Build A Rocket Boy’s Leslie Benzies has spoken about MindsEye and how the studio plans to offer a value-for-money experience without any filler. However, it’s only the first step in a longer game, which includes a “big overarching ten-year plan.” While speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Benzies reiterated that the title would continue receiving new content. “Some of the content, like races, are made just for fun. But [with] most of the content, we’ll try and incorporate it into the story. So once you’ve played the big overarching ten-year plan, you’ll have a very good idea of what this universe looks like.” There are plans for multiplayer and a fully open world, but it’s also looking at “what players are creating and incorporating that into our plans. Given the ease of the tools, we think there will be a high percentage of players who will jump in and give it a try, see how it feels, and then decide. Hopefully, some will create compelling content we can then promote and make that part of our plans to push to other players.” Interestingly, the story of MindsEye is “bang in the middle” of the greater narrative that Build A Rocket Boy wants to tell. “So, we’re going to go back 10,000 years, then we’re going to go forward a certain amount of time. It’s the relevant piece of the puzzle that will have players asking questions of what the bigger story is,” said Benzies. This is the reason why the studio hasn’t showcased footage for “huge parts” of the experience. The studio wants to avoid spoilers, but he does tease that the story takes some “unusual twists.” As for multiplayer, Benzies said, “The dream from the building side is to allow players the opportunity to create their own multiplayer open-world games with ease. Anyone could pick up the game, jump in, drive around, stop at a point where they saw something of interest, build a little mission, jump back in the car, drive again, and build another mission. Once you’ve built a couple of hundred of these, you’ve built your own open-world game. So, that’s the build side.” However, Build A Rocket Boy also wants to develop “a place where people can socialise, play together, and engage in the stories that we build.” As such, an open-world multiplayer title is planned for next year, unfolding one year after the events of MindsEye. You can also expect an open-world free-roam title to bridge the gap between the two releases. “All of these stories interconnect in a fairly unique and original way, which I think players like these days. They like the complexity of deeper stories.” MindsEye launches on June 10th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out the overview trailer and post-launch roadmap.

The chief executive of the developer Antracit discusses her ambitions for the contest contest to retrofit and upgrade the former Palace Hotel in Ostrava, Czechia Zuzana Bajgarová inside the Palace Hotel Credit: Image by Vladimir Prycek Magazine Patriot Why are you holding an international contest for the renewal of the Palace Hotel in Ostrava? The former Palace Hotel building holds great historical and cultural significance for Ostrava. Since 1913, it has been an integral part of city life – fondly remembered by several generations, whether as a venue for cultural and social events or as a backdrop to everyday urban life. That’s why we are approaching its renewal with the utmost respect and openness to diverse architectural perspectives. We believe that an international competitive dialogue is the most effective way to arrive at a high-quality, sensitive solution that also aligns with the expectations of investors. We view the project as one of our company’s flagship initiatives – one that will shape the future appearance of Ostrava’s historic centre, in the Czech Republic’s third-largest city. What is your vision for the future of this important city centre building? Our vision is to transform the Palace Hotel into a vibrant, open space that seamlessly integrates into the everyday rhythm of city life. We believe it can offer the kind of amenities and services that Ostrava currently lacks. We aim to develop stylish, small-scale rental housing, complemented by services, community spaces, and potentially even a modern lifestyle hotel. A key priority is revitalizing the building’s ground floor as a dynamic public space and thoughtfully incorporating historical features into its renewed identity. This is a long-term investment focused on sustainability and on creating lasting value – not only for the people of Ostrava, but for the city as a whole. What sort of teams would you like to see step forward for this unique opportunity? We would like to invite teams that think beyond the immediate task – those with the courage to approach this project with both respect and vision. We value interdisciplinary collaboration that brings together architecture, urbanism, design, and experience in the transformation of historic buildings. Equally important to us is an understanding of urban life and the ability to design spaces that serve people naturally and intuitively. We are seeking a long-term partner – someone who will accompany us from concept through to successful implementation, and help restore the Palace Hotel to its rightful place on the map as a vibrant, confident presence in contemporary Ostrava. 2025-06-01 Merlin Fulcher Share

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles uses a phone as she attends a National Day of Prayer event hosted by President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden at the White House, May 1, 2025 in Washington / Image credits - Andrew Harnik/Getty Images The personal phone of Susie Wiles, the U.S. President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, was allegedly hacked, with the individual responsible obtaining access to a bevy of contacts, including high-profile officials. According to the latest report, a federal probe has been launched, but there is no confirmation on how the phone was compromised in the first place. The contacts present in Susie Wiles’ phone grew suspicious after the impersonator asked to move the conversation to Telegram, risking the leaking of sensitive information Shortly after gaining access to the White House chief of staff’s personal phone, the hackers leveraged AI to impersonate Wiles’ likeness and sent multiple contacts voice and text messages from a different number. It was only after the person or persons on the other end recommended continuing the conversation to a private platform like Telegram that the contacts realized that something was off. FBI Director Kash Patel shared the following statement with CBS News regarding the incident. “The FBI takes all threats against the President, his staff, and our cybersecurity with the utmost seriousness; safeguarding our administration officials’ ability to securely communicate to accomplish the President's mission is a top priority.” As for how Wiles’ phone was compromised, TechCrunch asked White House spokesperson Anna Kelly if a cloud account associated with the chief of staff’s device was compromised, or if her handset was a part of a more sophisticated attack involving government-grade spyware. Unfortunately, the outlet did not receive a meaningful response, suggesting that the investigation is still ongoing. This is the second incident in which Wiles has been targeted by hackers, with the first instance transpiring in 2024, when it was reported that Iranian cyber-espionage experts attempted to obtain access to her personal email account. A separate report claims that these individuals were successful in bypassing the security as they obtained a dossier on Vice President JD Vance, who was Donald Trump’s running mate at the time. Going over a few images, we realized that the U.S. President’s chief of staff is currently in possession of an iPhone, which should cause even more concern because Apple prides itself on its robust security and privacy. News Source: The Wall Street Journal

