USB audio is great, but what if you needed to use it and had no budget? Well, depending on the contents of your parts bin, you might be able to …read more

Maybe it’s the state of the world, or just the state of my life, but it feels like everything in the world of digital content has gotten more fraught.Photo by Riccardo, PexelsIt’s a weekday morning and I’m sipping coffee, scanning my calendar for my meetings today, preparing my work, swimming in a slog of newsletters, flipping between tabs open to current events in our very anxious, uncertain world, and trying to start my day with a deep breath.​Yet I keep thinking: Why does this feel so hard?I know I don’t have to know it all right now. I’m taking another breath, remembering the words I wrote a couple years ago.It might be hard because things are tough right nowI’ll acknowledge the obvious: The world is a scary place.The pandemic alone brought mental health issues to an all-time high — nearly 41% of U.S. adults experienced “psychological distress” during the pandemic, and since then, it’s been a rolling collection of additional anxieties.There are political upheavals, cultural shifts, and other changes happening every day, every hour, that feel uncertain.Thousands are losing their jobs in America, particularly dedicated civil servants.Diversity, equity, and inclusion practices are being chopped and impacting the future of higher education, government enterprise, and beyond.The identities of millions are being challenged politically.And in between, those of us working in the digital space — websites, development, digital marketing, etc. — are trying to keep up on how to do our jobs and do them well. At least well enough to cut through the noise. At least well enough to help the person on the other side of the screen, whoever that may be and whatever they may need.As I’ve been combing through the news, I find myself getting depressed, anxious, angry. I don’t have a lot of influence individually of what I can change but I can join voices in my community, write letters to my representatives, and keep voting for the values that align with me and protect others.In your circle of influence, you can control your health, your mind, and how you show up for those around you. Focus on that and try to remember you’re Just Human.It might be hard because technology is changing how we do our jobsArtificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for a long time. In truth, we’ve used it in many forms over the years, from search engines to our phone voice assistants and more.But to my rattled brain, it feels like I woke up one morning and AI was everywhere and it was the only way forward to do our job, and gosh darnit if we don’t use it, we’re in trouble.One day I was just a content strategist, humming along, doing what I’ve done for 15 years. And then suddenly I need a robot to do it better. Yet some research tells us using AI makes us lonelier and makes work less enjoyable in some ways.Don’t get me wrong: AI has its place. I’ve found it incredibly useful for content editing, tightening, formatting content for HTML.But it’s new and I’m learning. So that’s OK, right?Apparently not. The speed at which AI is adopted and expected to be used is quite frankly, startling. Browse any job listing on LinkedIn and you’ll see AI and AI tools as part of the requirements for job.My advice: Learn what you want, at the pace that’s comfortable. You can’t learn it all today, or tomorrow. You can only learn a little bit at a time.Remember learning to read? Me neither. But I can assure you it wasn’t in a day or two. It took years. Just like learning to write in cursive took practice. And riding my bike took some falls.It took time and patience. We have the right to exercise that now, as grown-ups. So take your time. Say to yourself, “Let me try,” and dismiss the voice over your shoulder or in your head telling you to go faster.It might be hard because we’re taking this…too seriously?Hear me out: In a world that’s so deadly serious (no pun intended), it seems we’re bringing that heaviness into how we do our work.One thing you’ll never hear me call my work as a content strategist: Referring to it as a vocation. While I love the work I do, it’s not all I’m meant to be.I like to tell people: I work to make websites better. The end. I do that by:talking to real peopleunearthing challenges and opportunitiesemploying useful, approachable strategies to make user experience betterbuilding website navigation and architecture that connects pages and information in meaningful waysteaching accessibility, inclusionary content, and the value of making information easy to read and understand for all people​There’s more, of course, but you get the gist. And I’m one tiny fish in a sea of people who do this and do it well.But a quick scan of my inbox newsletters, LinkedIn posts, any other articles about user experience, and you’ll be bombarded with a five alarm fire of what we all need to be doing better, pushing harder, hustling, self-publishing, and learning All The Things.A quick tip: You don’t have to run a four-minute mile. Take your time. Time a breath. Walk, don’t run. Focus on what you do well, and identify things you want to learn now, and make time to practice them. Don’t drown in the overload.It might be hard because we’re being too hard on ourselvesDo something with me. Stop reading, stop thinking. Follow this instruction:Close your eyes.Take a deep breath in. Count to four. Hold for a count of three. Release for a count of four.In…1, 2, 3, 4…hold…Out…1, 2, 3, 4…We’re trying to keep up: At work, at home, everywhere in between. There are chores to be done, tasks to be completed, people to stay in touch with, events to attend, and somehow still need to squeeze in a restful night’s sleep.We’re going too fast and too hard.As I recognize this in myself, I’ve been exercising the right to say ‘no’ to things I can’t prioritize. I’ve been putting my phone down and in another room so I can pick up my embroidery or crochet hook and do something analog.I make time at the end of the night to put the dishes away, tidy the living room, clear my office desk.And I’ve been making time for the people and things that make time for me, who reach out and say “Let’s get together and have a laugh.”And for goodness sake, please find a way to laugh.That alone may be a tall order in a world of chaos right now. But as the great Kurt Vonnegut once said, “I’d rather laugh than cry. There’s less cleaning up to do afterward.”Slow down. When you have a moment of free time, don’t ask what you should be doing. Ask what you want to do.And at the end of the day, pat yourself on the back. “You made it another day,” you can say quietly to your rattled brain as you wind down for the evening. “Good job, you.”When did UX & content get so hard? was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.If your kitchen counter is currently housing a Vitamix blender, you know that you can whip up some serious soups, sauces, and nut butters in that thing. In fact, my Vitamix's hot soup function is one of my favorite ways to use it. But it is almost summer, and I am no longer in the mood for soup. Now I crave chilled treats. Can my favorite blender, the Vitamix Ascent X5 go from hot soup to sorbet? Yes, and surprisingly well. Here’s how to make yourself a frozen dessert in this amazing blender.The Vitamix is not an ice cream machineIt’s important to note that the Vitamix is a blender, and not an ice cream machine. Most ice cream machines have some sort of cooling mechanism (whether coolant, a compressor, or a frozen bowl) to chill the mixture while a dasher or auger incorporates air—the smaller the air bubbles, the creamier the texture. The Vitamix doesn’t have a cooling system. The blades create heat, so instead it uses them, and speed, to its advantage. This means you need to work in reverse—add already frozen food to the blender and it will whip air into the mixture as it chops up the ingredients. Then all you have to do is freeze the resulting soft-serve texture into a more solid state. As much as I enjoy a specialty appliance like the Ninja Slushi (it’s pretty badass), the multipurpose Vitamix Ascent X5 blender truly caters to my tiny kitchen's space limitations. I need to do a lot of different things with a select few appliances, and the Vitamix's frozen dessert capabilities add a whole new category to my home menus. (While the Ascent X5 makes things easier, you can use any Vitamix—I'll add those instructions at the end of this article.) Vitamix Ascent X5 Blender $749.95 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $749.95 at Amazon How to use the frozen dessert function on the Vitamix Ascent X5 1. Consider the ingredientsThe most important thing to consider is the ratio of your frozen to liquid ingredients. Since this blender doesn’t have a cooling system to make frozen desserts, you need to add the coldest stuff you can, while still providing enough liquid to move the frozen stuff around so the blades can catch it.  Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann The Vitamix website gives the guideline of 1 cup frozen to ¼ cup liquid. This amount of liquid, along with some vigorous tamping with the plastic tamper bat, will result in a thick, soft serve-like consistency that you can enjoy immediately, or freeze to a more solid, ice cream-like state. To experiment, I used two cups of frozen banana slices, and a half-cup of a sweetened vegan cream. (Forgive me, but I have a lactose intolerant Italian-American partner who would be furious if I used regular heavy cream.) Add everything to the blender container and secure the lid. 2. Pick your presetTurn the power on. Press the three line “burger” button and you’ll see an array of food icons appear on the digital display. Use the rotating dial to select the one that looks like a tall stemmed glass with a pompadour and a little spoon handle.  Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Have your plastic tamper ready—this part only takes 50 seconds.3. Blend and tampPress the start button. Take out the lid’s central plug and start tamping the ingredients with the tamper. The machine will start at a slower speed and ramp up pretty quickly. Your only job is to force frozen objects down into the blender blades. Once they all finally disappear into the mixture you can end your tamping session.4. Look for the “quadrants”Remember when I mentioned making hot soup in this thing? Well, the reason the soup gets hot is because of the heat that builds from the friction of blades running at high speeds. You want that heat to happen as little as possible for your frozen dessert. This setting only runs for 50 seconds but if you see four humps, or quadrants, forming in the mix, then that’s the tell-tale sign that your dessert is completely smooth and finished blending. It should look like this: Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Once you see the quadrants, stop the preset, even if there’s time left. My mixture was finished after 40 seconds, so I stopped the machine and worked quickly to decant it into a metal loaf pan that I had chilled in the freezer earlier. I sprinkled some chopped chocolate on top and popped it into the freezer for a couple hours to set.  Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Not only does this frozen dessert scoop like a dream, but the texture and flavor are incredible. While it's technically not true ice cream, it eats like ice cream. I was afraid after freezing it solid that it would be rock solid, but no—the mixture is nicely aerated and the consistency is creamy and smooth.How to use a Vitamix without a cold treat presetIf you don’t have the Ascent X 5 model, you can still use any Vitamix blender the same way, you just have to control the speed with the dial yourself. Start on a low speed so the blades can catch the ingredients and then ramp up to the top speed within the next 10 to 15 seconds. Look for the same quadrants to form, and then turn off the blender. Get ready to spend the summer exploring any frozen dessert flavor combination you can dream up.

There’s something uniquely satisfying about putting down roots in a sleepy town in games like Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, or Disney Dreamlight Valley. Palia evolves this tradition to great effect, injecting large-scale multiplayer into that tried-and-true formula. After more than 70 hours of chopping down trees, hunting woodland critters, decorating my home, and hanging out with my fellow Palians, I’ve had a fantastic time catching up on all I’ve missed since the early days of the beta. There are beautiful regions to explore, interesting items and artifacts to craft or collect, and lots of compelling quests to complete – and the new content in the Elderwood expansion that arrived alongside its console launch added quite a bit to what was already a life-consuming vortex of coziness. That said, Palia still feels quite unfinished in some ways, with a story that abruptly cuts off right in the middle and some pretty serious bugs and performance issues plaguing it, but it’s easy to forgive much of that when you and your friends are enjoying a quiet evening of fishing together.Palia is a cozy life sim with one major tweak: you’re in an online world that occasionally compels you to come out of your shell and interact with other humans – a sometimes Herculean task for the introverts often drawn to this genre. As you explore, you’ll encounter others out in the shared world going about their business, and are encouraged (or sometimes required) to cooperate with them. For example, you’ll get a buff for fishing with others and will find magical trees that can only be chopped down with the help of one or more friends. This has led to a community that’s astoundingly positive and helpful, with the vast majority of the public chat being PSAs from players who have found a valuable resource they’d like to share with strangers, then waiting for minutes on end for everyone to assemble before collecting it as a group. I spend a lot of time playing multiplayer games defined by the community’s potent toxicity and savage greed, so this kind of culture was truly a shock to my system that took me a long time to adjust to.PlayAlthough multiplayer is its signature twist, you can still do the vast majority of Palia’s activities by yourself. There’s also just a whole heck of a lot for you to do however you decide to tackle it, all in service of building up your home and improving your relationships with the NPC townsfolk. The usual zen-like staples of cooking and catching bugs are all here and actually quite good – the fishing minigame, for example, is less mindless than you usually find in the genre, having you tug and pull on your rod as the fish leaps into the air and puts up a fight. There’s even a few less common options like hunting, where you’ll pick off poor critters who burrow into the ground and leap into trees as you pepper them with arrows. While an absence of stress is an intentional focus of Palia’s design, it sometimes tries a bit too hard to accomplish that goal, like in how your arrows will magically home in on your target incredibly aggressively, sometimes turning corners to aid your aim. I’m all for a laid back experience, but it can be a bit obnoxious when you’re trying to line up a shot and the magnetism training wheels curve your arrow toward a different creature altogether, frustrating what’s supposed to be a chill activity.Palia has a surprisingly full-featured main story as well. It has you exploring ancient ruins to uncover the truth about a world which was once populated by humans who are curiously gone now, and the dark history of magic that seemingly caused the collapse of society. This adventure is much more light-hearted than that might sound, though, and you’re mostly just given opportunities to learn about the world and hang out with the characters who accompany you on quests while you platform around and solve simple puzzles. Per Palia’s adherence to cozy virtues, none of this is particularly demanding, and the mainline quests can be completed in a matter of hours if you focus on them, but I enjoyed diving just a tad deeper into the world and the break from grinding for iron ore to craft the next piece of furniture I just couldn’t live without.The usual staples of cooking and fishing are all here, and quite good.