mechanically - a proof of concept to myself, and it's a bit light on content and needs a big update (I'm working on this!). After I released Mythic Dawn Rising, I just kept playing around with scripts and variables and seeing what could be done. When I discovered the different types of systems I'd be able to create with what I'd discovered, my ideas really began to run wild. Dark Path of the Necromancer started as just a mod that would add an alternative way for players to create Black Soul Gems, but as I'd finish one feature I'd think of another, then get to work on it - then another, then another. It quickly sort of snowballed into this big project with multiple necromantic-centered systems, and I really love how it turned out. Sort of accidentally, I'd wound up creating another mod that allowed the player to explore membership with another previously forbidden faction. Who wouldn't want to join a group of folks who can cast armour illusions this cool? | Image credit: Bethesda/VG247 VG247: I’ve noticed that in both of those mods’ descriptions you note that you’re hoping to add more to them once more advanced Oblivion Remastered modding tools are out there. What kinds of tools are you most keen to see emerge going forwards and can you paint me a picture of what the ‘ideal versions’ of those mods might look like? ColdTyrant: So, with modding the original Oblivion, it's a lot simpler - anything you put into the game world will just be there when you load up the mod. No requirements, no difficult installation instructions, just plug and play. If I dropped a new NPC named Bob the Mage into Anvil, he'd just be there! Oblivion Remastered is a bit more complicated. Virtuos has created an incredibly remarkable hybrid engine that combines both Gamebryo (an earlier version of Creation Engine) and Unreal Engine 5. Gamebryo handles the scripts, quests, and gameplay mechanics, while Unreal Engine 5 handles all rendering - meshes, textures, menus, lighting, shadows, effects, lines of text, pretty much anything and everything the player sees on their screen. What this means in layman's terms is that if I dropped Bob the Mage into Anvil in Remastered using the Gamebryo Oblivion Construction Set, well... that's not enough to make him show up. At best, a visit to Anvil will result in him being completely invisible, and at worst, a game crash. This is because Gamebryo no longer handles rendering. Unreal Engine needs to be told by Gamebryo via strings what actually exists and what to render into the game. Everything needs a table string entry that connects back to Unreal, or you'll have problems. Fortunately, some incredibly talented modders (I like referring to them as engineers) have created tools like TesSyncMapInjector or the Fix & Port Script for xEdit that do this job for us - so Bob the Mage can exist in Oblivion Remastered. Ok, so this particular mage isn't called Bob, but you get the picture. | Image credit: Bethesda/VG247 However, this means players will be required to install these tools on their end to experience mods that add new items and systems to Oblivion Remastered, and it can be frustrating for new people that want to get into modding their games, but feel intimidated by all these requirements and specific installation instructions. So ideally, we'll get to a point where either Bethesda/Virtuos release official modding tools for the remaster or talented mod engineers are able to create tool(s) that make mods fully compatible with Unreal, without the end user needing to install extra requirements. For the ‘Oldblivion’ versions of my mods, they are all plug and play - no requirements. But for Remastered - for now - you'll always need UE4SS and TesSyncMapInjector. VG247: What inspired you to take on your Infinitum series, how was it putting together each of the radiant quest systems and deciding on the unique twists you were going to give each faction’s system? One of the things I found most interesting about the Dark Brotherhood one was the gacha-style Dark Token reward system, so how did the idea for that specifically come about? ColdTyrant: The ‘radiant quest system’ I've designed was actually initially a side feature in another currently unnamed mod project regarding the Blackwood Company, as my original intention was to continue the ‘join and play evil factions’ genre of mods I'd released so far. When I discovered during testing how much fun I was having just doing infinite quests, I thought to myself - I need to adapt this to the main factions. From there, once again, my ideas started to kind of run wild. I ‘extracted’ the radiant quest system from my Blackwood project, ported it into a new project, and reworked it for the Dark Brotherhood. I think a lot of people feel this way, but Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood is by far my favorite questline in the game, and I say that while really loving all of the major factions. I wanted to be able to take contracts to assassinate people forever, and I hoped others would too. In the end, Dark Brotherhood - Infinitum was born, and the series kicked off. Creeper, gacha master of the Dark Brotherhood. | Image credit: Bethesda/ColdTyrant As far as the ‘gacha reward system’, I wanted to create a unique way for the player to get random rewards, but also be able to choose what type of reward they're interested in. Creating a gacha that may or may not give the player something good for their Dark Tokens I thought would be a fantastic way to motivate the player to keep doing infinite contracts besides just the fun of sneak killing and gold. If the popularity of certain gacha games is any indicator, people really love being able to take their chances and roll for rewards, even if the odds are stacked against them. Fortunately, however, Creeper does NOT charge the player any real-world money! Some players complained that Creeper being in the Cheydinhal Sanctuary is not immersive (hence my 'No Creeper' optional version), and I totally get it - but I love Morrowind just as much as Oblivion and Skyrim, and I'm sure any Morrowind player is aware of the "meme" of selling Creeper hundreds of sets of Dark Brotherhood armor. Why wouldn't he show up? He wants more of that stuff! It was just a fun reference in the end, and I was hoping people would get a kick out of it! VG247: What are your personal plans and general hopes for Oblivion Remastered modding going forwards, especially when it comes to quest mods - are there any complex ideas you've not tried yet that you’re keen to give a go once the tech’s there and do you think there’s a high ceiling in terms of what people might eventually pull off? ColdTyrant: Similar to what I mentioned earlier, the ideal situation for Oblivion Remastered modding will be the release of official modding tools to ‘grease the wheels’ on the mod development process - but given the complexity of the hybrid engine, I'm not sure if this will happen. It would be really nice, though, so our friends playing on console can hop on the hype wave of Remastered modding too. As far as my plans - the next (and final, for the major factions) mod in the Infinitum series will be Mages Guild - Infinitum. This mod will feature an endless Creature Research system, a brand new Elixir-crafting system separate from regular Alchemy, and radiant quests to deliver those Elixirs to the various Mages Guild Halls. Additionally there will be an endlessly-available staff-crafting system. Since we had our chat, ColdTyrant's released his Mages Guild mod, so you can try it right after you're done reading. | Image credit: Bethesda/ColdTyrant Since the Mages Guild is a bit different, and focused more on scholarly endeavors and magical power, I'm hoping people really enjoy it! Once the main Infinitum Series is complete, I'll likely shift my focus to a big Mythic Dawn Rising update, and a secret project I've been writing up, that I think people will really love! As far as whether or not I've tried certain ideas due to current limitations (I consider Remastered modding to currently be in its infancy), there are certainly a few. I try not to lean *too* heavily into NPC dialogue, for example, since we can't use custom voice files yet, or have an elegant solution like ‘Elys Universal Silent Voice’ which exists for Oldblivion. I think there is a high ceiling for learning and getting into more complex scripting if you've never done it before, but really, the sky is the limit when it comes to Bethesda modding - there are hundreds and hundreds of mod authors far more talented than myself that have created incredible content for all of Bethesda's single-player masterpieces. As time marches on, I'm really excited to see the things people continue to pump out for Oblivion Remastered. It's really exciting to see what people can come up with!