The big Leslie Benzies interview: MindsEye, Everywhere, and the double-edged sword of GTA How Build A Rocket Boy developed its debut project Feature by Samuel Roberts Editorial Director Published on May 30, 2025 As the producer behind the Grand Theft Auto games from GTA 3 through to GTA 5, as well as Red Dead Redemption and LA Noire, any project with Leslie Benzies' name on it is going to be a lightning rod for attention. MindsEye, the first game from Benzies' studio Build A Rocket Boy, is getting plenty of it – even if some of that attention has been less positive. MindsEye is a single-player third-person shooter with vehicle gameplay, set in a Las Vegas-style city called Redrock. It's a techno-thriller story about a former soldier called Jacob Diaz – but it's clear from visiting BARB in Edinburgh this week that the game is envisioned as a gateway into something much larger, both in the fiction of MindsEye, and for players who pick the game up. That includes a user-generated content platform called Build.MindsEye, where players on PC can create levels using relatively straightforward tools that incorporate any object in the game. When asked if third-person shooter levels or driving sections were the limits of the build side of MindsEye, the developers showed other examples of how they can be used, like massively increasing the proportions of a basketball, dropping it into the world, and functionally making an in-game version of Rocket League. Still, while MindsEye launches on June 10, 2025, for PC and consoles, many questions remain unanswered, including the future of its long-gestating Everywhere project. Benzies sat down with GamesIndustry.biz earlier this week to talk us through his vision for the game. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Image credit: Austin Hargrave What's your grand vision for MindsEye? What will it be at launch, and where is it going in the future? MindsEye is one story in an epic universe. The other stories take place at different time periods, and [at] different locations in the universe. This story is Jacob Diaz's story. There are also other stories within MindsEye, so we tell the backstories of other characters Jacob will meet. That's the way we're going to fill out the universe over time – so when you travel around, all the stories will be connected by one overarching theme, and each story will have different mechanics. And we'll give these mechanics to players within the creator tools. What will happen with the game after launch? [The studio] will support the game through Play.MindsEye, with continuous new content. Some of the content, like races, are made just for fun. But [with] most of the content, we'll try and incorporate it into the story. So once you've played the big overarching ten-year plan, you'll have a very good idea of what this universe looks like. We have plans to add multiplayer, [and] we have plans to make a full open world. And of course, we've also got to look at what players are creating, and incorporate that into our plans. Given the ease of the tools, we think there's going to be a high percentage of players who will jump in and give it a pop, see how it feels. Hopefully some will create compelling content we can then promote and make that part of our plans to push to other players. Is it best to think of MindsEye as the first game in a series of games? Or one game as part of a larger experience? MindsEye sits bang in the middle of our story. So, we're going to go back 10,000 years, then we're going to go forward a certain amount of time. It's the relevant piece of the puzzle that will have players asking questions of what the bigger story is. We've intentionally not released footage of huge parts of the game, because we don't want to spoil anything for players. But this story does take some unusual twists. What's your vision for the multiplayer component of the game? I guess there's two sides to the answer. The dream from the building side is to allow players the opportunity to create their own multiplayer open world games with ease. So anyone could pick up the game, jump in, drive around, stop at a point where they see something of interest, build a little mission, jump back in the car, drive again, build another mission. Once you've built a couple of hundred of these, you've built your own open world game. So, that's the build side. From our side, we want to [create] a place where people can socialise, play together, and engage in the stories that we build. So, we do have plans next year to launch an open world multiplayer game that takes place a year after MindsEye finishes. In the interim, we also have an open world free roam game that spans from when MindsEye finishes to the launch of the open world multiplayer game. All of these stories interconnect in a fairly unique and original way, which I think players like these days. They like the complexity of deeper stories. You're selling the base game at launch, with a pass for upcoming content additions. Do you have a vision for how you're going to package future stories in the overarching MindsEye experience? It depends on the scale of the story. Some will be free, and some will be paid. After you left Rockstar Games, what came next? What led to you building the studio? I spent a few years looking into some other things: going [into] some property development. Using some of the games experience, we made a thing called VR-Chitect, which allowed you to build houses and view them in VR. I spent a lot of time in Los Angeles at this point, and this is when the droughts were very bad. I got into [making] these machines that would suck water out of the air. Still sitting in my back garden in Los Angeles is this big clunky machine, it works like an air-conditioning unit. It could suck up one thousand litres of water. So I got involved with that. But there's really nothing like making games. The different types of people – the lawyers, the accountants, the programmers, the artists, the dancers, the singers – that bunch of people in one big pot, all working together, and turning something from a piece of paper into [something on the] screen – that's where I get my excitement. Since I was a kid, that's what I've wanted to do. I thought, 'I better get back into making games' because nothing else was as much fun. What was the journey towards creating MindsEye as your first standalone release? Your first game's always your hardest. You have to build systems, you have to build the team. Everything is new. You don't really see a lot on the screen until way down the line, because you're building underlying systems, physics systems, the gameplay systems. It's a slow start, but what you end up with is an engine, and obviously we use Unreal, which provides a certain level of support and building. On top of that, we've got to build our own stuff. [Plus], we have to pack up everything we build and present it nicely for the creator tools. So it adds this extra layer of complexity to everything. But now, given where we are, the speed that we can iterate, we can very quickly place enemies, place vehicles, place puzzles, whatever, and get a feel for a game. We've now got a great, experienced team – a lot of talented guys in there. In the old days, you'd get a game, stick it on the shelf, and you'd wave goodbye. It's not like that anymore. You're continually fixing things. When you release a game, you've suddenly got, not a hundred testers, but hopefully millions of testers. You've got to continually fix, continually optimise, and especially with the tools that we've got, we want to continually create new content. So MindsEye is a standalone game, and Everywhere is not mentioned anywhere on the Steam page. But