CRS79 Residence / OADSave this picture!© Alvis RozenbergsHouses•Riga, Latvia Architects: OAD - Open Architecture Design Area Area of this architecture project Area:  440 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 Photographs Photographs:Alvis RozenbergsMore SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. The owners envisioned a home that is both discreet and bold, seamlessly blending into its natural surroundings while making a strong architectural statement. Nestled within a historic manor park, the landscape plays an integral role in the project - an element OAD saw as inseparable from the overall vision. In collaboration with Galantus, the landscape was meticulously designed to complement and enhance the architecture. From the street, the house remains nearly invisible, tucked behind a grassy embankment, while on the canal side, expansive windows and a rustic facade create a striking contrast. The design gradually reveals itself, beginning with a wild meadow garden where narrow, trimmed paths echo the organic flow of the architecture. As the building extends deeper into the property, its form evolves - what starts as a grounded volume rises into a more geometric composition, with the master bedroom appearing to float above the terrain in a futuristic, hovering design. Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The architecture masterfully balances contrasting materials - concrete, corten steel, glass, and wood - to create a structure that is both sustainable and timeless. Large glass panels reflect the surrounding landscape, while clean, modern lines establish a sense of order and clarity. Ventilation windows are seamlessly concealed behind perforated trim panels, integrating function into form. The house is oriented south and designed without extended eaves, yet the holistic approach prevents overheating in summer. The layout ensures that the master bedroom is bathed in morning light, while the spacious west-facing terrace offers sunset views, shaded by a deep overhang that prevents excessive heat penetration. Skylights allow low winter sun to enter, optimizing natural warmth and illumination. Traditional window placement is reimagined, with unconventional openings becoming architectural focal points - treetops visually extend into corridors, and a low-set window frames water reflections, creating a calming, dynamic experience. Save this picture!Save this picture!The interior continues this harmony with nature while maintaining a sense of restraint and privacy. The elevated master bedroom provides sweeping views, while natural materials echo the surrounding landscape. The home's two levels clearly define a functional hierarchy: the living areas sit lower, while the master suite is elevated with a lower ceiling height to enhance energy efficiency. The minimalist approach extends to the finishes - predominantly wooden paneling, with exposed concrete surfaces left visible where they serve as structural elements. Every detail directs focus toward the landscape, with transparency reinforcing the connection to nature and curated art pieces adding personal significance. Strategically placed openings enhance the interplay of light throughout the day, while the refined material palette ensures a serene, timeless atmosphere. Save this picture!The interior embraces minimalist detailing, where privacy and human-centered design take precedence. This philosophy is also reflected in the hidden Japanese garden and the carefully positioned low window, drawing attention to the seamless symbiosis of architecture and natural elements. This house stands as a bold dialogue between modernism and nature, where thoughtful design and craftsmanship create a lasting connection between architecture, landscape, and the lives within.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less About this office MaterialsSteelConcreteMaterials and TagsPublished on May 17, 2025Cite: "CRS79 Residence / OAD" 17 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1029462/crs79-residence-oad&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

Royal Navy 2025-05-17T13:15:23Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? A UK warship shot down a supersonic missile in what the Royal Navy called a "historic first." The HMS Dragon warship "obliterated" the missile in a test off the coast of Scotland. The Type 45 air defense destroyer is one of the UK's most advanced warships. One of the British Royal Navy's most advanced warships, the HMS Dragon, completed a "historic first" when it shot down a supersonic missile in a test off the coast of Scotland on Friday, the force said.The Type 45 air defense destroyer fired a modified Sea Viper missile and "obliterated" an "incoming high-speed target" that was designed to imitate some of the latest and most advanced threats facing the force around the world, the navy said in a press release.It added that it marked "the first time the Royal Navy has faced down this kind of target," which it said was "significantly more challenging as it flies faster and carries out corkscrew and weave manoeuvres."Footage shared by the Royal Navy on X shows the strike, which occurred as part of Exercise Formidable Shield 25, a large-scale NATO live-firing exercise taking place in Norway and the UK this year.Commander Iain Giffin, the commanding officer of the HMS Dragon, said the strike was "a huge moment" for the destroyer."Not only does it prove that Dragon's world leading air defence capability functions as it should following an extensive maintenance period, but it also proves our ability to integrate and operate alongside NATO allies and partners," he said. "Training alongside ships, aircraft and land forces from 11 nations in this