“That said, while I quite enjoy the tale Palia tells, it feels disappointingly incomplete compared to every other aspect of the adventure – even after the Elderwood expansion arrived. The original cliffhanger ending was replaced by yet another hanging chad just an hour or two later, with a handful of chores and a brief new major dungeon spread across a surprisingly short bit of story. You’re telling me I’ve got this massive new map to explore, new creatures to hunt, and new characters to romance, but we still haven’t finished even one arc in the main plot.Thankfully, there are plenty of distractions and minigames to mix things up, like a hotpot-themed card game I spent way too much time playing, or a surprisingly intricate platforming puzzle that took me hours to master. Sometimes these experiments exceed Palia’s grasp, like the platforming sections in particular, which are held back by clunky controls that don’t seem like they were designed with precision in mind – climbing can be quite an irritating experience as your character will let go of surfaces inconsistently, sending you plummeting to your death. But the stakes in taking these spills are always very low, so there’s not much to lose aside from a bit of your time wasted. Other times, you’ll find yourself doing a sliding picture puzzle and think “y’know, this is pretty nice,” so I mostly found myself happy they took these shots nonetheless.TieGuyTravis' Favorite Cozy GamesIf you're looking for a game that pairs well with a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea, look no further than these TieGuyTravis-approved recommendations.See AllOf course, the purpose behind all these undertakings is to gain as much gold as you can to upgrade and decorate your home, and Palia’s got one of the better home building systems I’ve seen. Rather than giving you no control over the blueprint of your house like in Animal Crossing or Disney Dreamlight Valley, or making you monkey around with a building mode that has you placing individual walls like The Sims, Palia favors a modular system: You unlock schematics for pieces of a home that you can freely snap onto various parts of your building, making it easy to design the general layout without having to get lost in the weeds. Then, once you’ve built your place, you can decorate it down to the most minute detail, dragging furniture, dolls, and cups around on a grid to make it just so. I could probably spend dozens of hours on this part of Palia alone, were it not for my insatiable need for cold hard cash to fund my homestead expansion. But that desire to make your place exactly as awesome as you want it to be is a serious motivator that sent me out in search of lumber and iron ore time and time again.Those resource grinds each have their own progression systems as well, as you level up by repeatedly going out into the world and bringing back your haul of raw materials and collectibles to sell. As you plant trees and craft furniture, you’ll unlock new equipment like a loom for creating fabric or a furnace for creating glass. You’ll also get better tools to perform cozy chores with, like a hoe that lets you till land faster or a bow and arrows that will let you take down prey in fewer shots, each of which feels like a handy upgrade that shows up at exactly the right moment you start feeling a need for it. The timegating that sometimes boxes you out of marathoning through everything in other life sims is mercifully absent here for the most part, so you can move as fast or as slow as you care to.Palia has one of the better home building systems I’ve seen. “The other major pursuit in Palia is in getting to know and develop relationships with its 26 NPC residents, most of whom are really well-written and have a lot more to them than meets the eye. Most have an arc that takes place over several quests where they let you see a bit more of their personality as you forge a friendship. I quite enjoyed hanging out with the sarcastic and moody daughter of the mayor, Kenyatta, who worked the front desk with all the enthusiasm of April from Parks and Recreation – but after helping her down the extremely chaotic path of discovering what she’s passionate about in life, I grew to appreciate her in a less superficial way. Even characters I really didn't jive with like Elouisa, a cryptid-obsessed hippy who annoyed me to no end, was at least entertainingly irritating, and I’ve learned to appreciate how much her personality bothers me over time. (We’ve all got a friend like that, don’t we?) And, of course, if you’re looking for more than friendship you can partake in Palia’s quite strong dating mechanics to get yourself a girlfriend or boyfriend, or several of them – no judging here.Unfortunately, this is one area where timegating gets in the way of a good time, and is one of the only places Palia boxes you out. You’re only allowed to chat with each character once per in-game day (a 30-minute period of real time), which improves your social links a very small amount, and you can only give each character a gift once per real world day. So if you’re trying to finish a particular character’s story, you’ll have to log on with regularity and be subjected to the same rotation of brief banter before you’re able to make any real progress. This is especially painful early on when your citizenship in Kilima Village is dependent on having someone in town to vouch for you – a task that’s made impossible to do in a short span by timegating. When every other area of Palia lets you play to your heart’s content, it’s pretty annoying to see such an essential part of this slice of life block you from progressing at your own pace.The Elderwood ExpansionThe Elderwood expansion is the most recent addition to Palia, and the biggest content update since its 2023 debut by far. It adds a substantial map with several small regions to explore and interesting new enemies to hunt (like really good frog-like creatures that spit reptilian phlegm at you), and some neat gadgets and quality of life improvements to enjoy. The Elderwood region is filled with color and weird creatures, which are quite unlike the two base maps, injecting some much needed variety into the world. Some of the additions, like relics that make tracking down materials easier and new resource nodes like palium and platinum, are fantastic things to pursue if you’re like me and have already accumulated hundreds of copper and iron. There’s even a new NPC to meet, Ulfe, a wild child who has a very different vibe than the rest of the cast so far, and who I enjoyed having a series of communication breakdowns with. Elderwood certainly doesn’t rock the boat in any major way, but it’s a nice, and overdue supplement that simply offers more of the Palia I already know and love.Palia has come a long way since I first played it over a year ago, but one thing that remained true after this latest update is that it’s still missing quite a bit. Even with the beefy new Elderwood map joining the original two, the number of areas to explore is fairly small, and though they’ve got nooks and crannies for you to discover, you can more-or-less see most of what’s available in a few hours. Social features, though awesome when they happen, still feel quite slim for a game where the killer feature is supposed to be its online functionality, and there aren’t enough activities that encourage group play. And although there are quite a few options for decorating your house, surprisingly little of it can be interacted with once placed. You can’t lie in bed, turn on the sink, or really do much of anything with most objects, which sometimes made me feel like I was building a museum rather than a home. (They did add the ability to flick the light switches on and off, which is at least something.) Elderwood isn’t planned to be the final update or anything, so these are shortcomings that will hopefully be built out in the future, but I’m a bit surprised that some of them aren’t farther along all the same.The other major issue with Palia has been its bugs and performance issues, which have gotten remarkably better but are still pretty common. I quite frequently see NPCs sink into the floor, sometimes altogether hidden underground to the point where I can’t interact with them, there’s a bunch of very visible pop-in that happens while you’re running around, and loading times when traveling between each section of the map feel far longer than they should. Playing on the Nintendo Switch is especially eyebrow raising, as everything looks pretty awful and runs significantly worse, to the point where I really can’t recommend it on that platform in the same way I enthusiastically would elsewhere.