obviously there's a strong 'build' component to this game, which was part of the Everywhere pitch. What does this mean for Everywhere, and what was behind the decision to package the game this way? This is all part of a bigger story and ecosystem that we've got planned. Everywhere is going to show up again pretty soon. Everything we're working on, there's a story behind it – a big overarching story. So Everywhere will come back, and it fits into this story somewhere. I can't tell you [where], because it would be a spoiler. But that's going to reappear soon, and it will all be a part of the same product. "I'm not sure it would've been smart as a company to say, 'we are going to compete with the biggest game on the planet'" Leslie Benzies, Build A Rocket Boy In terms of the tools, the tool doesn't really care what world you're building in. It sits separately. So any game we create, it will naturally work on top of it. But we're big fans of keeping everything thematically connected, or connected through a narrative, and you'll see it. The bigger story will become obvious, once you've played through all of MindsEye. Then you might start to see how it all connects together, to the Everywhere world. Has the landscape for something like Everywhere, or the build component to MindsEye, changed as platforms like UEFN have taken off or Roblox has become so huge? It's great to see these tools being used by people. I build a lot with my son, and when he builds, I see the excitement he gets. It reminds me of when I was a kid with my Dragon 32 computer, managing to get a little character moving on the screen – that excitement of, 'wow, I did that'. Giving that to other people is massive. It's still very difficult to build in Roblox. For example, when my son wants to do it, I have to jump in. I used to be a programmer, and I struggle to build in there. When he wants to run around and scream with his friends he's in Roblox; when he wants to build he'll jump into Minecraft, because Minecraft is a much easier system to build within. And I think we sit somewhere in the middle: you can get very high quality, fun games, but they're very easy to build. I think we're at the infancy of this in video games. We're at the very beginning of it, and we're going to see way, way more of it. It doesn't necessarily have to be presenting it to your friends, or to an audience. I think the process of creating for a human being is fun in itself. MindsEye has been positioned as a linear game. You are best known for creating open world games. What was behind the decision to make MindsEye a more linear, narrative-driven experience? I think certain stories are more difficult to present to players in an open world setting. Open world gives you freedom – you don't necessarily want freedom to portray a story. For MindsEye, it's a very set time in a character, Jacob Diaz's, life. You pick up as Jacob when he arrives in Redrock, and then you leave Jacob at a certain point in the future. And so, it'd be very difficult for us to have an open world in there. It's horses for courses: it depends what you're doing. But for Jacob's story, it had to be a linear game. Having said that, there are open world experiences in there, and we can build them through Build.MindsEye. There is a free roam open world mode, where you play [as] a different character and you see his time, from the end of MindsEye, to the point of our next big planned launch. Again, they're all connected through a narrative, and we really want to show the universe, show the stories that have taken place in the universe, the characters in that universe, and see how they've experienced the same experience but from different viewpoints. "The dream from the building side is to allow players the opportunity to create their own multiplayer open world games with ease" Leslie Benzies, Build A Rocket Boy Was there ever a discussion about creating a more traditional GTA competitor? In design, you look at a lot of different options. I'm not sure it would've been smart as a company to say, 'we are going to compete with the biggest game on the planet'. I'm not sure that would be the best business decision to make. We went through a bunch of different designs, and to tell our story, this is what we landed on. MindsEye is priced more like a game from a decade ago at $60, and it'll take around 20 hours to finish. Can you talk about how you settled on the game's length and scope, and how you made that decision around price? So you've got the MindsEye campaign, and yes, it'll be about 20ish hours. But you do have all this other side content: there's going to be this continuous stream of content. These days, there are so many different options for people. It's not just games: there's streaming TV, so many good shows out there. I don't think you can have filler content in games. I think people want the meat, and they want the potatoes. We've tried to make as much meat as we can, if that makes sense. I think that's a good length for a game. What you also find through data, is that [with] big games, people don't play them all. The majority of people – 60% or 70% of people – don't actually play games to the end. So when you're making something, I would prefer – I'm sure the team would say the same – [that] you had the whole experience from start to finish, and not create this 200-hour game. Create something that is finishable, but have some side things that will fill out the universe. A lot of the side missions on the play side of MindsEye do fill out the characters' back stories, or do fill out what was happening in the world. On price: the world's in a funny place. People are worried about the price of eggs. So value for money, I think people appreciate that when times are difficult. I was curious why you waited until quite late in the day to reveal the build element of the game, only because it seemed you were being quite church and state with how MindsEye is releasing versus what Everywhere is. So in general, we believe – and again, it goes back to the amount of information, the amount of options people have these days – I don't think you can have extended marketing times. It's very expensive, we're a start-up. I think you lose interest from people. There are so many things for people to do, that if you extend it, you're not punching through to the place you need to be. I've seen other games, nine years before launch, it's getting talked about. I'm not sure that's the way of the world these days. You'll see there are games that never go to market: the day of launch was the marketing campaign, and it worked very well. So I think we tried to compress ours down for that reason. On the MindsEye.Play [continuous content] part of it, yeah, maybe we should've got that out there sooner, but it is a nice little surprise to give players. That's the thing with marketing – you never know what's the right or wrong way to do it, you've got to go with your gut, your senses, and test it. Being who you are, it brings a certain level of expectation and attention. Do you find it a double-edged sword, launching a new studio and launching a new game, with your background? Yes. There's always comparisons, and I think that's how humans work. As kids, we're taught to put a triangle into a triangular hole, and a square into a square hole. I think we do that for the rest of our lives, and we like to describe something new as 'it's X plus Y, with a bit of Z in there'. It makes things easy for us. It's maybe humans optimising the way we communicate. So there are comparisons. It serves us well in some ways, it doesn't serve us well in others. Dave Grohl said it well when he formed the Foo Fighters: nobody's interested in the Foo Fighters, all they were interested in was Nirvana. The guys have built something very cool, and I just hope people can see it for what it's trying to be.