complex, multi-domain exercise ensures that we maintain our fighting edge against evolving Hi and Low-tech threats." The HMS Dragon Type 45 air defense destroyer. Royal Navy The HMS Dragon is a Type 45 destroyer and one of the UK's most advanced warships. It forms part of the Royal Navy's six "Daring Class" destroyers, which were custom-built for anti-aircraft and anti-missile combat.With more than 200 crew, the vessel plays a key role in Britain's air defenses, using its Sea Viper missile system to seek out and neutralise threats. Dragon can also be deployed to provide assistance in disaster relief scenarios and counter-narcotics boarding operations.The UK has been testing out a range of new strike capabilities on its warships in recent years.In 2024, the UK's Ministry of Defence first showed off its new DragonFire laser weapon, with video footage showing it in action off the coast of Scotland.The laser directed energy weapon is a high-power, low-cost weapon system designed to target aerial threats with "pinpoint accuracy," according to the UK government.A UK Ministry of Defence official told Business Insider in March that it was planning to deploy the weapon on four Royal Navy destroyers by 2027. Recommended video

Sludge Vohaul! Sierra made the games of my childhood. Are they still fun to play? Get ready for some nostalgia. Nate Anderson – May 17, 2025 7:00 am | 14 Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more My Ars colleagues were kicking back at the Orbital HQ water cooler the other day, and—as gracefully aging gamers are wont to do—they began to reminisce about classic Sierra On-Line adventure games. I was a huge fan of these games in my youth, so I settled in for some hot buttered nostalgia. Would we remember the limited-palette joys of early King's Quest, Space Quest, or Quest for Glory titles? Would we branch out beyond games with "Quest" in their titles, seeking rarer fare like Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist? What about the gothic stylings of The Colonel's Bequest or the voodoo-curious Gabriel Knight? Nope. The talk was of acorns. [Bleeping] acorns, in fact! The scene in question came from King's Quest III, where our hero Gwydion must acquire some exceptionally desiccated acorns to advance the plot. It sounds simple enough. As one walkthrough puts it, "Go east one screen and north one screen to the acorn tree. Try picking up acorns until you get some dry ones. Try various spots underneath the tree." Easy! And clear! Except it wasn't either one because the game rather notoriously won't always give you the acorns, even when you enter the right command. This led many gamers to believe they were in the wrong spot, when in reality, they just had to keep entering the "get acorns" command while moving pixel by pixel around the tree until the game finally supplied them. One of our staffers admitted to having purchased the King's Quest III hint book solely because of this "puzzle." (The hint book, which is now online, says that players should "move around" the particular oak tree in question because "you can only find the right kind of acorns in one spot.") This wasn't quite the "fun" I had remembered from these games, but as I cast my mind back, I dimly began to recall similar situations. Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge had been my first Sierra title, and after my brother and I spent weeks on the game only to get stuck and die repeatedly in some pitch-dark tunnels, we implored my dad to call Sierra's 1-900 pay hint line. He thought about it. I could see it pained him because he had never before (and never since!) called a 1-900 number in his life. In this case, the call cost a piratical 75 cents for the first minute and 50 cents for each additional minute. But after listening to us whine for several days straight, my dad decided that his sanity was worth the fee, and he called. Much like with the acorn example above, we had known what to do—we had just not done it to the game's rather exacting and sometimes obscure standards. The key was to use a glowing gem as a light source, which my brother and I had long understood. The problem was the text parser, which demanded that we "put gem in mouth" to use its light in the tunnels. There was no other place to put the gem, no other way to hold or attach it. (We tried them all.) No other attempts to use the light of this shining crystal, no matter how clear, well-intentioned, or succinctly expressed, would work. You put the gem in your mouth, or you died in the darkness. Returning from my reveries to the conversation at hand, I caught Ars Senior Editor Lee Hutchinson's cynical remark that these kinds of puzzles were "the only way to make 2–3 hours of 'game' last for months." This seemed rather shocking, almost offensive. How could one say such a thing about the games that colored my memories of childhood? So I decided to replay Space Quest II for the first time in 35 years in an attempt to defend my own past. Big mistake. We're not on Endor anymore, Dorothy. Play it again, Sam In my memory, the Space Quest series was filled with sharply written humor, clever puzzles, and enchanting art. But when I fired up the original version of the game, I found that only one of these was true. The art, despite its blockiness and limited colors, remained charming. As for the gameplay, the puzzles were not so much "clever" as "infuriating," "obvious," or (more often) "rather obscure." Finding the glowing gem discussed above requires you to swim into one small spot of a multi-screen river, with no indication in advance that anything of importance is in that exact location. Trying to "call" a hunter who has captured you does nothing… until you do it a second time. And