Elon Musk is charging ahead with his legal fight against OpenAI, extending his long-running feud with its CEO Sam Altman.During a video interview at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha on Tuesday, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO once again said OpenAI has fundamentally changed from its original intent — which was to be an open-source, nonprofit that produced AI for the good of humanity."And now they're trying to change that for their own financial benefit, into a for-profit company that is closed source," Musk said.Musk, who left OpenAI in 2018 and later went on to start his own competing AI company, xAI, says he invested around $50 million in OpenAI when he co-founded it with Altman in 2015."So this would be like, let's say you funded a nonprofit to help preserve the Amazon rainforest, but instead of doing that, they became a lumber company, chopped down the forest, and sold the wood," Musk added. "You'd be like, wait a second, that's not what I funded. That's OpenAI."Musk first filed a lawsuit against OpenAI last year, before withdrawing it and replacing it with another suit claiming the company had "betrayed" its mission when it created a for-profit arm in 2019 and expanded its partnership with Microsoft in 2023. And in September of last year, OpenAI announced that it would be transitioning from a nonprofit into a for-profit company.The ChatGPT maker then abandoned that commitment earlier this month, announcing that its nonprofit would stay in control of its for-profit division.But, Musk and his legal team remain unconvinced by that pivot. His lawyers said in a filing earlier this month that OpenAI's turnabout is "a façade that changes nothing," arguing that it does little to restore the nonprofit's original goal to serve the public.An OpenAI spokesperson told BI in a statement that, "Elon continuing with his baseless lawsuit only proves that it was always a bad-faith attempt to slow us down."xAI and a lawyer for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Interviews A Minecraft Movie: Piotr Karwas (VFX Supervisor) & Elizabeth “Liz” Bernard (Animation Supervisor) – Digital Domain By Vincent Frei - 20/05/2025 With 20+ years in film and advertising, Piotr Karwas has supervised VFX for top directors including David Fincher and Tim Burton. His recent work includes The Electric State, Elevation, he’s here today to talk about the Digital Domain work on A Minecraft Movie. After discussing The Electric State with us a few months ago, Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Bernard is back—this time to talk about her work on A Minecraft Movie. How did you and Digital Domain get involved on this show? Piotr Karwas: We were approached by the Warner Bros. VFX team as they were looking to bring on an additional vendor to help complete the remaining visual effects work. It was also an opportunity to be the best dad ever, since both of my kids are huge Minecraft fans. How was the collaboration with Director Jared Hess and VFX Supervisor Dan Lemmon? Piotr Karwas: I’ve known Dan Lemmon since our time working together at Digital Domain. We collaborated on several projects in the early 2000s, so it was a great opportunity to team up again. As for Jared, I’ve been a fan of his work ever since his first feature, Napoleon Dynamite. Years ago, I also had the chance to briefly work on his film Gentlemen Broncos. The blend of Jared’s signature humor with the global phenomenon of Minecraft was simply too exciting to pass up. I knew I wanted to be involved. Although Digital Domain joined the project later in the production process, we quickly got up to speed and delivered our work on time, despite some challenges. What are the sequences made by Digital Domain? Piotr Karwas: Our primary focus was the final battle sequence, but we also contributed to several fully live-action shots featuring set extensions and some CG animation, primarily around the entrance to the mine. Could you walk us through the process of creating the 500+ Piglins and Iron Golems clashing in that 360° battlefield? What were some of the major technical challenges in making that sequence come to life? Piotr Karwas: One of the key creative challenges was striking the right balance between honoring the iconic look and feel of the game while delivering a cinematic, action-packed experience. The goal was to blend a sense of realism through the movement and design of characters and environments with the charm and style of the Minecraft universe. Under the guidance of Jared and Dan, and in close collaboration with the other vendors, we were able to craft something truly unique. The battle unfolds during the Piglin invasion, as the sunny atmosphere of the Overworld begins to transform into a darker, more menacing environment reminiscent of the Nether. The entire battlefield was designed to function seamlessly in both visual states, capturing the warmth and cheer of the original Overworld, while also supporting its dramatic shift into a hellish landscape filled with fire and gloom. Additionally, the stylized world of Minecraft presented some technical hurdles, especially in large scale crowd sequences. The characters’ unconventional anatomy, limited range of motion, and signature fighting styles added an extra layer of complexity but also pushed us to be creative and innovative. Liz Bernard: We started out with 10 piglins, each of which had 2-6 costumes, plus 8 weapons and 2 torches. We were able to get a lot of variety out of that for our piglin horde. The golem army was smaller and more uniform, and golems are too powerful to be messing around with weapons. Instead, they prefer to use their iron arms to smash through their opponents, so we didn’t have as many different iterations, costumes, and such for the iron golems. In Animation, we moved as fast as possible to clean up and modify a big pile of motion capture so that we could provide our Crowds team with over 300 unique animation cycles and clips. Those clips included everything from golems doing windmill arm attacks, to piglins hacking at golem legs with axes and swords, to baby piglins running around in circles, freaking out. Although we started with motion capture for most of the piglin actions, transferring those actions from a full sized human mocap actor onto 10 different blocky piglins with giant angular heads and different body proportions meant each mocap clip needed a lot of adjustment. For example, piglins cannot raise their square little arms very high because their shoulders will quickly crash into the head. Once we had ploughed through that chunk of work, our Crowds team strung those actions together in Autodesk’s Golaem software to create the crowds seen in the backgrounds of our shots. In the mid-ground, we animated a custom set of longer battle vignettes that we could reuse in a number of shots by reorienting them to camera and offsetting their timing. And of course, there was quite a lot of hero animation to fill in the foreground and tell the story of the ebb and flow of battle. Minecraft is known for its blocky aesthetic. How was the animation rigging approached to stay true to that while enhancing the characters’ performance for live action? Liz Bernard: The piglins, hoglins, and wolves were rigged as pretty standard fleshy characters. The wolves had blocky chests and hips, which our Rigging team kept relatively stiff to preserve the original block shape even when we posed the characters in action. Because we were in a hurry on this fast-paced show, we needed to get rigs into Animation’s hands as quickly as possible, so we ended up relying on our shot modeling/sculpting team to adjust some of the characters’ bodies after animation was approved. They paid special attention to the final look of their shoulders, elbows, and knees, to make sure that the bend at each joint stayed as blocky as possible. The iron golems were a lot trickier to get right because they were made of stiff blocks of metal, had no deforming parts, and their joints were extremely simple. We discovered right away that making an iron golem walk meant instant intersections where the legs attach to the hips and the arms attach to the shoulders. So, to solve that problem and get the golems engaged in the battle, we had to give the animators complete control over every body part. This is not something we typically do because it’s easy to go overboard and end up “off model,” but in this scenario, it was