As the most famous residence in the country, the White House’s interiors are given the utmost attention, and they tend to change with every new administration. So, we’re taking a look back at how the property’s design has evolved over the years. From the famed Sister Parish designs of the Kennedy era to Michael S. Smith’s vision for the Obamas, the house has seen impressive transformations and, more recently, some unexpected style choices. The White House’s OriginsBefore we explore the White House’s most prominent interiors, let’s take a look back at the famed home’s history. The White House was designed by Irish architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style of architecture and built over the course of eight years (from 1792 to 1800). The edifice itself is made of Aquia Creek sandstone that was painted white because of the risk posed by the permeability of the stone, which could crack in colder months. Before the White House was built, the President’s House in Philadelphia served as home to two presidents: George Washington and John Adams. The construction of the White House was completed just a few months before Adams’s presidency ended, so he was able to move into the People’s House before his term concluded.Until 1901, what we know as the White House was actually called the Executive Mansion, which then-President Theodore Roosevelt didn’t find ideal—given that many U.S. states had a governor’s residence that was also called the Executive Mansion. Roosevelt subsequently coined the term "White House" that we know and still use to this day—the new name could also be seen atop copies of his stationery.Related StoryThe Early Years When President John Adams and his wife, First Lady Abigail Adams, moved into the White House, the residence was lacking in decor, given that it was only recently completed. The East Room of the White House—which is now used for events such as press conferences, ceremonies, and banquets—was then used by Abigail Adams as a laundry room.Thomas Jefferson was the first president of the United States to spend his entire time in office living in the White House. He set the precedent for the home’s opulent but still livable interiors by having furnishings and wallpaper imported from France.The Late 1800s and Early 1900sIn 1882, President Chester Arthur enlisted Louis Comfort Tiffany to reimagine the Red Room, the Blue Room, the East Room, and the Entrance Hall, the latter of which soon welcomed the addition of a stained glass screen, in true Tiffany style. Library of CongressLouis Comfort Tiffany’s design of the White House Red Room, circa 1884-1885.whitehousehistory.orgPeter Waddell’s The Grand Illumination, an 1891 oil painting that showcases Louis Comfort Tiffany’s stained glass screen in the White House Entrance Hall.Much to our dismay, President Theodore Roosevelt had Tiffany’s creations removed 20 years later, because the designs were seen as dated at this point. Roosevelt already had a construction crew at work in the White House to make more room for his sizable family (hence the addition of the East Wing and the West Wing). While there are no colorized photos of these rooms under Tiffany’s direction, there are black and white photographs and a colorful oil painting of what the stained glass screen likely looked like—so we can only imagine how magical it appeared in real life. It’s believed that after the screen was removed, it was sold at auction and later installed at Maryland’s Belvedere Hotel, which was destroyed in a fire in 1923. Shortly after the removal of Tiffany’s designs, Theodore Roosevelt hired celebrated architectural firm McKim, Mead & White to restore the White House to its Neoclassical glory. Related StoryThe Early-to-Mid-1900sIt wasn’t until 1909—over a century after the White House’s completion—that the Oval Office was created. Then-President William Howard Taft added this room and had it painted in an army green shade, which has since been changed, as every president likes to make the space their own.Given the numerous state dinners at the White House and accompanying serveware required for them, First Lady Edith Wilson (wife to Woodrow Wilson) oversaw the completion of the White House China Room in 1917. Since then, the room has displayed state service china, silverware, and glassware chosen and used by each administration (a selection traditionally made by the First Lady). The White House Historical AssociationThe White House China Room in 1975.The majority of the presidential china depicts some variation of the Great Seal, which features a bald eagle and a shield that resembles the United States flag, but most administrations have come up with their own unique designs. Many of these are produced by Pennsylvania-based porcelain manufacturer Lenox. One of our personal favorites? James Polk’s charming floral dessert plate, featuring a mint green hue, is a refreshing change from the usually neutral color palette of other presidential china. (Heads up: You can buy reproductions of this plate and others on eBay!)Many may not know that the White House was once home to an indoor pool. (Yes, really!) In 1933, an indoor pool was installed in the People’s House at the request of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who used swimming as a form of therapy to help with his polio. On the walls overlooking the pool was a mural by artist Bernard Lammotte, who painted the Christiansted Harbor from the island of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Thirty-six years later, Richard Nixon nixed the underground pool and turned the space above it into a press briefing room to host televised broadcasts.Abbie Rowe/National Park Service/Harry S. Truman Library & MuseumThe White House Reconstruction under President Harry S. Truman, circa 1950.Following the Great Depression and World War II, the White House was in desperate need of repair, so much so that it was deemed unsafe for occupancy in 1948, after architectural and engineering investigations. Harry S. Truman, his family, and the White House staff had to live elsewhere during a three-year-long reconstruction project in which the People’s House was completely gutted, enlarged, and reconstructed. The Trumans spent this time living at Blair House—also known as the President’s Guest House—which is located across the street from the White House. (Two members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party attempted and failed to assassinate Truman while he was living in this house.) The Kennedy YearsFirst Lady Jacqueline Kennedy was very passionate about historic preservation, and it was her efforts that led to the formation of the White House Historical Association, a nonprofit organization that still exists today, aiming to preserve the White House’s history and make the home more publicly accessible. She was also the reason the White House was declared a museum, thereby ensuring its preservation for decades to come.View full post on YoutubeDuring Jackie Kennedy’s first year as First Lady, she oversaw a $2 million renovation of the White House. Following the completion of the project, Jacqueline Kennedy gave a televised tour of the White House, which aired on NBC and CBS to over 80 million viewers on Valentine’s Day of 1962. This was the second televised tour of the White House (Harry S. Truman