It's one thing to have the skills and motivation to break into the industry, but how do you move from learning and personal projects to building a real career? To help you kickstart or expand your search, here are some global internships for artists and developers that are currently accepting applications. Take a look, there might be something for you.Teamfight TacticsRiot GamesWould you like to get an inside look at Riot Games? They offer an annual Remote US Summer Internship program, which lasts 10-12 weeks. During this internship, you'll collaborate on Riot projects with teams across the company. The program also includes a week at their global headquarters in Los Angeles.The internship applications open in September, and opportunities will be posted from September to November, organized by discipline. However, some of their global offices provide internships year-round, with varying durations depending on the role. These positions are posted on their jobs board on a rolling basis and may be available in locations like Barcelona, Dublin, Istanbul, Mexico City, Paris, Reading, and São Paulo, so keep an eye out.At the moment, Riot Singapore is looking for a Motion Graphics Artist Trainee on the Teamfight Tactics team.In this role, you'll create motion graphics that enhance the overall game experience and increase player engagement with Teamfight Tactics cosmetic content. You'll then bring your creative ideas to life within the game engine, ensuring a balance of aesthetics, functionality, and performance to deliver outstanding results.Requirements:1-2 years of professional experience as a Motion Graphics Artist/Designer in the UI space for games or apps.Portfolio demonstrating proficiency in motion graphics fundamentals, including easing, pacing, timing, composition, and legibility.Portfolio showcasing experience creating motion graphics for real-time UI, such as celebrations/ceremonies, design systems, notifications, HUDs, interactive states, and screen transitions.Experience using the Adobe Creative Suite, including After Effects, along with industry-standard plugins (e.g., VFX particle plug-ins, Trapcode Suite, X-Particles).Understanding of mobile development limitations, best practices, and how to adapt executions across different form factors.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Epic GamesEpic Games is currently offering a Physics Programmer Intern position, an exciting opportunity to join the core physics team behind Unreal Engine. In this role, you'll build tests and debug the physics interface, investigate and resolve engine-related bugs, and collaborate with team members to maintain and improve existing systems.Requirements:Degree work in CS or related fields.Strong C++ skills.Excellent math and/or physics skills preferred.An analytical mind with strong problem-solving skills.Demonstrated interest in games.Experience with multiple core system tasks, such as graphics, tools, audio/video, networking, memory handling, script compilers, I/O, etc.Examples of projects in gaming or game engine technology are a plus.GameloftGameloft Brisbane, part of the global Gameloft family, is looking for a Game Artist Intern to help create and improve visual assets, environments, and character designs. You'll work closely with the design directors and senior artists to bring the game's art to life while gaining practical experience in concept art, asset creation, and polishing in-game visuals.This is a full-time internship that will last for six months.Requirements:A strong portfolio showcasing your artistic skills, creativity, and understanding of game art styles.Completed or currently pursuing a degree in Game Art, Illustration, 3D Art, or a related field.A strong passion for game art, with a keen eye for detail and composition.Familiarity with industry-standard art tools such as Photoshop, Blender, Maya, or Substance 3D Painter.Basic knowledge of game engines (preferably Unreal Engine or Unity).Strong creative and problem-solving abilities.Ability to work well within a team and effectively communicate artistic ideas.Carmen SandiegoGarenaGarena, a game developer and publisher based in Singapore, is looking for a Game Developer Intern. You'll help build and implement game features, fix bugs, and ensure smooth gameplay. The role also involves testing, gathering feedback, and suggesting improvements based on your findings.Requirements:Proficiency in game development tools and platforms such as Unity, Unreal Engine, or other relevant engines.Programming skills in relevant languages such as C#, C++, Python, etc.Basic understanding of game design principles, mechanics, and user experience.Strong communication skills to collaborate effectively with team members and staff.Time management and organizational skills to meet weekly deliverables and deadlines.Experience in game development (academic projects, personal projects, or professional experience) is a plus.VirtuosVirtuos Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian branch of Virtuos video game development company, is offering two internship opportunities: one for a Game Designer Intern and another for a Game Programmer Intern.As a Game Designer Intern, you'll quickly learn the current project's design and workflow, complete assigned tasks to a professional standard, and help document key design decisions. You'll collaborate across departments, respond to feedback, and focus on creating fun, player-focused content while continuously learning and growing in game development.Requirements:Open to Game or Level Design students who are preferably in their final semester of university with a requirement to undergo industrial training.Good communication skills in English and ability to work in an English-speaking working environment.Good problem-solving resilience.An innovative force in the profession.Passionate about games and game development.This position is open to Malaysians only. As a Game Programmer Intern, you'll design, implement, test, and debug code and write technical documentation. You'll also help develop tools and features, research and analyze project needs, optimize performance, and explore new algorithms and techniques.Requirements:Basic knowledge of C++ language.Any experience in Unreal Engine 4 or Unreal Engine 5.Good communication skills in English and ability to work in an English-speaking working environment.Good problem-solving resilience.An innovative force in the profession.Passionate about games and game development.This position is open to Malaysians only. OddsparksHandyGamesHandyGames, a German video game developer and publisher, is seeking a Game Artist Intern to support their ongoing in-house project, a story-driven, science fiction game with a strong emphasis on combat. As an intern, you'll collaborate closely with their team of artists, designers, and software engineers to help bring the game's vision to life.Requirements:You have strong illustration skills in the areas of game art, digital art, and concept art.You have a particularly good feel for architecture, colors, light, and form.You can adapt to different illustration styles with ease and show great talent, especially in the stylized area.The design of visual concepts through to the final 2D and 3D game assets is no obstacle for you.Ideally, you are already familiar with 3D modeling software such as Maya, 3D Studio Max, or Blender and the Physically Based Rendering (PBR) workflow.Perhaps you already have hands-on experience creating effects and animations with the Unity game engine.Knowledge in other graphic and technical areas is a plus.Your self-motivation is convincing, and you have a strong sense of responsibility and a clean and team-oriented way of working.You're passionate about video gamesYou have an excellent command of written and spoken English.FuncomAt Funcom, a video game developer and publisher specializing in online games, several internships are available across various locations: Animator Intern, VFX Artist Intern, Environment Artist Intern, Lighting Artist Intern, and Technical Animator Intern.Animator Intern Requirements (Lisbon, Portugal):Familiar with MotionBuilder or Maya.Demonstrates fundamentals of animation.Team-driven, able to share and receive feedback.Has a desire to learn from the team.Ability to communicate easily outside of the team with designers or programmers.Ability to adapt to new technologies and technical challenges.VFX Artist Intern Requirements (Bucharest, Romania):A strong willingness to learn and a desire to improve your skills in VFX Art.Basic understanding of 3D art fundamentals, including effects, particles, textures, lighting, materials, and technical limitations in game development.Knowledge of Houdini and/or EmberGen, Photoshop, 3ds Max, After Effects, or other 3D software, with an eagerness to expand your