absolutely required. This level of control gave the animators the option to offset body parts to achieve the necessary range of movement without visible intersections on screen or gaps in silhouette. Houdini was used to procedurally generate environments for the film. What were some of the most challenging aspects of creating such vast, dynamic landscapes? Piotr Karwas: The environments posed a unique challenge, not just because of their blocky nature, but because it was essential to make the Overworld feel like a tangible, real place. Some design choices were influenced by physical sets that had been built, while others drew inspiration from the real world. We focused on introducing a sense of natural imperfection, subtle elements like slightly uneven lines, worn edges, scuff marks, scattered debris, dirt, and even touches of realistic vegetation. All of this had to be carefully integrated into the strict, grid-based aesthetic of the Minecraft universe. Our environment team rose to the challenge and delivered a highly detailed immersive location, while working under a demanding production schedule. What were the biggest challenges in adapting Minecraft’s creatures and characters into a live-action setting while retaining their iconic charm? Liz Bernard: Because we came onto the project towards the end of shot production, we were able to use other vendors’ work as a rough guide for how our characters should move and behave. The Iron Golems in particular were a fun challenge, and although Sony had a few shots that we could refer to for the overall movement, it was up to us to establish their combat style. We researched how the golems fight in the game, which, as it turns out, is quite simple. We stuck with the game’s stiff legged walk, simple straight arm swings and skyward scoops to match the game’s iron golem attack style as closely as we could. However, purely matching the game wasn’t going to look quite right in a live action environment with human actors. So, on top of the simple performance, we layered weight shifts to counterbalance the heavy arms. We also added some additional step patterns to get them into position to attack piglins so that they would appear clever and more agile without straying too far from the game aesthetic. We also improved the contacts between the golems’ arms and each piglin to really sell the sense of effort and weight in each attack and hit. The destruction of the Overworld Portal seems like a monumental task. How was such an epic scene created, and what role did the environment and FX teams play in bringing it to life? Piotr Karwas: One of the biggest challenges was figuring out the mechanics of how large-scale destruction would play out in the Minecraft world. We had to carefully determine which elements would follow real-world physics and which could behave in a more stylized, game inspired way. We also spent considerable time designing the post-collapse remains to ensure they were visually compelling and cohesive for the staging of the shots that followed. The portal destruction sequence, in particular, appeared in the two widest shots of the entire sequence. These moments required both armies to be on screen, complete with fallen Iron Golems, defeated or pork-chopped Piglins, and digital doubles for every actor. It was a massive technical, logistical, and creative undertaking. We worked on these shots all the way to the final hour. Can you describe the bespoke zombification transformation pipeline developed for the Piglins? How did this process differ from traditional character transformations? Piotr Karwas: By the time we joined the project, the zombification effect had already been largely developed by Weta FX. One of our main challenges was matching their established look while ensuring visual consistency across both their shots and ours. At the same time, we knew we had to push the effect further. After all, this was the grand finale, where the evil army was being defeated. We also wanted the transformation to feel distinct, especially when applied to large numbers of Piglins. To achieve that, we went as far as building complete skeletal systems that could be revealed during the transformation. How was lighting handled to simulate firelit nighttime chaos? What tools or techniques were critical in creating that atmosphere? Piotr Karwas: To achieve the most realistic look, we used actual fire simulations to drive the lighting on both the characters and the environment. We initially started with just a few fires, but Jared was drawn to the striking visual accents and the warm hues they cast on the characters. As a result, we ended up populating the scenes with hundreds of fires. The air was also filled with atmospheric elements like smoke, ash, and embers, all contributing to a richly textured, apocalyptic feel in every shot. To manage this across numerous shots, we developed semi-automated methods to batch simulate the effects efficiently. How was humor incorporated into the animation, especially with subtle gags like pork chops dropping onto the battlefield or background antics? What approach was used to time these moments? Liz Bernard: We had a good time adding easter eggs and gags into this epic battle scene! Piotr let me know early on that Jared would welcome goofy touches, especially on background characters, so I made sure to pass that information on to my team of animators. What did I get back? Nose picks, butt scratches, belly slaps, and all sorts of goofy behaviour in the background. We usually didn’t center those things in the action unless it was called for in the script (in fact, Jared and Dan had to pull us back a few times), but if you look carefully, you’ll find maximum silliness all over the place. And, of course, I have to mention the Great Hog here. He was probably our funniest character and the most challenging to animate. His style of movement was dictated by his unusual proportions, in particular, his itty-bitty legs and long chunky arms. Those stumpy legs meant his stride was super short unless he broke out into a full quadruped gallop, which our team animated with extra oomph and effort to get a good laugh. The Great Hog’s low rider pants took a dive after one particularly strenuous sprint across the battlefield to attack Natalie. When he rose up on hind legs in anticipation of smashing her with his giant blocky fists, Jared wanted to make sure that the audience could see clearly the gag that his butt crack was showing. In VFX, we traditionally call a gradient of options that we would pitch to the client a “wedge.” In this case, we needed to get a read on how low to go with the pants before we simulated them in CFX, so we sent over a “wedge” for the pants and butt crack for Jared to pick from. In this case, I guess it was actually…a wedgie. How was the visual humor seamlessly integrated into the more intense action sequences, and was there a particular moment that captured this balance perfectly? Liz Bernard: The visual humour was baked into the action from the get-go, from game to storyboards to previsualization. I mean, there’s something inherently funny about dozens of piglins in shorts getting smacked high up into the air and then poof! turning into porkchops. When I welcomed each animator to the show, I made a point of mentioning that they were a little more free to tell jokes with pantomime on this show than they might be used to on more realistic productions. Because we were always in a mindset to make each shot as funny as possible without distracting from the story points, the flavour in animation dailies was always funny. My team pitched piglins getting run over by the Great Hog by accident, baby piglins riding on an iron golem attempting to attack its head, some utterly hilarious slow-mo action with exaggerated overlap a la Baywatch, a hoglin and piglin rider mugging for the camera as they gallop by in the foreground, wolves clamped on by their teeth to the waistband of the Great Hog, and a whole lot of over-acted melodramatic writhing as the piglins zombified after the portal collapsed. You don’t have to tell animators twice to be silly. With such a large-scale project, how did the animation and VFX teams collaborate to maintain a cohesive style across both departments? Were there any specific moments where this collaboration stood out? Liz Bernard: This was a ripsnorter of a project timeline, so all departments were hitting the ground running and developing their parts of the project concurrently. That’s always challenging and requires a lot of communication to pull off. We had a bullpen of experienced folks in our show leadership, and knowing what each other’s departments could and couldn’t do saved us a lot of time as we ramped up. For example, we were able to establish a single groundplane early in our animation schedule, which helped us avoid having to adjust the character’s feet contacts to an evolving environment even as artists were still building the overworld battlefield. The Environments team did a great job set dressing the environment after we had placed our animation and crowds’ characters, so that we did not need to worry about running through plants, pebbles, fires, or corpses. The FX department established a workflow with the Crowds team to “porkchop” any crowds piglin that got smacked by crowds’ iron golems. Setting these rules and criteria helped each department streamline their processes. And, our production team did an absolutely incredible job making sure that every department stayed on target, communicated their roadblocks and breakthroughs effectively downstream (and sometimes upstream!), and adjusted the schedule to compensate. I think the moment where this collaboration really shone was when we saw all of the zombification shots at the end of the sequence starting to fall into place. One day, it felt like we had all of them left to tackle, and the next, we had our methodology kinks worked out and they all started to drop like dominoes. Piotr Karwas: As Liz mentioned, the schedule was extremely tight, especially for executing the film’s grand finale. We had to move quickly and strategically, knowing that things would evolve and change throughout production. I’m incredibly grateful to our amazing team at Digital Domain. Across all four locations, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, and Hyderabad, our artists worked around the clock to bring it all to life. Yes, there were long hours, high stress, and the usual frustrations with technology that doesn’t always behave but in the end, it was all absolutely worth it. Seeing kids enjoy the movie so much made everything worthwhile. Chicken Jockey! Looking back on the project, what aspects of the visual effects are you most proud of? Piotr Karwas: Without a doubt, the Great Hog’s butt crack was the highlight for me. Liz Bernard: Just the sheer scale of this thing is wild. This is one of those “more is more” kinds of projects that don’t come around so often in our world of photorealistic visual effects. Nothing was supposed to be “real” here, everything was exaggerated, every frame we produced was chock full of crazy action, over the top humor, and easter eggs. I’m very proud of our animation team for embracing this hilarious show in a more cartoony style that we don’t often have the opportunity to tackle. And, man, it tickles me that the fans got such a huge kick out of it all when the movie hit theatres. What else can you ask for? How long have you worked on this show? Piotr Karwas: About six months Liz Bernard: Just six months from start to finish. What’s the VFX shots count? Piotr Karwas: Digital Domain delivered 187 shots not including omits. What is your next project? Piotr Karwas: A Minecraft Movie I hope. Jokes aside, I’m looking at a whole slate of different projects. Liz Bernard: All I can say right now is that it’s a science fiction film that comes out in 2026. Stay tuned! A big thanks for your time. WANT TO KNOW MORE?Digital Domain: Dedicated page about A Minecraft Movie on Digital Domain website. © Vincent Frei – The Art of VFX – 2025

Hyundai has used the clean-sheet nature of electric powertrains to make new vehicles radically different from its internal-combustion models, but what happens when the best thing a new car can be is ordinary?  The 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 is a three-row SUV that, to succeed, needs to prioritize space and an effortless ownership experience over radical styling or sports-car driving dynamics. That doesn’t leave much room for creativity, but Hyundai has done its best by giving the Ioniq 9 futuristic styling combined with the proven E-GMP dedicated EV platform from its other Ioniq models and the Kia EV9.  The enthusiastic response to the EV9, from Hyundai’s sibling brand, shows why, despite having two gasoline three-row SUVs in its lineup already, Hyundai needed an all-electric one as well.Another daring design from Hyundai Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends Many automakers create a family look across their lineups, but Hyundai went in a different direction with its Ioniq EVs. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Hyundai Ioniq 6 are polar opposites when it comes to styling, and the Ioniq 9 follows yet another path that helps it stand out from other three-row SUVs. Recommended Videos It’s clear that engineers spent a lot of time in the wind tunnel, but unlike so many other low-drag designs, the Ioniq 9 still has the upright proportions of a true SUV. The result is something that looks like it would be right at home on a school pickup line in the Tron Grid. The tall hood is decidedly SUV-like, but the front end is smoothed as if by erosion. Squared-off fenders add a bit of ruggedness but don’t stick out far enough to impede air flow. And at the back, the body sides taper back, and the roof descends, into a chopped-off tail not unlike what helped make the 2004 Toyota Prius so distinctive and aerodynamically efficient. All of this is topped off with another iteration of the pixel lighting previously seen on the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6. The light bar running across the hood gives the Ioniq 9 a distinctive and futuristic look when viewed through a rearview mirror, while at the back the lights form a hoop around the tailgate. This helps punch up the design a bit, adding visual interest to the otherwise smooth and unadorned surfaces of this electric SUV. Less successful in that regard is the copious black plastic trim, which seems tacked-on. And just as piano-black plastic interior trim is hard to keep clean, the black license-plate surround will likely always be covered in fingerprints. Still a practical three-row SUV Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends As with so many of its other vehicles, Hyundai made a different styling statement while using the same platform as a dramatically different-looking model from sibling brand Kia. The Ioniq 9 is based on the same plus-sized version of the E-GMP architecture as the Kia EV9 (a Genesis luxury model is also on the way). The EV9 trades the Ioniq 9’s wind-smoothed surfaces for sharp edges, but they look virtually identical to a measuring tape. The Hyundai is 2.0 inches longer, 1.6 inches taller, and just 0.1 inch wider. Headroom and legroom are pretty much identical as well, no matter which seating position you’re talking about. And like most three-row vehicles, Hyundai offers second-row bench seat and captain’s chairs options, making the Ioniq 9 a six- or seven-seater, respectively. The second row can slide forward or back in either case, but even with the seats slid all the way forward, adults won’t find much knee room in the third row. There’s still plenty of space for the kids that will most likely be occupying it, though. Open the Ioniq 9’s standard power tailgate and you get 21.9 cubic feet of cargo space. That expands to 46.7 cubic feet with the third row folded, and 86.9 cubic feet with the second row folded. All three numbers surpass the EV9, and Hyundai claims more cargo space behind the second and third rows than in a Rivian R1S (Rivian doesn’t publish its own comparable figures to verify this). But while the R1S has a spacious frunk, the Ioniq 9 only has a small under-hood compartment just spacious enough for charging cables. Hyundai’s dual-screen setup, with 12.3-inch screens serving as the instrument cluster and touchscreen, remains impressive — especially now that Hyundai is integrating wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with this bigger display. But the Ioniq 9’s Universal Island 2.0 center console really stole the show. Incorporating plenty of storage space front and rear, it’s also accessible from either direction and slides fore and aft. It’s a thoughtful feature for a vehicle where every seat is important.  