was the first to give a tour in 1952), and the first time it was led by a First Lady. The broadcast went on to win both an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award.Mrs. Kennedy's renovation focused on reincorporating historic furniture and decor. “It just seemed to me such a shame when we came here to find hardly anything of the past in the house, hardly anything before 1902,” she explained in the broadcast. She cited Colombia’s Presidential Palace as a site where “every piece of furniture in it has some link with the past. I thought the White House should be like that.” Kennedy was so passionate about allowing the public to access the People’s House that, following the suspension of tours after her husband's assassination in 1963, she requested that the tours resume just one week later.The John F. Kennedy LibraryFirst Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s dressing room at the White House, designed by Stéphane Boudin.The Kennedy-era White House restoration would not have been complete without the interior decorators who helped make it possible: Sister Parish, and later, Stéphane Boudin. Parish designed the Yellow Oval Room and the Kennedy’s private quarters, but was later replaced by Boudin (reportedly following an occurrence in which Parish advised a young Caroline Kennedy to keep her feet off of the furniture; in Parish’s own writing, she revealed that someone told Mrs. Kennedy that Parish kicked Caroline—but this was never confirmed). Parish’s granddaughter, Susan Bartlett Crater, once told the New York Times that the rift was sparked mainly by “a problem over money.” Regardless, Parish’s influence on the interior design world remains indisputable to this day, and much of the popularity of her style can be traced to this high-profile project.Boudin was soon hired to decorate the Blue Room, the Treaty Room, the Red Room, and the Lincoln Sitting Room. He would later add his own touch to the private rooms of the White House as well, with more French-style decor than was previously in place.Getty ImagesThe White House Rose Garden as Bunny Mellon designed it during the Kennedy administration. Jackie Kennedy also famously oversaw the completion of the White House Rose Garden, at the behest of her husband. She tapped socialite, philanthropist, and horticulturalist Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to design the project. Related StoryThe Late 20th Century to Present DayThe White House interiors have been reinvented numerous times over the 220-year history of the building, and the decor tends to perfectly encapsulate both the time period and the First Family living there. Dorothy Draper protégé Carleton Varney served as Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's "design consultant," styling state dinners and overseeing Christmas decor. Famed American decorator Mark Hampton also contributed Christmas decorations in 1977. The Ronald Reagan Library Ronald and Nancy Reagan enjoying a meal on silver TV trays in the White House.In the 1980s, the Reagans hired Ted Graber, a decorator from Beverly Hills, to bring their vision to life. In the process, many antique furnishings were replaced with 20th-century decor, straying from typical White House decorating traditions. At the beginning of the next decade, George H.W. Bush tapped Hampton to revive the Oval Office and Executive Residence during his tenure. By the time Bill Clinton moved in, the hand-painted 18th-century-style bird wallpaper that was installed by the Reagans in the master bedroom was still in place. The Clintons’ interior decorator, Kaki Hockersmith, removed and replaced the wallpaper, telling The Washington Post that the room “had lots of all kinds of birds flying and sweeping around. It was not a calming atmosphere.”As First Lady, Hillary Clinton helped raise the White House Endowment Trust’s funds to $35 million, so that more restoration work could be done to White House. During her time spent living at the People’s House, Mrs. Clinton had five rooms restored: the State Dining Room (which Mark Hampton oversaw), the East Room, Cross Hall, the Red Room, and the Blue Room. The Ronald Reagan Library The Reagans’ bird wallpaper (pictured) was later replaced by the Clintons.George W. Bush hired Kenneth Blasingame, a fellow Texan, to decorate the White House interiors during his administration. And this wasn’t their first time working together—Blasingame also decorated the Bush family’s ranch house in Crawford, Texas. Then-First Lady Laura Bush told Architectural Digest about her plans for the Oval Office’s redesign, saying, “We knew he wanted it to be a sunny office that showed an optimist worked there.” One of the pieces that she and Blasingame collaborated on was a rug that featured the iconic presidential seal, along with a cheery addition: sun rays above the emblem, which echoed Mrs. Bush’s hopes for a “sunny office.” The rug also includes a depiction of a garland made of laurel leaves, a tie-in to the First Lady’s first name, Laura.Architectural DigestThe Queens’ Bedroom as it appeared during the George W. Bush years, where various queens throughout history have stayed. The drapery, bed hanging, and armchair are by Scalamandré.When President Barack Obama took office, he replaced the aforementioned rug with one that paid tribute to four prior presidents and a civil rights icon. The following quotes from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. outline the perimeter of the historical rug:"Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” —Abraham Lincoln"The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us.” —Theodore Roosevelt"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” —Franklin Delano Roosevelt"No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.” —John F. Kennedy"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” —Martin Luther King Jr.Michael Mundy/Rizzoli Michael S. Smith’s design for the Obama-era Yellow Oval Room.Barack and Michelle Obama worked with decorator Michael S. Smith to make extensive updates to the residence, creating spaces that merged formality and comfort—and incorporating plenty of modern and contemporary art by American talents. With the help of decorator Tham Kannalikham, President Donald Trump replaced the Obama-era beige striped wallpaper in the Oval Office with a light grey damask option during his first term. In the years Trump first took office, at least $3.4 million was spent to revamp the White House to better suit his aesthetic—including a highly controversial revamp of the Rose Garden.During Joe Biden’s term as president, First Lady Jill Biden notably chose interior designer Mark D. Sikes—known for his expertise in fresh, all-American style—to reimagine her East Wing office. Sikes was the first design expert the Bidens selected to transform a White House space, according to The Washington Post. When the couple was living in the vice president’s residence, they enlisted designer Victoria Hagan.View full post on InstagramSikes later updated Blair House, the President’s Guest House, with more than 100 rooms. He spent a year and a half revamping the place with his team to make it feel comfortable and homey for visitors while preserving the historic interiors, which hadn’t been updated since Mario Buatta and Mark Hampton refreshed the house in the 1980s. “We wanted to continue the story that was already told by Mark and Mario,” Sikes told AD in October 2024. “They’re both idols of mine, so we didn’t want to completely reimagine what they did, but continue the story and update it and make it feel like the best representation of American traditional design there is.”Sikes reupholstered existing furniture, designed custom pieces, and even commissioned a brighter take on the Clarence House damask wallpaper Buatta and Hampton installed in the hallways and staircases. The designer also applied the refreshed Blair House logo to everything from linens to china.Related StoryAnna Moneymaker//Getty ImagesIn Trump’s second term as president so far, he’s made evident changes to the Oval Office—giving the room a more ornate, gold-heavy look. Among the new accessories are a row of historic gold objects on the mantel, gold medallions on the walls and fireplace, gilded Rococo mirrors on the walls, gold eagles on side tables, and even gold cherubs above the doors.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