the less said about trying to throw a puzzle at a Labian Terror Beast, typing out various word permutations while death bears down upon you, the better. The whole game was also filled with far more no-warning insta-deaths than I had remembered. On the opening screen, for instance, after your janitorial space-broom floats off into the cosmic ether, you can walk your character right off the edge of the orbital space station he is cleaning. The game doesn't stop you; indeed, it kills you and then mocks you for "an obvious lack of common sense." It then calls you a "wing nut" with an "inability to sustain life." Game over. The game's third screen, which features nothing more to do than simply walking around, will also kill you in at least two different ways. Walk into the room still wearing your spacesuit and your boss will come over and chew you out. Game over. If you manage to avoid that fate by changing into your indoor uniform first, it's comically easy to tap the wrong arrow key and fall off the room's completely guardrail-free elevator platform. Game over. Do NOT touch any part of this root monster. Get used to it because the game will kill you in so, so many ways: touching any single pixel of a root monster whose branches form a difficult maze; walking into a giant mushroom; stepping over an invisible pit in the ground; getting shot by a guard who zips in on a hovercraft; drowning in an underwater tunnel; getting swiped at by some kind of giant ape; not putting the glowing gem in your mouth; falling into acid; and many more. I used the word "insta-death" above, but the game is not even content with this. At one key point late in the game, a giant Aliens-style alien stalks the hallways, and if she finds you, she "kisses" you. But then she leaves! You are safe after all! Of course, if you have seen the films, you will recognize that you are not safe, but the game lets you go on for a bit before the alien's baby inevitably bursts from your chest, killing you. Game over. This is why the official hint book suggests that you "save your game a lot, especially when it seems that you're entering a dangerous area. That way, if you die, you don't have to retrace your steps much." Presumably, this was once considered entertaining. When it comes to the humor, most of it is broad. (When you are told to "say the word," you have to say "the word.") Sometimes it is condescending. ("You quickly glance around the room to see if anyone saw you blow it.") Or it might just be potty jokes. (Plungers, jock straps, toilet paper, alien bathrooms, and fouling one's trousers all make appearances.) My total gameplay time: a few hours. "By Grabthar's hammer!" I thought. "Lee was right!" When I admitted this to him, Lee told me that he had actually spent time learning to speedrun the Space Quest games during the pandemic. "According to my notes, a clean run of SQ2 in 'fast' mode—assuming good typing skills—takes about 20 minutes straight-up," he said. Yikes. What a fiendish plot! And yet The past was a different time. Computer memory was small, graphics capabilities were low, and computer games had emerged from the "let them live just long enough to encourage spending another quarter" arcade model. Mouse adoption took a while; text parsers made sense even though they created plenty of frustration. So yes—some of these games were a few hours of gameplay stretched out with insta-death, obscure puzzles, and the sheer amount of time it took just to walk across the game's various screens. (Seriously, "walking around" took a ridiculous amount of the game's playtime, especially when a puzzle made you backtrack three screens, type some command, and then return.) Let's get off this rock. Judged by current standards, the Sierra games are no longer what I would play for fun. All the same, I loved them. They introduced me to the joy of exploring virtual worlds and to the power of evocative artwork. I went into space, into fairy tales, and into the past, and I did so while finding the games' humor humorous and their plotlines compelling. ("An army of life insurance salesmen?" I thought at the time. "Hilarious and brilliant!") If the games can feel a bit arbitrary or vexing today, my child-self's love of repetition was able to treat them as engaging challenges rather than "unfair" design. Replaying Space Quest II, encountering the half-remembered jokes and visual designs, brought back these memories. The novelist Thomas Wolfe knew that you can't go home again, and it was probably inevitable that the game would feel dated to me now. But playing it again did take me back to that time before the Internet, when not even hint lines, insta-death, and EGA graphics could dampen the wonder of the new worlds computers were capable of showing us. Literal bathroom humor. Space Quest II, along with several other Sierra titles, is freely and legally available online at sarien.net—though I found many, many glitches in the implementation. Windows users can buy the entire Space Quest collection through Steam or Good Old Games. There's even a fan remake that runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux. 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. 14 Comments