Quick, but not sporty Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends Hyundai is offering three powertrain configurations for the 2026 model year, all with a 110.3-kilowatt-hour battery pack. The Ioniq 9 S base model has a single motor sending 215 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels. SE and SEL models have a dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain making 303 hp and 446 lb-ft. Limited, Calligraphy, and Calligraphy Design models have a “performance” dual-motor powertrain rated at 422 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. The rear-wheel drive Ioniq 9’s output is identical to a rear-wheel drive EV9, but the highest-output version of the Hyundai has a bit more horsepower than the Kia (torque is the same), getting it from zero to 60 mph 0.1 second quicker, at 4.9 seconds. The advantage will shift to Kia once a more powerful EV9 GT arrives later this year, though. Quick acceleration is handy for merging onto highways, but it’s not really the point of the Ioniq 9. It doesn’t try to be anything other than a big, comfortable SUV that will whisk kids to extracurricular activities, or serve as an analogue to the big sedans of old for buyers who simply want a spacious vehicle. The suspension absorbed bumps without any waterbed-like jiggling, and like all EVs the Ioniq 9 was impressively quiet (although there was a bit more tire noise than anticipated). It’s nice to drive, just not exciting. Helping to maintain comfort and composure is Hyundai’s i-Pedal brake-control system. This automatically blends regenerative braking and friction braking to slow the vehicle as smoothly and efficiently as possible. It’s a carryover feature from other Ioniq EVs, but the tuning for the Ioniq 9 was particularly good. While it’s still possible to summon a burst of regenerative braking with steering-wheel paddles, it was hard to match i-Pedal’s smoothness. NACS onboard Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends Hyundai estimates 335 miles of range for the base rear-wheel drive S trim level, 320 miles for dual-motor SE and SEL models, and 311 miles for the high-end Limited, Calligraphy, and Calligraphy Design models, all of which have the more powerful “performance” powertrain tune. That gives the Ioniq 9 a range advantage over its Kia EV9 platform-mate, which only tops 300 miles in rear-wheel drive Light Long Range form, but that advantage is achieved with a larger battery pack. Both Hyundai and Kia are switching to the North American Charging Standard (NACS) charging port for the 2026 model year, giving drivers access to Tesla Supercharger DC fast-charging stations. This provides access to more chargers with a proven reliability record, but in this case it doesn’t necessarily mean faster charging. Hyundai estimates that the Ioniq 9 can complete a 10%-80% charge in 41 minutes at a V3 Supercharger, but that drops to 24 minutes at a 350-kilowatt Combined Charging Standard (CCS) station, using an adapter. When Level 2 AC charging, a full recharge takes nine hours and 40 minutes at 11 kW, according to Hyundai. Like other models based on the E-GMP architecture, the Ioniq 9 is also capable of bidirectional charging for powering devices and appliances. So far, Hyundai hasn’t discussed a full home backup-power system like the one that’s available for the EV9, but its Hyundai Home marketplace provides a ready portal for selling such equipment. A relative value in a high-priced market segment Stephen Edelstein/Digital Trends With a base price of $60,555 with rear-wheel drive, the Ioniq 9 is the most expensive SUV in Hyundai’s lineup. Prices rise significantly from there. The all-wheel drive SE and SEL start at $64,365 and $67,920, respectively. The luxe Limited starts at $72,850, the Calligraphy starts at $76,590, and the Calligraphy Design tops things off at $78,090. Kia hadn’t released pricing for the 2026 EV9 at press time, but for reference the 2025 model started at $56,395 with a smaller battery pack and less range than the base Ioniq 9. Hyundai’s trim walk is also more top heavy with high-end trim levels, but that may also be the case for the EV9 — Kia has already confirmed Nightfall Edition and GT models for 2026 that likely won’t be bargains. All Ioniq 9 models will also be built in Georgia and will qualify for a $7,500 federal EV tax credit, but that’s not guaranteed with the EV9. This pricing structure might help differentiate the two brands, but it doesn’t make much sense for customers, as the EV9 and Ioniq 9 offer similar features, interior space, and the same generous warranty coverage. The Ioniq 9 does at least stay below the Rivian R1S and the handful of luxury-brand three-row electric SUVs currently on the market. It’s a sensible choice, but not an extraordinary value. That’s appropriate for what is an ordinary vehicle, not an extraordinary one — just as the mission brief says.

Ali Niknam has built Dutch fintech Bunq into one of Europe’s biggest neobanks. But he fears the Netherlands is now driving entrepreneurs away. The Bunq founder and CEO is alarmed by the country’s business mindset. He believes risk-aversion, growing insularity, and hostility to ambition are pushing talent overseas. “Many of the best entrepreneurs I know have either left or are considering leaving,” Niknam tells TNW. Surveys back him up. A poll last year found that almost one in five Dutch entrepreneurs were considering relocating — up from nearly one in eight in 2023. The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!Another study found that 24% of large companies were contemplating moves abroad — nearly double the share from the year before.  Tech scaleups are also mulling exits. One of the country’s biggest — software unicorn Bird — recently announced plans to shift operations out of the country. The company’s CEO blamed “over-regulation” and a bad climate for tech businesses. Niknam — who’s set to speak at TNW Conference on June 20 in Amsterdam — has his own critiques of the Dutch business landscape. He calls its support for entrepreneurship “among the worst” he’s seen. Yet he still has deep faith in the country’s talent pool.  “There are very few countries I know that have such amazing, creative, smart people as the Dutch,” he says.  Those people have been integral to Bunq’s rapid growth. Building bridges at Bunq Niknam’s idea for Bunq emerged in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. One of the causes, he believes, was groupthink at incumbent banks. He founded Bunq in 2012 to create an alternative.  To create a new approach to banking, Niknam sought to embrace diverse ideas. He points to the company’s approach to proposals, which can be pitched anonymously — even to Niknam himself. “On the one hand, that’s better for the company — the best ideas win. And on the other hand, it makes it more fair, because all that counts is the quality of your idea, not who you know, where you’re brought up, or what school you attended.” The strategy delivered rapid results. In 2015, Bunq became the first Dutch company in 35 years to obtain a greenfield banking license. It then grew into Europe’s second-largest neobank after Revolut — and one of the few to achieve profitability. The company now boasts over 17 million users with more than €8bn in deposits. Outside Bunq, however, Niknam sees a country that’s becoming more closed. He believes the Netherlands is abandoning its internationalist roots, which is damaging its tech ecosystem and chasing talent away.  “Historically, the Netherlands has been very entrepreneurial, very international… when this country retreats and closes the doors is when things start to get worse.” Even the country’s vast pension funds, he notes, avoid backing Dutch startups. “They know the returns are going to be less,” he says. “Why are the returns less? Because it’s a small country, and it is retreating and starting to focus within its own borders.” He contrasts the mood with developments in the Baltics. The region’s tech ecosystem has attracted admiring glances for its optimism, openness, and rapid growth. Niknam feels that many people in the Netherlands take their rights for granted. “It’s maybe a little bit of an entitlement disease — that we have forgotten that all these wonderful things that we enjoy today, somebody worked for them really, really hard,” he says. Born in Canada to Iranian parents and with homes in the Netherlands and the US, Niknam has diverse cultural experiences. Image: OLSjopera Niknam feels the Netherlands has become too risk-averse and inward-looking. Despite the liberal stereotype, Dutch society can be surprisingly conservative.  