Expert Head Artist - Sledgehammer Games - Toronto, ONActivisionToronto Ontario M5E 1G6 Canada5 minutes agoApplyJob Title:Expert Head Artist - Sledgehammer Games - Toronto, ONRequisition ID:R024569Job Description:Your MissionAs Expert Head Artist at Sledgehammer Games, you will oversee the creation of character portraits, hair authoring, blend shape capture as well as helping with facial rig development and performance.You are an expert communicator, collaborator, and ambassador for the team. You will collaborate with Tech Art, Tech Anim, Leads and Directors to create photo real portraits that adhere to quality standards and tone of Call of Duty franchise. Aiming for the utmost realism in execution while maintaining PBR standards and working within technical guidelines.You understand the head creation, both from scan and from scratch. You can mentor your team, proactively find solutions, and deliver significant feedback to both internal and external developers with confidence.This is an onsite position at our office in Toronto, ONThis position requires travel to our studio location in California, US for photo shoot sessions.What you bring to the tablePriorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to the following responsibilities:Create realistic portraits, from sculpt or scan portraits.To author and leading the creation of hair.Create documentation of processes for others to follow as needed.Work closely with Leads, Directors and Artist to maintain the style and quality bar of CoD franchise.Works closely with the Tech Anim, Tools, Engine, and Tech art counterparts from Sledgehammer and other CoD studios to develop new workflows or improve existing tools and technologies to streamline team efficiency.Provides feedback to both internal and external artists regarding quality and technical execution.Proactively helps to troubleshoot and fix problematic content.Be a trusted gatekeeper for performance, efficiency and quality.Research subject matter relating to objectives to ensure an authentic experience.Pushing the quality of the character heads for millions of fans to enjoy.This position requires travel to our studio location in California, US.Player ProfileMinimum requirements:12+ years in the game industry working in art capacity.At least one shipped AAA title, from beginning to finishing a product, including work on an actor/actresses’ likeness either from scan, or made from scratchInspiring portfolio demonstrating focus and commitment to realistic characters especially portraits and likeness.Has experience with the entire scanning process, from the photo capture session, processing capture data to a control/game rig (the asset ready for animation).E xperience in creating realistic portraits, both from scan data and from scratchExperienced with facial rigging (blendshapes, bone base rigs or hybrid) and FACS (facial coding system.)Experienced with texturing for facial, including makeups.Experience with photogrammetry/ scanning/ PCAP tools and software.Knowledge & SkillsAble to create in-game realistic portraits from scratch.Strong anatomy knowledge.Strong understanding in creating character art assets in multiple major 3D and 2D packages (Zbrush, Maya/ 3DS Max, Photoshop, Substance) for console hardware (Xbox, PS, PC.)Excellent understanding of Physically Based Rendering system and techniques.Knowledgeable with skin and hair shaders and the ability to create in-game hair.Knowledgeable in processing raw head scan to a finished in-game asset.Possesses in-depth understanding of game engines, pipelines, and processes.Key AttributesRock solid communication across departments and problem-solving skills.Proven ability to thrive in a challenging and often ambiguous environment.Takes direction well and can confidently give clear concise directionWillingness to improve and learn new skillsAble to work under pressure and meet production deadlinesYour PlatformSledgehammer Games is a leading developer in the video game industry, best known for its work on the Call of Duty franchise. Since our inception in 2009, the studio has delivered iconic titles like including Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty: WWII (2017), and, most recently, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.As industry leaders in first-person shooter development, our commitment to excellence is reflected in every detail of our games, from highly polished multiplayer experiences to emotionally engaging single-player campaigns. At Sledgehammer Games, we believe in pushing boundaries, redefining the possibilities of interactive storytelling, and setting new standards for visual and gameplay fidelity. Together, we aim to deliver world-class gaming content that continues to set the bar for quality, innovation, and player engagement.We are excited to invite a talented and passionate developer to join our growing team as an Expert Head Artist based in our Canadian studio. In this role, you will work collaboratively with our talented teams across the globe, including our locations in the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. If you're ready to be part of a dynamic and collaborative environment where your skills can make a real impact, we invite you to explore career opportunities with us.To learn more about our studio, please visit us at www.sledgehammergames.com .Our WorldAt Activision, we strive to create the most iconic brands in gaming and entertainment. We’re driven by our mission to deliver unrivaled gaming experiences for the world to enjoy, together. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, Tony Hawk’s™ Pro Skater™, and Guitar Hero®. As a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and products, our “press start” is simple: delight hundreds of millions of players around the world with innovative, fun, thrilling, and engaging entertainment experiences.We’re not just looking back at our decades-long legacy; we’re forging ahead to keep advancing gameplay with some of the most popular titles and sophisticated technology in the world. We have bold ambitions to create the most inclusive company as we know our success comes from the passionate, creative, and diverse teams within our organization.We’re in the business of delivering fun and unforgettable entertainment for our player community to enjoy. And our future opportunities have never been greater — this could be your opportunity to level up.Ready to Activate Your Future?We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest. 