The Romanian Order of Architects has announced an open international contest to upgrade Mircea cel Bătrân Square in Tulcea (Deadline: 2 June) The single-stage contest – organised on behalf of the Tulcea Municipality – invites proposals to revitalise the town centre public space which occupies a prominent site closely connected to the Saint George Branch of the River Danube. The estimated €7.8 million project focuses on upgrading the historic plaza, which serves an important social and civic role in the centre of Tulcea. Key aims include upgrading pedestrian links, respecting existing heritage and supporting a range of urban functions including housing, administration, commerce, food, leisure, culture and civic life. Competition site: Mircea cel Bătrân Square, Tulcea According to the brief: ‘The competition aims at a high-quality contemporary redevelopment of this space in the context of the urban regeneration of the city centre and the strengthening of pedestrian connections with the Danube waterfront, by transforming Unirii Street into a pedestrian street and restoring the “Trei Fântâni” area. ‘The aim of the competition is to formulate a solution for the development of public space that takes into account the current built heritage and the layers that history has deposited here. ‘Contest participants should take into account all the needs of the studied area — housing; public administration; restaurants, cafes and confectioneries; small-scale commercial spaces; leisure and entertainment; culture and civic life, etc. — to enhance them and situate them in an urban platform for the subsequent coherent development of the entire central area of ​​Tulcea municipality.’ Tulcea is a historic port city located close to the Danube estuary on the eastern fringes of Romania near to the Black Sea and the border with Ukraine. Key local landmarks include the Tulcea Art Museum and the Azizyie Mosque. The competition comes a year after an open international student contest was held for a pop-up community hub next to an abandoned church in Babșa, Romania. Vladostudio and Atelier de Arhitectura Terchila won a contest to upgrade the Cibin Market in Sibiu two years ago. The latest project focuses on upgrading Mircea cel Bătrân Square while also improving its connections to the waterfront and surrounding historic areas. Concepts will be expected to address ‘contemporary needs generated by climate, social and economic changes.’ Competition site: Mircea cel Bătrân Square, Tulcea Judges will include Andreea Catrinel Matache, representing the local chief architect; the architects Ana Maria Zahariade, Laura Cristea, Irina Popescu-Criveanu and Gustavo Figueira Serrano; and the landscape architects Jörg Michel and Barnabás Ede Szakács. Bids will be evaluated 25 per cent on functional response to the brief, 20 per cent on ecology and landscape, 10 per cent on sustainability and economic efficiency, 5 per cent on cost, 15 per cent on development vision and civic purpose, 15 per cent on civic identity and general atmosphere, and 10 per cent on quality and clarity of presentation. The overall winner – to be announced 29 July – will receive an estimated £320,000 (1.9 million LEI) design contract while a second prize of £16,400 (99,500 LEI), third prize of £8,200 (49,000 LEI), fourth prize of £2,000 (12,400 LEI) and fifth prize of £2,000 (12,400 LEI) will also be awarded. How to apply Deadline: 2 June Competition funding source: Not supplied Project funding source: Not supplied Owner of site(s): Not supplied Contact details: achizitii@primariatulcea.roVisit the competition website for more information

F-WHITE Aerial View | © Kindaikouku In a quiet residential area of Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, F-WHITE emerges as a spatial response to three simultaneous conditions: a client’s desire for unity, the awkward geometry of a leftover suburban lot, and the architectural lineage of the Japanese courtyard house. Designed by Takuro Yamamoto Architects, this one-story residence challenges normative interpretations of courtyard living through a deceptively simple yet highly deliberate plan. F-WHITE Technical Information Architects1-11: Takuro Yamamoto Architects Location: Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan Area: 122.03 m2 | 1,313.86 Sq. Ft. Project Year: 2007 – 2009 Photographs: © Kindaikouku, © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio This oblique angle makes the courtyard look like a box which happened to be thrown out on one very large internal space. – Takuro Yamamoto Architects F-WHITE Photographs Aerial View | © Kindaikouku Aerial View | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Facade | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Facade | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Courtyard | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Courtyard | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Living Room | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Living Room | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Kitchen | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Interior | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Bedroom | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Corner | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio Office | © Ken’ichi Suzuki Photo Studio F-WHITE Context and Design Intent The conceptual genesis of F-WHITE was shaped by the client’s request for a spatially unified home that would not fragment the daily rhythms of a three-member family into disconnected rooms or vertical divisions. The insistence on a single-story scheme was not a stylistic preference but a spatial demand: the desire to maintain a continuous, communal living environment, resisting the compartmentalization typical of multi-story dwellings. The site itself offered both a provocation and an opportunity. At 259.31 m², it is larger than the standard suburban plot yet unusually narrow, an irregularity that had consigned it to use as a parking lot for decades. This inherent contradiction, generous area paired with constrained proportion, led the architects to reconsider the role of central outdoor space. Rather than impose a traditional orthogonal courtyard at the heart of the dwelling, the team