That caution, Niknam says, is embedded in the culture — even in local proverbs. One goes: “Steek je kop niet boven het maaiveld uit.” Loosely translated: “Don’t stick your head above the mowing line.” If you do, it might get chopped off. In Niknam’s eyes, that mentality thwarts ambitious entrepreneurs. “Success is not only not celebrated, but you’re almost faulted for being successful,” he says.  The international return The Netherlands is also losing its appeal to international talent. Over nine in ten expats and migrant workers no longer even consider coming to work in the country, according to research from last year. Tech firms have raised major concerns over losing access to global talent. The chip equipment maker ASML — the largest company in the Netherlands — has threatened to move abroad because of the country’s hardening stance on migrants. Peter Wennink, ASML’s former CEO — who will also speak at TNW Conference — recently warned against losing access to skilled workers. “If we cannot get those people here, we will get those people in Eastern Europe or in Asia or in the United States,” he said. Still, Niknam believes the tide can turn. For change to come, he believes the “silent majority” — those who value openness and diversity — must speak up.  Despite its problems, Niknam remains upbeat about the future for tech businesses in the Netherlands. “The people are great. The schooling is great. The infrastructure is great,” he says. “It is simply changing the attitude and mindset — which can happen in a relatively short amount of time — that will make all the difference.” If you want to catch the talks by Niknam and Wennink — or anything else on the agenda for TNW Conference — we have a special offer for you. Use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the checkout to get 30% off your ticket. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletter Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week. Also tagged with

trace it After latest kidnap attempt, crypto types tell crime bosses: Transfers are traceable Crypto abduction attempts continue to rock France. Nate Anderson – May 15, 2025 4:34 pm | 45 The kidnapping attempt in progress. Credit: France24 The kidnapping attempt in progress. Credit: France24 Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Masked men jumped out of a white-panel van in Paris this week, attempting to snatch a 34-year-old woman off the street. The woman's husband fought back and suffered a fractured skull, according to France24. The woman continued resisting long enough for a bike shop owner named Nabil to rush out swinging a fire extinguisher, which he hurled after the departing van as the attackers finally fled. The entire altercation was captured on video. The woman was identified as the daughter of a "crypto boss," and her attempted kidnapping is part of a disquieting surge in European crypto-related abductions—two of which have already involved fingers being chopped off. The last major abduction happened in Paris only two weeks ago, and it ended with French police storming a house in the Paris suburbs and rescuing a crypto mogul's now-four-fingered father. The attacks have spooked the industry, which has called, somewhat ironically, for enhanced protections from the government. Reuters notes that the issue has been escalated all the way to the top of the French government, where Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced plans this week to "meet with French crypto entrepreneurs to make them aware of the risks and to take measures to protect them." The sudden spike in copycat attacks in France, Belgium, and Spain over the last few months suggests that crypto robbery as a tactic has caught the attention of organized crime. (This week's abduction attempt is already being investigated by the organized crime unit of the Parisian police.) Crypto industry insiders seem convinced that organized crime likes these attacks because of a (mistaken) belief that crypto transfers are untraceable. So people like Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin are trying to clue in the crime bosses. "For whatever reason, there is a perception that’s out there that crypto is an asset that is untraceable, and that really lends itself to criminals acting in a certain way," Levin said at a recent conference covered by the trade publication Cointelegraph. “Apparently, the [knowledge] that crypto is not untraceable hasn't been received by some of the organized crime groups that are actually perpetrating these attacks, and some of them are concentrated in, you know, France, but not exclusively." Nate Anderson Deputy Editor Nate Anderson Deputy Editor Nate is the deputy editor at Ars Technica. His most recent book is In Emergency, Break Glass: What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World, which is much funnier than it sounds. 45 Comments

Federal agencies scrambled to bring back over $220 million worth of contracts after Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency cancelled them, .However, of those 44 contracts that were cancelled and eventually reinstated, DOGE is still citing all but one of them as examples of the government spending the group supposedly saved on its website's error-plagued "Wall of Receipts." The White House told the NYT that this is "paperwork lag" that will be fixed.Clerical errors or not, the "zombie contracts" are a damning sign of the chaos sowed by the billionaire's hasty and sweeping cost-cutting that would seem antithetical to its stated goals of efficiency."They should have used a scalpel," Rachel Dinkes of the Knowledge Alliance, an association of education companies that includes one that lost a contract, told the NYT. "But instead they went in with an axe and chopped it all down." Musk brought the Silicon Valley ethos of "move fast and break things" he uses at his business ventures, like SpaceX, to his cleaning house of the federal government. And this, it seems, resulted in a lot of wasted time and effort.Some of the contracts DOGE cancelled were required by law, according to the NYT, and some were for skills that the government needed but didn't have. The whiplash was most felt at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which reversed 16 cancelled contracts — the highest of any agency in the NYT's analysis.Many of the contracts that DOGE cancelled were reinstated almost immediately. The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, revived a contract just two and a half hours after Musk's team cancelled it, the paper found. Others were brought back within days.After losing a contract with the US Department of Agriculture in February, Raquel Romero and her husband gained it back four days later. The USDA told the NYT that it reinstated the contract after discovering that it was "required by statute," but declined to specify which one. Romero believes that a senior lawyer at the agency, who was a supporter of the couple's work, intervened on their behalf."All I know is, she retired two weeks later," Romero told the NYT.The waste doesn't end there. Since the contracts are necessary, it puts the fired contractors in a stronger bargaining position when the government comes crawling back. In the case of the EPA contract, the agency agreed to pay $171,000 more than before the cancellation. In other words, these cuts are costing, not saving, the government money.A White House spokesperson, however, tried to spin the flurry of reversals as a positive sign that the agencies are complying with Musk's chaotic directions, while also playing down the misleading savings claims on DOGE's website."The DOGE Wall of Receipts provides the latest and most accurate information following a thorough assessment, which takes time," White House spokesman Harrison Fields told the NYT. "Updates to the DOGE savings page will continue to be made promptly, and departments and agencies will keep highlighting the massive savings DOGE is achieving."Harrison also called the over $220 million of zombie contracts "very, very small potatoes" compared to the supposed $165 billion Musk has saved American taxpayers.If this latest analysis is any indication, however, that multibillion-dollar sum warrants significant skepticism. We're only beginning to see a glimmer of the true fallout from Musk tornadoing through the federal government.Share This Article