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Retailers in the United States are now coming under attack from Scattered Spider, the English-speaking hacking collective that is suspected of being behind a series of DragonForce ransomware attacks on high street stores Marks & Spencer (M&S) and Co-op, according to Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG). GTIG and its cohorts at Google Cloud’s Mandiant threat intel unit said the cyber attacks are still under investigation, and for reasons of privacy the researchers have not yet named any victims in the US. The team also held back from providing any formal attribution at this time. “The US retail sector is currently being targeted in ransomware and extortion operations that we suspect are linked to UNC3944, also known as Scattered Spider,” GTIG chief analyst John Hultquist told Computer Weekly via email this afternoon. “The actor, which has reportedly targeted retail in the UK following a long hiatus, has a history of focusing their efforts on a single sector at a time, and we anticipate they will continue to target the sector in the near term. US retailers should take note,” said Hultquist. Hultquist described Scattered Spider as aggressive, creative, and highly adept at circumventing even the most mature security programmes and defences. “They have had a lot of success with social engineering and leveraging third parties to gain entry to their targets. Mandiant has provided a hardening guide based on our experience with more details on their tactics and steps organisations can take to defend themselves,” said Hultquist. When defending against Scattered Spider, hardening identity verification and authentication practices are of utmost importance, said Mandiant. The gang has proven highly effective at using social engineering techniques to impersonate users contacting its victims’ IT helpdesks, so as a first step, helpdesk staff will need additional training to positively identify inbound contacts, using methods such as on-camera or in-person verification, government ID verification, or challenge and response questions. Security teams may also want to look into temporarily disabling, or enhancing validation, for self-service password resets, and routing both these and multifactor authentication resets through manual helpdesk workflows for the time being. Employees should also be made to authenticate prior to changing authentication methods, such as adding a new phone number. Security teams can also implement additional safeguards such as requiring changes to be made from trusted office locations, or using out-of-band verification, such as a call back to an employee’s registered mobile number, before proceeding with a sensitive request. It may also be worth considering taking steps such as banning SMS, phone call or email as authentication controls, using phishing-resistant MFA apps, and using FIDO2 security keys for privileged identities. Ultimately, said Mandiant, the goal should be transition to passwordless authentication if possible. More widely, non-IT staff should be taught to avoid relying on publicly available data for verification, such as dates of birth, or the last four digits of US Social Security Numbers. With no US retailers yet publicly-named as victims of Scattered Spider's campaign, Nic Adams, co-founder and CEO at 0rcus, a security automation platform, said the identities of victims were largely irrelevant given the commoditisation of the threat chain. “Whether DragonForce, Scattered Spider, or a shared affiliate ring executed the intrusion is irrelevant. Who the hell cares. An overlap in TTPs proves the industrialisation of compromise. Threat actors don’t need advanced exploits. Simply put, organisational blindness to behavioral anomalies, lax identity workflows, IT helpdesks that treat social engineering as a customer service moment. I call this the breach-point. Continuing to focus on malware or ransomware only further validates trust flow mismanagement,” said Adams. “Phishing, cred abuse, Cobalt Strike, LOTL movement, SystemBC tunnels, Mimikatz extractions, data staging to MEGA is now a commodity kill chain. What came after was orchestration: full access, lateral expansion, data exfiltration, selective encryption, ransom leverage. The payload was just a press release because the campaign had already succeeded long before that binary detonated.” Adams called on organisations to start thinking like threat actors. “The next breach will follow the same path. One-click, credential, absent defence layer. Another billion in market cap evaporated,” he said.  “Oranisations that survive what’s coming will be those that embed threat logic at the protocol level, assign root access to operators who know what adversaries build, and stop misleading everyone by asserting compliance equals control. You can’t outsource this. You can’t automate this. You either build with black hats or remain target practice for those who take the hint.” Back in the UK, reports today (14 May) suggested that M&S' insurers may find themselves on the hook for as much as £100m following the ransomware attack, with Allianz and Beazley particularly exposed. According to the Financial Times, the claim would likely cover lost online sales and data breach liability losses following the theft of customer data from the retailer's systems. M&S has already lost tens of millions of pounds as a result of the cyber attack, which has left its food supply chains in disarray. Timeline: UK retail cyber attacks 22 April 2025: A cyber attack at M&S has caused significant disruption to customers, leaving them unable to make contactless payments or use click-and-collect services. 24 April: M&S is still unable to provide contactless payment or click-and-collect services amid a cyber attack that it says has forced it to move a number of processes offline to safeguard its customers, staff and business. 25 April: M&S shuts down online sales as it works to contain and mitigate a severe cyber attack on its systems. 29 April: The infamous Scattered Spider hacking collective may have been behind the ongoing cyber attack on M&S that has crippled systems at the retailer and left its ecommerce operation in disarray. 30 April: A developing cyber incident at Co-op has forced the retailer to pull the plug on some of its IT systems as it works to contain the attack. 1 May: Co-op tells staff to stop using their VPNs and be wary that their communications channels may be being monitored, as a cyber attack on the organisation continues to develop. 1 May: Harrods confirms it is the latest UK retailer to experience a cyber attack, shutting off a number of systems in an attempt to lessen the impact. 2 May: The National Cyber Security Centre confirms it is providing assistance to M&S, Co-op and Harrods as concerns grow among UK retailers. 7 May: No end is yet in sight for UK retailers subjected to apparent ransomware attacks.. 13 May: M&S is instructing all of its customers to change their account passwords after a significant amount of data was stolen in a DragonForce ransomware attack.