expertise.Strong communication and collaboration skills.Ability to work efficiently within deadlines.Creativity and artistic vision.Bachelor's degree in a related field or currently pursuing a Master's degree.Environment Artist Intern Requirements (Bucharest, Romania):A strong willingness to learn and a desire to continuously improve your skills in Environment Art.Basic understanding of 3D art fundamentals, including modeling, materials, textures, lighting, modularity, technical constraints, and game limitations.Familiarity with 3D software such as Blender, 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, Substance 3D suite, Terrain Generation tools, or similar, with a keen eagerness to expand your expertise.Strong communication and collaboration skills.Ability to work efficiently within deadlines.Creativity and artistic vision.Bachelor's degree in a related field or currently pursuing a Master's degree.Lighting Artist Intern Requirements (Lisbon, Portugal):A strong eye for light, color, and composition.Basic experience with a game engine (Unreal Engine preferred).Portfolio demonstrating lighting in 3D scenes (real-time or offline renders).Eagerness to learn, take feedback, and grow in a collaborative team environment.Current student or a recent graduate in game art, VFX, CG, or a related field.Technical Animator Intern Requirements (Lisbon, Portugal):Familiar with Maya, MotionBuilder, or equivalent animation software.Experience with skinning and rigging, either characters or assets.Team-driven, able to share and take work.Has a willingness to learn information from peers and receive feedback.To be able to talk with animators, programmers, and designers.Able to adapt to new technologies and technical challenges.Metal: HellsingerVelan StudiosVelan Studios, an independent game developer, is looking for a Technical Artist Intern. They have one serious requirement for the applicants: You must be deeply curious about something and have some evidence of that curiosity.A perfect candidate should demonstrate a pattern of persistent and self-motivated exploration, specifically in shaders, cinematics (pipeline, workflow), lighting and rendering tech (lens flares, light baking, etc.), Environment Tech Art, VFX adjacent things (smoke/fluid simulation, animated shaders, etc.).Outfit7Outfit7, a Slovenian video game developer best known for creating the Talking Tom & Friends app and media franchise, is currently seeking an Animator Intern and a VFX Artist Intern.Animator Intern Requirements:Reel displaying examples of 3D (or 2D) animations.Experience working with game engines (Unity, Unreal, etc.) is a plus.Passion for gaming and experience working within a team is a plus.Experience working on game projects (personal, demos, game jams) is a plus.Experience in other art fields, such as 3D modeling and rigging, 2D is a plus.Valid student status.VFX Artist Intern Requirements:Portfolio or reel with examples of real-time VFX.Experience working on game projects (personal, demos, game jams) is a plus.Experience in 2D or 3D animation is a plus.Valid student status.CGMABonusIf you're looking to further develop your skills with expert guidance, consider exploring these courses that can support your progress and help you build a strong portfolio.CG Master Academy offers free portfolio reviews to help you enroll in courses that match your current skill level while also challenging you in areas that need improvement, supporting you in reaching your goals. Below are some of their courses that may be of interest to you:At CG Spectrum, you'll find many industry-focused courses in animation, VFX, digital art, game development, 3D visualization, and virtual filmmaking. Choose from beginner-friendly programs with hands-on projects and mentorship or advanced courses designed to help you master a specific area and build a portfolio that showcases your expertise and prepares you for the job market.CalArts offers continuing education arts courses designed to meet the needs of both emerging artists and lifelong learners. We've gathered a few options for you here:Think Tank Training Centre also has several programs for artists with prior experience, helping them build strong portfolios and prepare for careers in the creative industry:We're here to support artists by frequently sharing job opportunities, so keep an eye on our site and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

President Donald Trump threatened Apple with a tariff of at least 25% if it does not manufacture its iPhones in the US, ramping up pressure on the tech giant to secure more domestic production.“I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. “If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25 percent must be paid by Apple to the US”US equity futures dropped to session lows on Trump's announcement and his threat to impose a 50 percent tariff on goods from the European Union starting on June 1. Nasdaq 100 contracts led the decline, while Apple shares were down as much as four percent in pre-market trading.The president's demands for US-based manufacturing pose a stark challenge to the company, whose supply chains for its popular phones have been concentrated in China for years. The US lacks the rich ecosystem of Apple suppliers, manufacturing and engineering know-how that — for now — can only be found in Asia.Apple, which has become a frequent Trump target, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the president's threat. Earlier this month, the company warned that it would face $900 million (roughly Rs. 7,674 crore) in higher costs from tariffs in the current quarter. Last week, during his trip to the Middle East, Trump said he had asked Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to stop building plants in India to make devices for the US, pushing the iPhone maker to add domestic production as it pivots away from China.“I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday,” Trump said of his conversation. “He is building all over India. I don't want you building in India.”  Apple said earlier this year that it plans to spend $500 billion (roughly Rs. 42,63,505 crore) in the US over the next four years, which will include work on a new server manufacturing facility in Houston, a supplier academy in Michigan and additional spending with its existing suppliers in the country.But that stops short of the full shift to US-based production envisioned by Trump. Moving manufacturing of its signature iPhone and other devices to the US would be an enormous undertaking for the Cupertino, California-based company. Apple's biggest FATP facilities — short for final assembly, test and pack-out — are massive and incomprehensible to many people outside of Asia. They are almost towns themselves, with several hundred thousand people, schools, gyms, medical facilities and dormitories. One major iPhone factory, a complex in Zhengzhou, has even been dubbed iPhone City.Development of new iPhones and other products still starts at Apple's labs in Silicon Valley. But working with Asia-based component suppliers and other partners begins long before a product actually hits the market. Apple engineers and operations experts spend months or years working closely with Foxconn Technology Group, Pegatron Corp. and other suppliers to customise assembly of new devices.One popular counterpoint is that Apple should use its cash hoard to buy thousands of acres in the US and create a fully robotic and automated iPhone manufacturing facility. That would remove any human-related challenges from the manufacturing process, but supply chain experts say that is not realistic due to frequently changing demands. Also, much of the manufacturing equipment is made in China. Escalating pressure on Apple in recent weeks marks a change from the president's first term, when Cook had leveraged a personal relationship with Trump to win tariff carveouts for Apple products. For investors on Wall Street, it signals the uncertainty surrounding the impact of Trump's trade policy on one of the world's most valuable companies. “It's a red flag for me that Trump continues to single out Apple and seems to have something against them,” said Randy Hare, director of equity research at Huntington National Bank. “It doesn't mean that Trump is going to do anything more, but you can't predict what's going to happen, and that makes me cautious.”Cook was one of several Big Tech executives and billionaires who attempted to court Trump following his comeback election victory in November. The Apple CEO had traveled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for a series of private meetings and dinners. He also sat behind the president at the inauguration in January along with Elon Musk, Google's Sundar Pichai, Meta Platforms' Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon.com Founder Jeff Bezos.© Thomson Reuters 2025(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Further reading: Apple, iPhones, US, Donald Trump, Tariff Related Stories