sought an alternate geometry to reconcile continuity with division. Spatial Strategy and Courtyard Geometry F-WHITE’s defining gesture lies in the courtyard’s rotation. Placed at an oblique angle within the house’s orthogonal boundary, the courtyard interrupts the expected spatial reading. This tilt is more than a formal device; it allows the surrounding interior spaces to link fluidly at their corners, bypassing the need for corridors and reinforcing a sense of spatial cohesion. This move mitigates the typical courtyard issue in narrow lots, where the outdoor void threatens to divide rather than unify. In F-WHITE, the courtyard is perceived not as a central void to be circumnavigated but as a geometric insert, a spatial wedge around which the house unfurls. It appears almost incidental, like a box that has landed within a continuous interior shell, carving subtle niches and allowing glimpses of the sky without fracturing the whole. Notably, the plan avoids over-articulation. Functions are assigned with clarity, yet the transitions between public and private realms are not demarcated by walls but by proximity, orientation, and visibility changes. The residence achieves a spatial sequence of unfolding rather than zoning, and each corner turned offers a fresh yet familiar perspective on the courtyard’s presence. Material Palette and Tectonic Expression Materially, F-WHITE adheres to a restrained palette that reinforces its conceptual clarity. The interior is defined by birch flooring, lauan plywood ceilings, and plasterboard walls finished with AEP, creating an atmosphere of calm continuity. These surfaces absorb and reflect light with subtle variation, amplifying the temporal and climatic shifts orchestrated by the central courtyard. The mortar lysin exterior gives the house a muted, almost anonymous presence from the outside. This subdued finish resists spectacle and reinforces the introverted nature of the design; its architectural intensity is reserved for those who inhabit the space rather than those who pass by. The project is rooted in wood-frame construction, a pragmatic and contextually appropriate choice structurally. Built by Nagano-Koumuten and furnished by Tallman STUDIO, the residence balances craft with efficiency, eschewing expressive tectonics in favor of modest precision. The architecture does not draw attention to its construction; instead, it invites attention to the voids, transitions, and relationships it enables. F-WHITE Plans Site Plan | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Section | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects Perspective | © Takuro Yamamoto Architects F-WHITE Image Gallery About Takuro Yamamoto Architects Takuro Yamamoto Architects is a Tokyo-based architectural practice founded in 2005 by Takuro Yamamoto. It is known for its minimalist residential designs that emphasize spatial continuity, natural light, and the integration of voids to enhance privacy and openness. The firm’s work often explores the interplay between solid and void, crafting serene environments that respond thoughtfully to site constraints and client needs. Notable projects include the White Cave House and F-WHITE, which exemplify their commitment to creating timeless, context-sensitive architecture. Credits and Additional Notes Project Architect: Eiji Iwase Structural Engineer: Masuda Structural Engineering Office Construction: Nagano-Koumuten Furniture Design: tallman STUDIO Structure: Wood Frame Construction Client: Married couple with one child Site Area: 259.31 m² Building Area: 122.03 m² Total Floor Area: 118.99 m² (in accordance with Japanese regulations) Design Period: August 2007 – October 2008 Construction Period: November 2008 – April 2009

Elon Musk isn’t the only tech billionaire with power over the federal agencies that regulate his businesses. Since Donald Trump took office, more than three dozen employees, allies, and investors of Musk, Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Palmer Luckey have taken roles at federal agencies, helping direct billions in contracts to their companies.  Companies owned, founded, or invested in by Musk, Thiel, Andreessen, and Luckey have collected more than a dozen federal contracts totaling about $6 billion since Trump’s inauguration in January, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. And they’re actively pursuing billions more.  Those appointments, which are in departments that oversee, regulate, and award business to the four men’s companies, raise a number of red flags. They could violate conflict-of-interest laws or government ethics regulations, both of which prohibit federal employees from using public office for private gain. And while it’s not unusual to install trusted allies in government roles, Musk’s network has moved in at an unprecedented rate and scale. TechCrunch has previously reported on all of the people in Musk’s universe who have joined him at DOGE, where he has shuttered federal agencies and slashed workforces in departments that regulate his businesses. At least 19 others with Silicon Valley connections, be they founders or investors, have also joined DOGE.  “The second Trump administration is actually the first in recent years to not impose any sort of additional ethics safeguards on high-level appointees,” Daniel Weiner, director of the Brennan Center’s Elections and Government Program, told TechCrunch. He noted that Trump fired the director of the Office of Government Ethics and 17 inspectors general who served as watchdogs for fraud and abuse, immediately after taking office. “It certainly does potentially increase the risk that you have people working on matters that do impact, at least indirectly, their bottom lines,” Weiner said. “But this is a long-term issue in our government that’s not unique to this administration.” Innovation versus accountability Peter Thiel speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference.Image Credits:Marco Bello / Getty Images Some may argue that it makes sense for employees and associates of Musk, Thiel, Andreessen, and Luckey to join government agencies. Their insiders are talented individuals who are behind the cutting-edge technology the government genuinely needs, and they understand how to innovate quickly and compete globally.  Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW More serious questions arise when favoritism threatens to undermine competition, when policy is created or destroyed to protect market dominance, or when regulations that would serve the public good are waylaid to promote business interests.  For instance, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently retreated from pursuing rules that would restrict data brokers, despite growing privacy concerns — a shift that stands to benefit companies involved in AI, surveillance, and data analytics. Another example is DOGE’s firing of staffers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who investigate autonomous vehicle safety, including several probes into Tesla.  “One of the defining structural challenges the government of the United States has right now is that we have a system in which the very wealthiest interests have so much power to shape our elections and then turn around and shape government policy,” Weiner said.  Another Silicon Valley appointee, Mike Kratsios — a former Thiel employee — is now leading technology policy for the U.S. government. In an April speech, he spoke about throwing away bad regulations that “weigh down our innovators,” particularly those who are innovating in AI.  “Many people in Silicon Valley tend to think that whatever worked in Silicon Valley is also going to work for administering the United States government,” Weiner said. “And as we’re seeing now, the danger is a lot of people are going to get hurt because of the assumptions they make.” “The fact that you had a successful startup after five others failed doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to run the Social Security Administration,” he continued.  A network inside and a payoff outside Marc Andreessen, co-founder and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz.Image Credits:David Paul Morris/Bloomberg / Getty Images All of the businesses between Musk, Thiel, Andreessen, and Luckey are related. Musk’s SpaceX was backed by Thiel’s Founders Fund and Andreessen’s a16z (which also invested in X and xAI). Both of those VCs also backed Anduril, Luckey’s defense startup.  The overlapping network of founders, funders, and insiders extends into several federal agencies. And in many cases, those agencies are steering billions in federal contracts back to those companies.  The Journal found that across Washington, people from Musk’s network, including Tesla, X, and SpaceX, are in more than a dozen agencies, from the executive office of the president and Office of Personnel Management all the way down to the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy. SpaceX employees are also in agencies that could provide the company new business. For example, the Journal reports that SpaceX senior engineer Theodore Malaska got an ethics waiver in February that lets him take a temporary job at the Federal Aviation Administration while still working at the rocket company. The FAA hasn’t given any contracts to SpaceX yet, but Malaska said on X the agency has used Starlink to upgrade a weather-observing system in Alaska.  SpaceX is also the main commercial provider that transports crew and cargo for NASA. Despite national security concerns — like the company’s secret backdoor for Chinese investment and Musk’s reported drug use — SpaceX in April won $5.9 billion of a $13.7 billion multi-year contract from the U.S. Space Force to launch Pentagon missions. The DOD, which is currently a Starlink customer, also plans to buy SpaceX’s Starshield satellites, a militarized version of the internet satellites.  Employees at Thiel-backed firms have found themselves in roles in the State Department, the Office of Management and Budget, Health and Human Services, and Social Security, per The Wall Street Journal. Thiel’s Palantir has already been awarded nearly $376 million since 2020 from the Department of Health and Human Services. In 2024, the company was also awarded at least $1.2 billion in Department of Defense contracts in 2024 and is in the running for another $100 million deal. Anduril, Palantir, and SpaceX recently submitted a multibillion-dollar proposal for Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile-defense program, which would also add to Anduril’s existing contracts with the U.S. Army. Recently, Anduril and Microsoft took over a 2021 contract worth up to $22 billion to develop AR headsets, per the Journal.  An Anduril executive, Michael Obadal, has been nominated to a top role at the Department of Defense. In his ethics disclosure, he stated that he would retain his Anduril stock if appointed. TechCrunch has reached out to Anduril, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Palantir, and SpaceX for comment. “This sort of concentration of private wealth and political power is ultimately very risky for our economy,” Weiner said. “Because instead of the government making decisions that are intended to foster competition, foster economic growth, you run the real risk that government decisions are going to instead be structured around protecting particular companies and particular industries from full economic competition.” 