The Trump administration's plan to accept a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government to use as Air Force One raises significant security concerns, intelligence experts and government officials say, as President Donald Trump said it would be "stupid" not to accept a free plane.Trump on Monday defended the administration's plans to receive a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government during remarks at the White House, calling the donation a "very nice gesture.""I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, 'No, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane.' But it was, I thought it was a great gesture," he said.MORE: Trump admin live updatesRhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed the move, arguing that using the plane as Air Force One would "pose immense counterintelligence risks by granting a foreign nation potential access to sensitive systems and communications.""This reckless disregard for national security and diplomatic propriety signals a dangerous willingness to barter American interests for personal gain," Reed said in a statement Monday. "It is an affront to the office of the presidency and a betrayal of the trust placed in any U.S. leader to safeguard the nation's sovereignty."Air Force One a 'high-value target'Air Force One sits on the tarmac, May 12, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.Win McNamee/Getty ImagesThe primary aircraft used in the current Air Force One fleet includes two aging Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets that have been operational since 1990. Despite flying for more than 35 years, the current pair of Air Force One jets are considered some of the safest and secure aircraft in the world.Many of the security features on the plane remain classified. It has anti-missile defenses or countermeasure systems to protect against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, and the communication devices can also withstand the pulse of a nuclear blast. It is also outfitted with sophisticated communications capability to allow the president to securely run the country from the plane and protect him from cyberattacks."It's designed to transport the president in a safe way and be able to withstand physical attacks, but to also ensure that the president maintains communication with military, his cabinet, other government leaders in a safe and secure manner," said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former acting Homeland Security official. "Any building or vehicle or airplane that the president is located is a high-value target for foreign intelligence services who want to gather as much information about the president."Air Force One can also remain in the air for several days due to its ability to refuel in midair. The plane also houses a small medical facility where doctors could perform surgery if needed.All of these systems would likely need to be installed on the Boeing 747-8 that Trump would receive as a gift from Qatar.MORE: Trump defends Qatar jumbo jet offer, says it would be 'stupid' to turn away free planeA jet donated by Qatar would also be a "counterintelligence nightmare," ABC News contributor Darrell Blocker, a former CIA field operative, said."If you go back to almost anything that is given by a foreign government, there are regulations and restrictions and guidelines for ensuring that they're not being bugged, and a plane would be an absolute nightmare to be able to confirm that it's not," Blocker told ABC News Live on Monday. "From an intelligence perspective, it's not the brightest move."Blocker cited that when the U.S. embassy was being built in Moscow in the 1980s, the U.S. had to "take it down to its bare bones" because the Russians "put bugs through every room, every facility.""I think the people of Troy, when they accepted that horse, regretted it after the fact also," he said.The complexity and time needed to retrofit and inspect the plane raise questions on cost and a timeline."Even under the best of circumstances, it's going to take a significant effort for the military to be satisfied that the aircraft is constructed safely, that it's not compromised from the standpoint of intelligence collection capabilities being planted on it, and that it is built in a way that it will be able to assimilate the sensitive communications and countermeasure capabilities that are that are present on any plane that's Air Force One," Cohen said. "To be done right, it's not going to happen quickly.""In order to adequately ensure that this airplane -- which was operated by a foreign government that happens to have a relationship with Iran and China and Russia -- in order to ensure that that plane has not had collection capabilities introduced into it when it was constructed, they're gonna have to basically tear it down to the airframe," he added.White House working on 'legal details'Both the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense referred questions to the White House when asked about the possible transfer of the Qatari-owned Boeing 747 to the Department of Defense."The plane will be donated to the Department of Defense, and as with any foreign gift given to the United States Government, all proper safety and security protocols will be followed," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told ABC News.House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday he would not comment on Trump preparing to receive the jet from Qatar because he hasn't seen the "details."The White House is working on the "legal details" of the Qatari government's donation to the Defense Department, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday in an appearance on Fox News."But, of course, any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law. And we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency and we will continue to do that," Leavitt added.President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., on his way to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 12, 2025.Manuel Balce Ceneta/APTrump said during remarks at the White House on Monday that he doesn't plan to use the plane after he leaves office. Pressed by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott on what he would say to people who view the luxury plane as a personal gift to him, Trump said it was not a gift to him but "a gift to the Department of Defense."Sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News that the plane would be a gift that is to be available for use by Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation.If a private contractor were able to complete the modifications needed to the donated plane before the end of Trump's presidency, many of the systems installed would then need to be removed should the Trump presidential library foundation take possession of the plane upon Trump leaving office due to the sensitive nature of the technology.Ultimately, Cohen said he suspects that members of the intelligence community and the military will assess the risk to national security and "the level of effort to minimize the risk to national security.""If they're doing their job, the president's national security team will explain to him the level of risk that exists if a foreign intelligence service were able to introduce collection capabilities that could intercept face-to-face communications on the plane, electronic communications coming from the plane," Cohen said. "They should also be explaining to him the level of effort that it will involve in order for that risk to be mitigated. And with that information, he can then make an informed decision on whether and under what conditions to accept the airplane."