There's no escaping spreadsheets. Tools like Excel and Google Sheets are ubiquitous these days, and learning how to use them more effectively will quickly enhance your daily work. But spreadsheets aren't always the easiest thing to work with. Grids of numbers, obscure menus, arcane formula syntax—it can leave you feeling lost and overwhelmed. That's the bad news.The good news? I've figured out how to harness AI to make Excel and Google Sheets much easier to work with. And I'm not talking about specialized plug-ins or spreadsheet-specific apps. Standard (and free) AI tools can give you a major leg up. I've been using my newfound spreadsheet superpowers to do everything from planning birthday dinners to automating work tasks and diving deeper into advanced features in Google Sheets.Here are my three favorite basic ways to level up your spreadsheet game with ChatGPT. You can use basic chatbots to effortlessly get structured data from almost any source, use AI as your personal formula generator, and even get personalized tutorials and guidance for mastering advanced features.Choosing Your AI Spreadsheet AssistantFor this project I'm using Google Sheets for my spreadsheet work and ChatGPT for AI assistance. But I regularly use other tools, like Google Gemini, and the same techniques apply. In fact, these tips will also work with other Anthropic's Claude, DeepSeek, Perplexity, and others.This guide also isn't limited to Google Sheets, since the same general approach works for Microsoft Excel and even more specialized tools like Microsoft Access.While sophisticated, purpose-built AI tools and even integrated AI features within Excel and Google Sheets exist (topics for another time), it's impressive how even these free chatbots can really elevate your everyday spreadsheet use. Right now, I'm using ChatGPT because it's the most popular AI tool out there, but you can get even more out of your spreadsheets when used synergistically with the right chatbot: If you're an Excel user, Microsoft Copilot delivers even more capability, while Google's Gemini is the best tool for enhancing Google Sheets. We'll address those specific tools in future articles but know that what we're looking at here is just scratching the surface.Stepping Up My Spreadsheet Game With Google Sheets and ChatGPTWhile I do not do financial analysis or data science as a writer for PCMag, I do deal with a fair amount of data. From test results to traffic reports—not to mention researching new stories and staying up to date on academic studies around AI and other tech topics—it's not unusual for me to have to dig through some numbers now and then.I've also found ways to speed up my data entry with a couple of handy automations that pull specific bits of information from a website or parse extra-long URLs to let me quickly grab product photos from an article when I need to reuse them elsewhere. But all of those tools require complex functions that, in all honesty, I don't want to figure out from scratch.AI has enhanced all of that, so let's explore the three most basic ways ChatGPT can help you do more with spreadsheets.1. Get Structured Data From Any SourceOne of my favorite uses for tools like ChatGPT is to take data from one source and turn it into a structured table or list. That sort of data manipulation can be grueling when done manually, but AI can do it quickly and accurately, letting you automate data entry and skip that step entirely.For example, I recently planned a birthday dinner for someone who loves sushi. But as anyone who knows their sashimi from their wasabi can tell you, bites of fish and rice get pricey. Putting the sushi selection and pricing details into a spreadsheet could make it easier to track who wanted what, how much, and what it would all cost. But first, I'd need to get all of that delicious data into spreadsheet format. I don't love sushi (or spreadsheets) enough to do all of that manually. Thankfully, ChatGPT is pretty great at taking data from one format (be it plaintext or a PDF) and outputting it as another. In this example, all I had to do was download the menu from the restaurant's website, upload it to ChatGPT, and specifically ask for a table that included all of the items on the sushi menu, with price information.(Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)It took a little tweaking to get things just how I wanted them, including details like whether it was priced per roll or per piece, but in short order, I had a nicely formatted table of menu items and prices. (Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)Copying and pasting into Google Sheets was a cinch. And here's a bonus tip: Pasting with CTRL+V might result in some funky data formatting. Instead, use CTRL+Shift+V to get tables to paste cleanly. (And for a real upgrade, you can do all of this with Google Gemini, and then output the resulting table directly to your Drive as a Google Sheet.)This works for more than just semi-structured restaurant menus and PDF files. You can do the same thing for plaintext lists, photos of whiteboards, scans of old book pages, almost anything. The output format can be as simple or complex as you want. You can output as a table or CSV or use structured formats like JSON or XML. In this case, while copy and paste would do the job just fine, I also wanted to demonstrate how easy it is to output something to a CSV file. (Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)If you're unfamiliar, CSV stands for "Comma-separated values" and is a plaintext file format for storing tabular data—literally tables of text and numbers. II's a file format that's supported by both Excel and Google Sheets, so even huge reports can be opened as a clean spreadsheet.(Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)As for the data in CSV format, just copy and paste the resulting text into a text file and change the file extension from .txt to .csv. Now, it can be easily opened in Excel or Google Sheets with proper table formatting, ready to be used however you need.2. The Three Fs: Formulas, Formatting, and FeaturesOnce you have your data, AI can also help you wrangle it. While you can use AI to do some data analysis, I find it's much better to just let AI assist me with building out my spreadsheets the way I want, using ChatGPT as an AI Excel formula generator.Recommended by Our EditorsExcel and Google Sheets formulas hit a sweet spot for tools like ChatGPT, where there's a ton of consistent and helpful instructional material on the topic in their training data. It's a mix of language and straightforward logic, making it easy for the AI to understand the tools and the syntax that often leaves human users scratching their heads. The result is even better: instant, copy-and-paste solutions.There are a ton of different ways to leverage this faculty with formulas. Here are just a few examples of the prompts I've found useful in my own work, starting with simple formulas.(Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)As you can see, these formulas work for handling math and logic, but also extracting information, whether it's grabbing domain names from email addresses or sifting through text for numbers.That same formula-writing capability is great for setting up more sophisticated conditional formatting rules:(Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)All you need to do is explain what you want the rule to do, and ChatGPT can figure out the formatting rule formulas for you, and even walk you through how to set up your custom formatting.And it goes the other direction, too. Not only can ChatGPT write formulas based on your plain English explanation of what you want it to do, but it can also break down what a complex formula does and walk you through the individual functions and variables. It's a great resource for learning formula syntax, but also for troubleshooting a formula that isn't working.(Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)Whether you need it for writing formulas, crafting rules for conditional formatting, explaining a formula you might not understand, or debugging a formula that's causing trouble, ChatGPT becomes your AI spreadsheet wingman.3. Learn Excel With AI: Your Personal VLOOKUP Tutorial and MoreChatGPT is also super-effective as a tutor for learning advanced features in Google Sheets and Excel. For all the same reasons that an AI chatbot is great at writing formulas, they're also well-equipped to teach you how to do things in your favorite spreadsheet app.What's the feature you've always thought would be useful but never really understood? Maybe it's Excel Macros or Google Sheets App Script. Maybe you feel intimidated by Regex, pivot tables, or VLOOKUP. Whatever it is, your AI tool of choice can probably help you learn it, and quickly.Now, you always have the option of looking up tutorial videos or digging through FAQs and help forums. There are even Excel tutors and courses that offer premium instruction on any aspect of the app you want to learn.But ChatGPT is also pretty great, and can do it for free. And it will do more than just regurgitate information; you can ask questions, get clarifications, and ask for step-by-step instructions when needed. You can also use it to create custom learning plans, make tutorials that solve your real-world problems and projects, and answer your questions over and over and over again. Unlike a human, AI won't grow impatient when you get stuck.Honestly, the best feature of using AI for learning is that it's endlessly patient and flexible. You can ask it anything, no matter how simple, complex, or specific to your exact use.For example, I needed to brush up on Google Sheets' ImportXML function to update several tools I use to grab product data as part of my work. So I used an extremely simple prompt to go over the basics:(Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)In response, ChatGPT walked me through the essential information about how ImportXML functions work, the nuances of Xpath usage, and the syntax of the formula structure used.(Credit: OpenAI / Brian Westover)And this isn't limited to any one function or feature. You can rinse and repeat to learn any aspect of Google Sheets or Excel, or all of them. You can even ask ChatGPT to put together a learning plan to boost your spreadsheet knowledge across the board.Smarter Spreadsheets for Your Daily LifeThese same uses can help you level up your own daily work in all sorts of ways. Whether you're assembling data for a weekly report, analyzing information to find actionable insights, or mining old content for new data, your use of spreadsheet tools can be simpler, faster, and more insightful.And we've only scratched the surface. Consider experimenting with using AI to go beyond basic formulas. The ability to use natural, conversational language to write complex formulas and fine-tune the more advanced features of modern spreadsheets is powerful. Even casually including your preferred chatbot in your daily work leverages AI productivity to make you faster and more efficient and unlock new ways to explore data for unexpected insights.But that doesn't mean that these lessons need to stay office-bound. AI can make Excel and Google Sheets so much more accessible, and you can leverage that in your daily life in creative ways:Grocery inventory and needs tracker to automate making grocery listsSchoolwork project and assignment tracker to keep you on course all semester longDIY Project materials calculator to keep your next project under budgetFantasy football draft and league tracking, so you can enjoy the gameAnd the broader lessons from these tips apply elsewhere. The same AI that can explain Excel formulas and teach you advanced features can be used to troubleshoot a Python script or quickly master the shortcuts in Adobe Photoshop.Personalized tutoring on things like Pivot Tables and ImportXML functions can also be applied to other subjects and skills. AI like ChatGPT is a hugely powerful learning tool and one that can be tailored to you, your projects, and your needs in any combination.Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

French fries at Steak 'n' Shake in Greenwood, Indiana. RFK Jr touted French fries while dining at a ... More Steak 'n' Shake.Missvain, Wikimedia Commons RFK Jr is not just bringing back infectious diseases like measles. Our top health official is working hard to back diet-related diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart attacks. During his first three months in office, RFK, Jr. has made three big pronouncements about what Americans should eat. The first is important but for the wrong reasons. The second builds on the fallacies of the first. And the third goes against 60 plus years of scientific evidence. 1. Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are poisoning us Something is poisoning the American people. And we know that the primary culprit is our changing food supply to highly chemical and processed food. RFK Jr, at his Senate Finance Confirmation Hearings, January 29, 2025 French Fries, with 13 Ingredients, would be considered an ultra-processed food.Open Food Facts RFK is not wrong if he is referring to ultra-processed foods (or UPFs). A recent study found that those who ate more UPFs were more likely to show early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and a review study linked UPFs to higher risk of dying from heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and mental health outcomes including anxiety and sleeping difficulties. UPFs are made from multiple ingredients including additives like colorants, flavor enhancers, and preservatives. They contain high amounts of sugars, salt, and fats, which makes them hyper-palatable, or simply tasty. And they are cheap, readily available (witness the local gas station convenience store), and handy to eat. Unfortunately for the consumer, a review of studies with a combined population of over 1 million, found that for each 10% increase in UPF consumption, your risk of mortality increases by 10%. Why are UPFs unhealthy? Many people eschew the long list of “chemicals” on the ingredient labels of everything from Wheaties to Fritos. One type of ingredient--food dyes--can have negative health effects and are associated with hyperactivity in children. In fact, MAHA hopes to ban food dyes in UPFs like soft drinks and Fruit Loops. Yet I haven’t heard MAHA alerting us to the high levels of salt, sugar, and saturated fat in UPFs… all things that have been shown over and over to contribute to chronic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer.FI/FOOD Washington Post Studio DATE: 1/7/05 PHOTO: Julia Ewan/TWP Kellogg's Fruit Loops now have 1/3 ... More less sugar and 12 added vitamins and minerals. (Photo by Julia Ewan/The The Washington Post via Getty Images)The Washington Post via Getty Images Dr Kevin Hall, who worked as a nutrition researcher at NIH for 21 years, found that people on an ultra-processed diet consumed about 500 more calories per day, which could explain why UPFs are associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity. But what explains why UPF consumers gobble up more calories? Dr Hall thinks energy density might be the culprit. Simply put, a chocolate chip cookie packs a lot more calories into every bite than a banana. So eating that ultra processed chocolate chip cookie means eating more calories per bite compared to eating fruit and other less processed foods. Not to mention that the sugar, salt and fat taste good… making me want to eat 4 or 5 chocolate chip cookies instead of one banana. Cramer ton, North Carolina, Floyd & Blackie's bakery employee with tray of large M&M chocolate chip ... More cookies. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesUndated: A bunch of ripe yellow Bananas. (Photo by Richard Whiting /Getty Images)Getty Images The preliminary results of Dr Hall’s recent study, which he posted on X, show that the high energy density and the irresistible taste of salt, sugar, and fat explain why people on high UPF diets eat more calories. But don’t expect to see the final results of this important study published anytime soon. Turns out Dr Hall took early retirement at 54 yrs old from his research position at NIH. Why? Because the MAHA administration forced him to withdraw his name from a paper on UPFs that mentioned “health equity”--or the difficulties some groups have accessing healthy food. The administration also took away the money Dr Hall needed to continue his UPF research, censored his media access, and even incorrectly edited his response to a NY Times inquiry. Just as we were on the brink of understanding why UPFs are making us sick, one of the world’s leading UPF scientists is out. Hard to see how lack of scientific information is Making Americans Healthy Again. 