Meta’s building a new AI data center so massive in Louisiana that the local utility company has plans to construct three new gas-fired power plants to provide it with enough electricity. Now, advocates and lawmakers are pressing Meta for answers about how it’ll clean up pollution stemming from the data center’s energy consumption.Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, shot off a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday demanding answers about how much energy the data center would use and the greenhouse gas emissions that would be generated. Powering the new data center with gas “flies in the face of Meta’s climate commitments,” the letter says.Tech companies are rushing to build out data centers to train and run new AI tools, driving up electricity demand. In this case, power utility Entergy wants to meet that demand with new gas infrastructure, raising concerns about the impact Meta’s data center will have on the environment and local residents.“We urgently need corporate responsibility”“Meta’s backslide from its own climate pledges risks triggering broader economic harm at a time when we urgently need corporate responsibility,” Sen. Whitehouse said in a statement emailed to The Verge.In 2020, Meta pledged to reach net-zero emissions across its operations, supply chain, and consumer use of its products by the end of the decade. But the company’s carbon footprint is larger now than it was when it set that goal, according to its latest sustainability report, as it doubles down on AI. The company has tried to reduce its emissions by matching its electricity use with equal purchases of renewable energy. It’s a strategy Meta and other big companies often take: pay to support new clean energy projects to try to cancel out the environmental effects of your facilities plugging into a power grid that runs on dirty energy. Environmental advocates are increasingly concerned that this strategy still burdens communities with local pollution, and that the pressure to meet rising electricity demand from AI is boosting fossil fuel use rather than renewable energy. We’re seeing that tussle play out in Richland Parish, Louisiana, where Meta has plans to build its largest data center to date. It’s spending $10 billion on the project, the company announced in December. Once complete, the campus would span 4 million square feet, about as large as 70 football fields. But the project is moot unless Meta can ensure there will be enough electricity available for all those servers, a problem it’s working with Entergy to solve. Entergy proposed building three entirely new gas plants with a total capacity of 2,260 megawatts to support the data center, but it has to get regulatory approval first.Some advocates contend that there hasn’t been enough transparency around Meta’s data center plans to help the public understand the potential impact on the local power grid. The New Orleans-based Alliance for Affordable Energy and the Union of Concerned Scientists filed a motion in March asking the Louisiana Public Service Commission to add Meta as an official party to proceedings over whether to approve construction of the new gas plants. Doing so would compel the company to disclose more information, and the commission is scheduled to consider the motion on Monday. “It’s hard to wrap your brain around [whether] a facility like this either might be good for your community or bad for your community without understanding the possible impact to your electrical system, your bills, and your water,” says Logan Burke, executive director of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.There are already forecasts that rapidly growing data center electricity demand could raise electricity bills in the US. Meta said in December that it would contribute $1 million a year to an Entergy program that helps older adults and people with disabilities afford their bills. Data centers have also been notorious water-guzzlers, although Meta says it would invest in projects to restore more water than it would consume.RelatedSen. Whitehouse’s letter, meanwhile, asks Meta to answer a list of questions by May 28th. On top of questions about the data center’s electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions, Whitehouse wants to know what the justification is for building gas-fired power plants rather than renewable energy alternatives. And it presses Meta to explain how the proposal aligns with its 2030 climate goal.Meta maintains that it’ll continue matching its electricity use with support for renewable energy, including a commitment to help fund 1,500 megawatts of new solar and battery resources in Louisiana. It also said it would help fund the cost of adding technology to at least one power plant that would capture carbon dioxide emissions. Whitehouse wants to know how much funding it will provide and how much carbon will be captured. Carbon capture tech has been prohibitively expensive to deploy and costs are often offset by using the captured CO2 to produce more fossil fuels through a process called enhanced oil recovery.“We received the letter and look forward to providing a response,” Meta spokesperson Ashley Settle said in an email to The Verge. “We believe a diverse set of energy solutions are necessary to power our AI ambitions – and we continue to explore innovative technology solutions.”Entergy didn’t immediately respond to inquiries from The Verge. It has a goal of making sure that 50 percent of its generating capacity is carbon pollution-free by 2030. But the utility said that gas “is the lowest reasonable cost option available that can support the 24/7 electrical demands of a large data center like Meta,” in a statement to Fast Company, which first reported on Whitehouse’s letter.See More:

When a young couple who wanted to give their Victorian home a more contemporary look, they turned to Pensaer Studio for a 430-square-foot extension to the original structure. The London firm’s team took their clients requests into account before they got started: the pair wanted a design that was sophisticated, airy, and could also link out to their garden.The studio also redesigned the garden with its colorful planter beds to assure an aesthetic continuity with the redesigned home. What was once a small kitchen with a low ceiling, tucked into the back of the house with no connection to the outdoors, has now become a 10-foot-long space that combines a kitchen, a dining room, and a living area, all with views of the surrounding shrubbery. The studio also found room for a new toilet with some extra square feet that were left over.The project sought as far as possible to use materials that were free of chemicals and toxins, with the goal of creating a home that is healthier with less dust and fewer pollutants. “The warm woodwork in oak contrasts with the polished concrete floors, creating a modern and welcoming ambiance. A bench, installed at an angle by the window, seamlessly connects the interior with the garden, making the most of the natural light and reinforcing the connection to the outdoors.” “The key was to try to design around very specific spaces to achieve the most efficient layout possible. We chose this route rather than creating larger open expanses that, while they would offer greater flexibility, would also take up more area. The result is a very defined set of intimate spaces that allowed almost all of the garden to be preserved,” explains Rhys Owen, founder of Pensaer.The London studio, known for bringing together craftsmanship and architecture in designs that “cultivate joy,” made use of custom furniture for this extension. “The interior is designed to offer a sense of calm, sophistication, and warmth. The cozy feel of finishes like oak contrast with the polished concrete floor and the integrated woodwork elements encourage the connection between the home’s owners and the space. Beams transform into shelves, and then into seats, creating a continuous flow.” the studio says. Note the focus on organics that spreads beyond aesthetics—the project used materials that were free from chemicals and toxins to create a healthier living space.The walls on one side of the apartment double as storage space. The kitchen is from Hølte, a company that specializes in creating bespoke fronts for IKEA systems.