2. Eat Beef Tallow instead of Seed OilsWASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Beef tallow french fries photographed for Food in Washington, DC on March ... More 31, 2025. (Photo by Scott Suchman for The Washington Post via Getty Images; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post via Getty Images)The Washington Post via Getty Images While dining on fries and a double cheeseburger at Steak N Shake with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, Kennedy touted French fries cooked in beef tallow. Robert F. Kennedy Jr 10/21/24 @RobertKennedyJr Did you know that McDonald’s used to use beef tallow to make their fries from 1940 until phasing it out in favor of seed oils in 1990? This switch was made because saturated animal fats were thought to be unhealthy, but we have since discovered that seed oils are one of the driving causes of the obesity epidemic. …Americans should have every right to eat out at a restaurant without being unknowingly poisoned by heavily subsidized seed oils. It’s time to Make Frying Oil Tallow Again 🇺🇸🍔 Close-up of a large frozen ball of beef kidney fat during home rendering of beef tallow, Lafayette, ... More California, March 25, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)Gado via Getty Images To be sure, consuming a lot of seed oils raises health concerns, including that they contain few nutrients, are often highly processed, and some, like soybean oil, might contain unhealthy amounts of omega 6 acids. But, are seed oils worse than saturated animal fats? Seed oils, unlike animal fats, are mostly unsaturated. According to Dr. Christopher Gardner, director of nutrition studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center who has been studying the role of fat in our diet since 1995, "Every study for decades has shown that when you eat unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats, this lowers the level of LDL cholesterol [bad cholesterol] in your blood. There are actually few associations in nutrition that have this much evidence behind them…To think that seed oils are anywhere near the top of the list of major nutrition concerns in our country is just nuts." And in a 2025 study, participants with the highest intake of butter, which similar to beef tallow is largely saturated animal fat, had a 16% less likely to die. About ⅓ of the deaths were due to cancer, about a third to cardiovascular disease, and a third other causes. The authors conclude: “Substituting butter with plant-based oils may confer substantial benefits for preventing premature deaths. These results support current dietary recommendations to replace animal fats like butter with non hydrogenated vegetable oils that are high in unsaturated fats, especially olive, soy, and canola oil.” (Note that olive oil, while plant-based, is not a seed oil since most of the oil comes from the fleshy part of the olive.) Still life featuring a collection of olive oil bottles, 2011. (Photo by Tom Kelley/Getty Images)Getty Images In short, if you have to choose between seed oils and animal fat, you are probably better off with seed oils, or even better, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). But, you should avoid consuming too much of any sort of oil or fat, which brings us to the third RFK Jr pronouncement.RFK Jr and West Virginia Governor Morissey. Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ... More Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month In Los Angeles. Patrick Morrisey speaking at the 2017 CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland.Mario Tama, Getty Images; Gage Skidmore 3. Become a Carni-Bro At a public event to promote MAHA in West Virginia, RFK Jr body shamed Governor Patrick Morrisey for his weight. I’m going to put him on a really rigorous regime. We’re going to put him on a carnivore diet … Raise your hand if you want Governor Morrissey to do a public weigh-in once a month. And then when he’s lost 30 lbs I’m going to come back to this state and we’re going to do a celebration and a public weigh in with him. RFK, Jr. MAHA seems to be at the forefront of the next culture war: dump plant-based foods and become a “carni-bro.” Yet a comprehensive review of studies on foods and obesity concluded: High intakes of whole grains, legumes, nuts, and fruits are associated with a reduced risk of overweight and obesity, while red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with an increased risk of overweight and obesity. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 04: Spectators pose for a photo ahead of the 2023 Nathan's Famous Fourth ... More of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island on July 04, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. The annual contest, which began in 1972, draws thousands of spectators to Nathan’s Famous located on Surf Avenue. (Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)Getty Images How do UPFs compare to red meat? The only study I found comparing the two found people eating UPFs had an approximately 14% greater chance of dying whereas those who ate red meat had an approximately 8% chance of death over the same time period. (Those eating other types of meats like chicken and pork and fish did not have a greater chance of dying.) But this study was conducted with Seventh Day Adventists, whose meat consumption was way lower than the average American (while their UPF consumption was fairly typical of the US). People in West Virginia, whose governor is in fact rotund, are by far and away the biggest consumer of hotdogs in the US, at 481 hot dogs per person per year. In a recent UK study with a more typical population, every added 70 g of red meat and processed meat (like ham, hotdogs, bacon, and deli meats) per day was associated with a 15% higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 30% higher risk of diabetes. Because red and processed meat consumption is also associated with higher rates of cancer, the World Cancer Research Fund recommends limiting red meat to no more than three portions per week and avoiding processed meat altogether.TOPSHOT - An overweight woman walks at the 61st Montgomery County Agricultural Fair on August 19, ... More 2009 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. At USD 150 billion, the US medical system spends around twice as much treating preventable health conditions caused by obesity than it does on cancer, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. Two-thirds of US adults and one in five children are overweight or obese, putting them at greater risk of chronic illness like heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, according to reports released recently at the "Weight of the Nation" conference. AFP PHOTO / Tim Sloan (Photo by Tim SLOAN / AFP) (Photo by TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images Heart Disease: Still the leading killer According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, accounting for one in five deaths, or one death every 33 seconds. Heart disease cost the US about $252.2 billion from 2019 to 2020. And if you look at a map of where heart disease is more common, it looks uncannily like a map of MAHA supporters (including in West Virginia). .Heart Disease Death Rates, 2018–2020 for Adults, Ages 35+, by CountyCDC The first items in a list of CDC recommendations for preventing heart disease are all about food: Choose healthy meals and snacks high in fiber and limit saturated and trans fats, salt, and sugar. This sounds like a recipe for avoiding UPFs. But it could also be a recipe for substituting whole grains and fruit and vegetables for red and processed meats, which punch the double whammy of being meat and UPFs. Is RFK, Jr. Making America Healthy Again? Let’s celebrate Kennedy’s move away from UPFs, an important step toward improving Americans’ health. But why does our top health official publicly tout beef tallow, French fries, and double cheeseburgers, when we know that Americans’ consumption of saturated fat and meat lead to obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease? Or has he weighed in on ultra-processed meats, like Slim Jim’s, which with sales at $3 billion last year is America’s fastest growing snack?NEW ORLEANS - OCTOBER 01: Amanda Barrett (L), 18-years-old, watches her mother Eve Barrett peel a ... More mold-covered layer of paint off a wall as the family sees what is left of their home in the Lakeview District October 1, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The people of New Orleans are still cleaning up over a month after Hurricane Katrina hit the area. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)Getty Images It’s hard to understand what is going on in RFK’s brain. He gloms on to a limited number of studies suggesting health risks of eating seed oils, while ignoring saturated fats and even encouraging Americans to eat fast foods. He wants to rout out corruption in the food and pharmaceutical industry, yet uses his position to sell Make America Tallow Again hats and T-shirts. He says he believes climate change poses an existential threat, yet on his second day in office eliminated funding for research on heat waves, indoor mold after flooding, and other NIH climate change and health programs. And in his big May report on children’s health, he ignores the largest causes of death for those under 19--gun violence and accidents. Raise your hand if you want Secretary Kennedy to conduct a public truth-telling once a month.

I travel constantly and internationally. Whenever I return to the United States, I enjoy using Global Entry, which is like E-ZPass for customs. Here’s what it’s like: As you approach customs, you see a sign that says “Global Entry,” which leads you into a corral formed by retractable belt stanchions containing connected kiosks. A uniformed TSA agent tells you to stand in front of one of the stations, which takes your picture in about 2 seconds. The kiosk then tells you to proceed to the customs agent, who just waves you through. While entering a major airport like LAX or SFO from abroad normally involves 30 minutes in a massive line, Global Entry gets me through in 3 minutes. Technically, it’s not that big a boon. It merely means that I get to baggage claim way before most others on my flight, where I wait for 45 minutes for the bags. In any event, face recognition is the secret sauce of fast customs entry. Facial recognition works. It’s super handy for unlocking smartphones and computers, enhancing security through access control and surveillance, streamlining airport and border checks, enabling secure financial transactions, improving patient identification in healthcare, personalizing retail and customer experiences, supporting law enforcement in suspect identification, and facilitating fast check-ins at events and entertainment venues. But many oppose facial recognition technology because it jeopardizes privacy, civil liberties, and personal security. It enables constant surveillance and raises the specter of a dystopian future in which people feel afraid to exercise free speech. Another issue is that one’s face can’t be changed like a password can, so if face-recognition data is stolen or sold on the Dark Web, there’s little anyone can do about the resulting identity theft and other harms. But as people fret and debate about the tradeoff between convenience and security on the one hand, and privacy risk and dystopia on the other, the surveillance tech industry has quietly moved beyond face recognition. Facing the reality of the new biometrics A company called Veritone is succeeding in the market for its Track product. As with face recognition tech, Veritone Track uses AI to spot, identify, and follow people. But unlike facial recognition, it uses body size, gender, hair color, clothing, accessories, and more. Police departments that use Track can choose attributes from a menu (specific types and colors of clothing, hats, backpacks, and other items), and then the system shows them video clips of people matching the user-selected criteria. The system can also track vehicles by make and model, rather than by license plate, and it can stitch together clips from different cameras (CCTV, body cameras, drone footage, social media, and smartphone uploads) to build a timeline of location. More than 400 clients, including police departments, universities, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, and others, are already using Track, Veritone says. Track is part of Veritone’s iDEMS (Intelligent Digital Evidence Management System), which itself is powered by the aiWARE platform, which brings together more than 300 different AI models (like those for transcription, object detection, etc.) to extract insights from otherwise unrelated data sources, according to the company. Veritone’s offering isn’t alone. Clothing and attribute recognition technology is available through various APIs and platforms, often provided by companies specializing in computer vision and AI. Companies like Ximilar, Clarifai, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft offer identification based on attributes other than face recognition. In addition to specific-person identification, these companies use such technology for product tagging, personalized shopping recommendations, fashion trend analysis, and enhanced image search. Other services combine face recognition with the recognition of people based on clothing and other attributes. In fact, you probably use these technologies all the time whenever you use Google Photos or Meta’s Facebook. Google Photos, for example, analyzes photos taken together in time and detects if a person is wearing the same clothing across multiple photos, even if their face is not visible. The system also considers visual cues and other attributes to help identify individuals across multiple photos taken within a similar timeframe. I once uploaded a picture of two nieces, which I had taken with my iPhone, to Google Photos. When I search for myself, this picture shows up. Why? One of my nieces is wearing mirror sunglasses, and a reflection of my arm is visible in them. Meta developed and uses algorithms that can identify people in photos even when their faces aren’t visible by analyzing visual cues like clothing, hairstyles, and body language. Both platforms use a combination of facial recognition, clothing, and other attribute recognition, as well as contextual information, to improve the accuracy of identifying individual people. What’s also worth noting is that they do this entirely without the subjects’ permission. For example, I could take a picture of someone who doesn’t even have a Google account, then label their face in Google Photos with their name. Many active Google Photos users label dozens of people in their Photos lineup, and most of these people do have Google accounts, which Google could match to their photos. The new world of identification Worry about face recognition tends to obscure the real situation we all find ourselves in: Face recognition is now just one of many ways new technology can identify you. You can be identified by your gait (how you walk). And surveillance cameras now use AI-powered video analytics to track behavior, not just faces. They can follow you based on your clothing, the bag you carry, and your movement patterns, stitching together your path across a city or a stadium without ever needing a clear shot of your face. The truth is that face recognition is just the most visible part of a much larger system of surveillance. When public concern about face recognition causes bans or restrictions, governments, companies, and other organizations simply circumvent that concern by deploying other technologies from a large and growing menu of options. Whether we’re IT professionals, law enforcement technologists, security specialists, or privacy advocates, it’s important to incorporate the new identification technologies into our thinking, and face the new reality that face recognition is just one technology among many.

Fortnite is one of the world's most popular games, and it's only getting bigger so it's a good idea to educate yourself on what it offers in 2025—including parental controls and moreTech10:00, 23 May 2025Could Fortnite be back on iPhone soon?Half-term is fast approaching, and there’s a good chance if your kids are of a certain age, they’ll be looking forward to dropping into Fortnite.Epic’s battle royale has taken on a life of its own, now offering a whole host of experiences ranging from LEGO Fortnite Brick Life, to Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival experiences.‌Still, we all get worried about kids spending too long playing, or splurging on skins and in-game items. Thankfully, Epic Games has given the Daily Star some handy tips to avoid any half-term headaches.‌Here’s what parents need to know.Fortnite has more than 190,000 games within its library of Epic Games developed and community-made experiences, and each has its own PEGI rating from 3+ to 12, meaning you can identify at a glance whether something is age-appropriate for your child.You can set limits within the game itselfArticle continues belowIn the UK, kids under 13 will automatically be placed in a Cabined Account, which Epic says is “designed to create a safe and inclusive space for younger players”.“Players in a Cabined Account can still play Fortnite, but won’t be able to access certain features like voice or text chat until a parent provides consent,” Epic told us.Parental controls offer a surprising amount of granularity and range from preventing younger players from having access to voice or text chat with anyone other than friends, as well as removing spending options.‌You can even set time limit controls to help ensure your kids aren’t neglecting homework or socialising in favour of grinding out the Battle Pass.You can also set limits onlinePerhaps most impressively, Epic has made parental controls easy to set up even if you’ve never held a controller before. Simply head towww.epicgames.com/id/login and sign into your child’s Epic Games account, or access parental controls directly in Fortnite - just click on your account icon in the top right corner when in-game.‌With Fortnite’s diverse offering of games and experiences, there’s something for everyone to play.Playing with your kids can help strengthen bonds, and forge new strategies. It’s also a great way to chill out and build with digital LEGO!For more on Fortnite, check out the latest on the game's return to Apple devices, as well as which Fortnite LEGO sets make our list of the best ones around.Article continues belowFor the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.‌‌‌

Everywhere you look within the Google universe these days, it’s Gemini, Gemini, Gemini. Just this past week, El Googleton devoted essentially its entire Google I/O conference keynote to — yep, you guessed it — Gemini. We heard about all sorts of futuristic-sounding ways the generative AI assistant will, like, totally revolutionize our lives, with endlessly technical explanations of how the latest and greatest Gemini models will move into more and more Google services and take over more and more of our day-to-day doings. That’s all fine and dandy — in theory. In reality, of course, these genAI engines are far less capable, consistent, and reliable than they’re made out to be, and most of those more advanced functions (including anything involving any manner of info seeking, answer providing, or text processing) are generally more of a liability than an asset. But while it’s best to take most of the breathless hype with a hefty grain of salt, Gemini does have some genuinely useful capabilities. They just tend to be much more basic and narrowly focused than the overly ambitious ideas Google’s goin’ gaga for (and, as far as I can tell, most normal people have no idea what to do with in the real world). Fittingly enough, this week, I accidentally stumbled onto a perfect example. It’s a simple-as-can-be Gemini feature that handles one basic task and handles it extraordinarily well. It won’t upend the world, revolutionize your life, or give you a glimpse of our allegedly inevitable AI-laden future. Honestly, it’s debatable as to whether it actually even qualifies as AI at all. But it’s incredibly useful, in a way that’ll instantly fit into your workflow and make your days easier. And, if you ask me, that’s a much more meaningful measure of success than what any complex AI-assessing metric can measure. [Want even more actually practical Android knowledge? Check out my free Android Shortcut Supercourse to learn tons of time-saving tricks.] Gemini as your on-demand memo machine This Gemini gem is so simple, in fact, that it’s actually something our beloved old Google Assistant also used to be able to handle. But I had no idea it had carried over into Gemini in an updated form until I randomly happened to try it whilst playing around with something unrelated. So here it is: With a simple spoken — or, if you prefer, typed out — command, Gemini can remember anything you tell it. And then, at any point down the road, it can recall that info for you and bring it back to your attention with a quick ‘n’ easy ask. It’s essentially your own on-demand memo machine, in other words. And it’s already right there in your pocket, waiting to be called into action. Here’s all you’ve gotta do to tap into its tucked-away powers: Summon Gemini on whatever Android phone or tablet is in front of you. Depending on the device and its settings, you might be able to do this by saying Hey Google, by pressing and holding your power button, or by tapping a shortcut on your home screen — or, no matter what device you’re using or how it’s configured, you can always ​download the standalone Gemini app and open it up that way, too. Type or say remember that [something] is [something] — filling in your own description and item to be remembered in those two spots. So, for instance, you might say remember that the door code is 77773, remember that my boss’s husband is named Hubert, remember that my rental car license plate is PORKY292, or remember that lot 3 is the best place to park. In the blink of an eye, you should see a confirmation that Gemini has remembered what you asked. Once you’ve asked it to remember something, Gemini will confirm that it’s made a (metaphorical) mental note.JR Raphael, Foundry Now, ready for the cool part? Total Gemini recall The next time you need to recall whatever info you told Gemini, you can simply summon the service once more — exactly as you did a moment ago — and ask it for whatever you provided.  To follow our same examples from earlier, then, you might ask things like: What’s the door code? What’s my boss’s husband named? What’s my rental car license plate? Where is the best place to park? And, shazam: So long as your inquiry is reasonably close to the description you used when you saved the info, Gemini will cough it back up for you anytime, anywhere. One quick command will recall anything you’ve asked Gemini to remember.JR Raphael, Foundry You can even access the same info via Gemini on any device where you’re signed into the same Google account — phone, tablet, or any kind of computer, too. It works the same exact way, no matter what specific setup you’re using. And one extra little tip: If you ever want to see and optionally also edit the entire list of everything you’ve ever asked Gemini to remember, you can do so by pulling up this page in any browser where you’re signed in. All of your saved info in a single spot — available on any device, anytime.JR Raphael, Foundry As you may notice, this feature is officially meant for telling Gemini things that’ll affect how it interacts with you — like, for instance, that you prefer short and concise responses or that you’d like it to include a translation to Spanish with every answer it serves up. But within that ambitious architecture exists a delightfully simple memo-making superpower. And sometimes, it’s the simplest stuff that’s the most useful of all. Get six full days of advanced Android knowledge with my free Android Shortcut Supercourse. Tons of time-saving tricks await!