Mobena is a three-person, remote-first startup building the “evolution” of multi-generational tax/estate planning software, targeting the advisors of America’s 2 million wealthiest families. We’re currently hiring our first dedicated UI Engineer to “own” the frontend of our flagship product, Mobena Evolution, for which we have little to no frontend code. You’ll work directly with our backend/algorithm-focused CTO, as well as our designer-founder, to turn evolving Figma concepts into fast, maintainable, and scalable user interfaces.What You’ll DoChoose and justify the frameworks and tools that best fit our needs.We have some holdover prototype code in Vite JS, but you can take it or leave it; all of our Figma concepts are new.The backend is a standard HTTP API. We are open to everything from established web stacks (React, Angular, Svelte, Vite) to cross-platform or native solutions (Qt, WASM, .NET MAUI, Tauri, Electron, Tk)—literally anything, if you can convince us it’s the right choice.Build our UI from the ground up, establishing clear, maintainable patterns for components, state management, styling, testing, performance, and accessibility.Collaborate to refine and sometimes re-frame existing screen designs in Figma.Connect the frontend to our APIs (REST, GraphQL, or similar).Lay groundwork for future mobile clients; however, experience in this regard is a plus rather than a requirement.About YouYou’ve shipped an interactive application—web, desktop, or mobile—via coursework, open source, side project or professional work.You care about usability and design quality. (That is, you care about the user.)You learn by doing: building things rather than sitting in committee.You are happy to say I don’t know. We try to cultivate “beginner’s mind” at Mobena—it helps us avoid conventional traps and groupthink. The first step of thinking like a beginner is acknowledging your own ignorance! 😊You can defend your technical choices in clear English, and can take credit for your successes as well your mistakes.You are comfortable in an early-stage, collaborative environment.

Last week, Epic Games resubmitted Fortnite to the App Store in the United States. This followed a court ruling that stated Apple wasn’t allowed to charge a 27% commission on payments conducted through external payment services on the U.S. App Store. However, when it submitted the new version of Fortnite for app review, Epic Games didn’t hear back for quite some time. Tonight, Epic Games shared a letter that it says it received yesterday from Apple. This follows this mornings announcement that Apple had ‘blocked’ the launch of the new Fortnite update globally, which wasn’t necessarily the case. Instead, Apple simply didn’t want to touch the US version of Fortnite. Epic Games had bundled the two versions together, and Apple had then suggested that Epic Games submit the US and EU versions separately. In the letter shared, Apple stated the following: As you are well aware, Apple has previously denied requests to reinstate the Epic Games developer account, and we have informed you that Apple will not revisit that decision until after the U.S. litigation between the parties concludes. In our view, the same reasoning extends to returning Fortnite to the U.S. storefront of the App Store regardless of which Epic-related entity submits the app. If Epic believes that there is some factual or legal development that warrants further consideration of this position, please let us know in writing. In the meantime, Apple has determined not to take action on the Fortnite app submission until after the Ninth Circuit rules on our pending request for a partial stay of the new injunction. You can read the letter in full here. In short, Apple doesn’t want to take action until everything is fully settled involving the dispute. As a result of this, Epic Games has asked the courts to force Apple to allow Fortnite to relaunch on the U.S. App Store under the new rules. My favorite Apple accessory recommendations: Follow Michael: X/Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed.  FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel