You can now do your best Link impression with a playable ocarina from Deekec. The 12-hole handmade ceramic flute looks exactly how it does in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and comes with a songbook with 20 iconic songs from the game, like the Song of Time and Song of Storms. It's on sale for $17.99 (10% off) at Amazon right now and is part of a Lightning Deal, meaning only a limited number of these are available at this price. Grab a Playable Ocarina and Legend of Zelda Songbook12 Hole Alto C Ocarina with Legend of Zelda SongbookAside from the ocarina itself and the songbook, you also get a neck strap, a protective bag for storage, and a nice ceramic display stand that looks incredible on any collector's shelf. The songbook includes songs from the entirety of the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's iconic library of music and comes with easy to understand instructions for first-time ocarina players, as well as real sheet music for more experienced musicians. There's also a quick visual guide on how to hold the ocarina properly before playing. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is widely agreed to be one of the greatest video games ever made, and its soundtrack from legendary composer Koji Kondo is big reason for that. It also took the 34th spot on IGN's list of the Best 100 Video Games of All Time. After the Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom from last year, Nintendo has been hush-hush about what's next for the series, but we at least know a live-action Legend of Zelda movie is coming from Sony Pictures. For more Legend of Zelda collectibles, check out all the official manga and encyclopedias that are more great additions to any gamer's collection. The Legend of Zelda MangaThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to The PastThe Legend of Zelda Complete Box SetThe Legend of Zelda - Legendary Edition Box SetThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Complete Box SetThe Legend of Zelda EncyclopediasThe Legend of Zelda: Art & ArtifactsThe Legend of Zelda EncyclopediaThe Legend of Zelda: Hyrule HistoriaThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion$29.93 at AmazonMyles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.

Bleak Sword takes the challenging combat of games like Dark Souls and distills it down to the essentials for a compelling adventure on iOS, macOS, and Apple TV. Learn how Unity developer more8bit kept streamlined the project with a clear vision and smart prototyping to launch this Apple Arcade hit.Mobile developer Luis Moreno Jimenez (more8bit) has worked in the games industry for more than 20 years. “I started pretty early doing little 3D models and crude animations, and fantasizing about the games I would like to make,” he says.At 17 years old, he joined Enigma Software, where he spent three years working on different prototypes and the RTS-RPG hybrid Excalibug. His next role was at MercurySteam, first as an animator on games like Scrapland and Clive Barker’s Jericho, and then as lead in-game animator on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and its sequel, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.“Years working closely with gameplay programmers and gameplay designers has been very beneficial for me in the long run,” he says. “I got to see how they tackle gameplay specific problems from different points of view, understand what works and what doesn’t, and pick up little gameplay tricks here and there. I’ve also learned how to finish and close projects, which is something very important if you’re working solo.”Inspired by the growing number of indie innovators finding success outside large studios, Luis decided to pursue the dream of making his own game. He experimented with a couple of different engines before choosing Unity. “I felt that if I was going to learn a programming language, it would be better to learn a more established and general one like C#.”From the outset, Luis knew he wanted to make a mobile game, and he had a clear idea of what Bleak Sword would look like. The game features 2D sprites rendered in a 3D environment. All game assets use minimalistic pixel art, brought to life in a lo-fi, monochrome style.“The first thing I came up with was this aesthetic,” he explains. “From the very beginning, the main character was as you see in the final game. I thought this minimalistic style would look cool on a handheld or mobile screen, so I chose mobile as my first target platform.”Gameplay took several rounds of prototyping. “The first version of Bleak Sword was 2D,” says Luis. “Another was open world, like a mini-Witcher 3, but that idea soon proved to be too big for one person to do in reasonable time, even with minimalist graphics.”Eventually, Luis landed on the concept of “diorama-based arenas,” where each level is confined to a small square. “This was the structure I was looking for – the two ideas matched perfectly as both have a minimalistic design approach,” he says. “The great thing about Unity is how quickly you can put together a few assets and try out different ideas. It definitely saved me months of work in the experimental phase.”Bleak Sword’s base game contains nine different chapters, each containing 10 diorama-based arenas. Every chapter has new enemies to conquer and culminates in a unique boss encounter.“I knew from the start that I wanted to have very different settings. Because the game loop in the original game was designed specifically for short, quick, intense sessions, if the settings were too similar, it could bore the player,” says Luis.To keep the experience fresh, Luis created different types of terrain, obstacles, enemy types, and gameplay elements. “You have chapters with water, environmental traps, weather conditions that can affect gameplay, and so on,” says Luis. “Players can also hide behind trees or other objects when enemies throw projectiles at them. I tried to balance each arena together with the enemies, so each level is a little different and has the potential to create memorable moments.”One of the game’s most memorable chapters is the Northern Passage, where combat happens on horseback in a perpetually scrolling environment. Luis used Shader Graph to prevent enemies and objects from coming into view beyond the bounds of the scrolling diorama.“Enemies on that level have a script that changes their material. When they spawn, they are created outside the arena using the shader that hides pixels. When they enter the arena, the script changes the material and uses a normal shader, making them visible.”Going mobile gave Luis the opportunity to experiment with control schemes and create a uniquely challenging Soulslike, a genre not often seen on handheld devices. “I wanted to make an action game playable with one hand – no onscreen joysticks or buttons,” he says. “When people play mobile games on their commute, they’re usually holding onto the bar with one hand and playing with the other.”The controls are simple but effective: Players swipe to roll in a direction for movement, tap once to attack, and tap and hold to charge an attack or counter a blow from an enemy.In early prototypes, Luis used Unity’s built-in Input System because it was easy to set up and implement, but switched to Rewired from the Unity Asset Store later in production. “I was very happy in general with the plug-in – it helped a lot with the original Bleak Sword’s development, especially with the Apple TV controls.”more8bit’s publisher, Devolver Digital, pitched Bleak Sword to Apple, who added it to their library of Apple Arcade exclusives in 2019. The game was a hit, receiving praise for its fluid and responsive gameplay.“I’m very happy with how things went,” says Luis. “It definitely allowed me to continue on this indie adventure.”So, what’s next for Bleak Sword? This year, Devolver Digital announced Bleak Sword DX, an expanded and improved version of Bleak Sword for PC and Nintendo Switch™ with updated controls, visuals, and a brand-new campaign.“I can’t wait for players to try the new DX campaign mode, which I think is a lot of fun and pretty challenging, especially with the addition of two more difficult modes,” says Luis. “I’m also excited for players to try their hand at the new Boss Rush mode or see if anyone can get a crazy high number of rounds in Endless Arena. I put a lot of work into this game, and I hope players enjoy their time with it!”Check out the Bleak Sword DX case study to learn how more8bit brought his debut game as a solo developer to more platforms.*Nintendo Switch is a registered trademark of Nintendo.

SoundCloud has altered its platform policies to require opt-ins for training generative AI models with artists' music following widespread user backlash, the company announced today in a letter from its CEO.On Friday, Futurism broke the story that SoundCloud had quietly updated its Terms of Use (TOU) in February 2024 with language allowing it to train AI using users' uploaded content, which could include uploaded music.The updated terms — which were flagged by users on Bluesky and X (formerly-Twitter) — included some exceptions to account for music and other content licensed under third parties. But the AI provision was overall extremely broad, and could feasibly grant the music-sharing site the right to funnel much of its vast content library into generative AI models as training material, whether now or in the future.Though the change was made back in February 2024, it seemed like site users were largely unaware of the change. Artists responded with rage and frustration, taking to social media to express their anger at the company and, in many cases, claiming they'd deleted and scrubbed their accounts.In response to the mess, SoundCloud issued a lengthy statement clarifying that, despite the provision's sweeping language, it hadn't used artists' music to train AI models. That included generative AI tools like large language models (LLMs) and music generation tools, according to SoundCloud.Now, it looks like SoundCloud is doubling down on those promises — and changing its policies.In the letter released today, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton conceded that SoundCloud's language around AI training was "too broad." To rectify that, said Seton, the company revised its user terms, which now bar SoundCloud from using artists' music to "train generative AI models that aim to replicate or synthesize your voice, music, or likeness" without the explicit consent of artists.The new clause adds that should SoundCloud seek to use its artists' music to train generative AI, it would have to earn that consent through opt-in mechanisms — as opposed to opt-outs, which are notoriously slippery.Seton also reiterated SoundCloud's commitment to blocking third parties from scraping SoundCloud for AI training data, and characterized the changes as a "formal commitment that any use of AI on SoundCloud will be based on consent, transparency, and artist control."According to Seton, the initial AI policy change was a reflection of SoundCloud's internal use of AI for features like music discovery algorithms and Pro features, fraud detection, customer service, and platform personalization, among other features. SoundCloud also uses AI to target opted-in users with advertisements based on their perceived mood. It also allows users to upload AI-generated music, and boasts a slew of partnerships with platform-integrated AI music and generation tools.If there's any moral here, it's that language matters, as do the voices of the artists who power creative platforms — especially in an era where data-hungry AI models and the companies that make them are looking to suck up valuable human-made content wherever they can.Seton, for his part, promised that SoundCloud would "keep showing up with transparency.""We're going to keep listening. And we're going to make sure you're informed and involved every step of the way," reads the letter. "Thanks for being a part of the SoundCloud community and for holding us accountable to the values we all share."More on SoundCloud and AI: SoundCloud Quietly Updated Their Terms to Let AI Feast on Artists' MusicShare This Article

This self-generated project came about after the ad agency’s joint managing partner Hannah Penn was diagnosed with skin cancer, which she has since recovered from. Penn became determined to raise awareness of the dangers of UV, particularly in the construction industry. In the UK, construction workers comprise 8% of the workforce, but account for 44% of occupational melanoma skin cancer deaths, according to research published by the National Library of Medicine. However, unlike most cancers, skin cancer is preventable. “So with the right interventions and awareness, we can save hundreds if not thousands of lives,” says Penn. According to Statista, there are 2.14m people employed in the construction sector in the UK. Construction workers account for 44% of occupational melanoma skin cancer deaths in the UK The agency started to explore ways of communicating this. Posters weren’t going to work for workers up on a roof, says Dan Norris, who joined Pablo London along with Ray Shaughnessy as joint managing creative directors 18 months ago. Instead, the team developed the idea of making the mandatory safety vest responsive to UV (ultraviolet) radiation, so that it would warn the wearer when UV levels got dangerously high. Early ideas included applying UV stickers that change colour, but their quality deteriorates quickly. LEDs lights were also considered, but they are heavy and would need to be recharged. The change in colour alerts the wearer and fellow workers to apply sunscreen and take precautions Pablo London’s then hit upon the idea of a logo made of wearable tech. The jackets’ breast pocket have a silicon logo filled with a long-lasting UV-sensitive material. As the sun’s UV level intensifies, the logo changes from white to pink to red, alerting the wearer and fellow workers to apply sunscreen and take precautions. This tech needed a brand that would engage the target audience. Young builders are into grooming and looking after themselves, says Norris. “The big problem is awareness, if you talk about it, what are you asking them to do?” “We deliberately communicated everything towards the construction industry,” says Shaughnessy. “At the heart of it, is the idea that you are deserving of this level of protection.” Pablo London came up with UV-U-SEE, an initials-heavy name which informed the tone of the communications. Stylistically, the brand sits between the iconography of safety signage typically found on a building site, and a cool, design-conscious brand, says Norris. “The look also borrows from the world of 1960s trademarks.” “If it’s too much in a health space it feels like a real turn-off,” Shaughnessy says. The branding draws inspiration from the world of 1960s trademarks The logo design captures the simple idea of making the unseen, seen, Norris says. “Drawing on the graphic language of informative symbols, the design uses a triangle warning shape and a simple inverse masking effect to reveal something hidden in the sun’s rays,” he adds. Pablo London designer, Rodrigo Castellari, worked on the visuals. The idea of making the invisible visible is articulated on the website as the utilitarian symbols disappear to be replaced by letters and words. The symbols were designed in-house from a Helvetica base. The Higher-Vis vests can be bought with bespoke logos through the UV-U-SEE website. Also on sale is UV-U-SEE branded sunscreen dispensers and sunscreen made by LifeJacket, which produces high-performance non-greasy sunscreen for the army. The brand is supported by The National Federation of Builders and Considerate Constructors Scheme. But Penn’s vision is for it to have a life beyond the construction industry, suggesting it could even be applied to prams or children’s hats. While this is not intended as a money-making scheme for Pablo London, it has a value for the agency. “When we talk to our paying clients we can show them there’s more ways to solve a problem that to write an ad,” Norris says. The brand is supported by The National Federation of Builders and Considerate Constructors Scheme Branded sunscreen dispenser designed to be available on a construction site

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" We seem to have more video footage and still images than ever before, thanks to smartphones, GoPro cameras and the backlog of older ones collected across a lifetime. Managing all these formats, as well as making sure they look their best, can be a frightening proposition. Thankfully, Winxvideo AI is a powerful all-in-one solution that not only uses advanced Artificial Intelligence software to upgrade the quality of your content but can rescue old photos and footage too. The newly updated version 4.0 also brings huge improvements to speed, plus a special price offer, so you can save both time and money while you upgrade your photo and video library. Grab your discount on Winxvideo AI Winxvideo AI comes with an impressive array of features that can turn tired, old, blurry videos into something far more professional. For example, if you have footage of a significant event that was shot on an old device and only displays in low resolution, then the AI upscaling tool can cleverly convert it to 720p ,1080p or even 4K! It offers dedicated AI models for different video types – whether enhancing fine details, smoothing low-detail footage, refining animations, or upscaling photorealistic content. Digiarty Winxvideo AI significantly improves video quality thanks to its advanced AI models that remove noise, sharpen footage, and clean up compression artifacts caused by low light or poor equipment. This means that the unimpressive video you shot of an important occasion can instantly look better than you thought possible, and play back in glorious 4K with realistic detail, revealing textures like skin, hair, fur, and fabric with impressive clarity. Is a great shot spoiled by the camera shaking? No problem, the AI Stabilization capabilities in Winxvideo AI can fix that in only a few clicks. If you find that your video is jerky and stutters due to a low frame rate, that’s fixable too thanks to the AI frame interpolation that can boost frame rates for smooth footage or allow you to convert it to slo-mo instead. Alongside these tools there’s also a full suite of video editing features so you can put together your own films, remove noise from audio tracks, the option to convert video to and from a wide range of formats, plus the helpful ability to compress file sizes to make them easier to share over email or messaging services. Restore and enhance photos and images  It’s not only video that you can improve with Winxvideo AI, as it also brings serious enhancements to still images. The AI upscaler technology instantly improves low-quality images by up to 10x, removing noise and blurriness to give you pin-sharp results. If you want to enhance portraits, Winxvideo AI’s Face Recovery restores fine details like eyelashes, pupils, and skin texture, while removing blemishes. It works perfectly for both individual portraits and group photos.Digiarty The same thing works on old photographs, which you can scan and then make them look like they were taken yesterday. Should you want to modernize old black and white pictures, then the colorize feature in Winxvideo AI makes this incredibly simple, bringing old images to life with full color versions. Everything is handled by the simple-to-use software that does all the heavy-lifting for you. Winxvideo AI version 4.0 takes things to a new level Thanks to big improvements in two of the AI models used in version 4.0, the latest iteration of Winxvideo AI boasts incredible performance gains, with upscaling speeds increased by up to 80% over version 3.9! Digiarty Not only that, the finished results also come with enhanced quality and details too. All this, while the CPU/GPU usage has been lowered, so your PC won’t be punished while working on the video or images. Grab time-limited special deals for Winxvideo AI This year also marks the 19th anniversary of Winxvideo AI’s creators Digiarty, which is being celebrated by a superb deal on the software where you can buy it for only $29.95, saving you $40 off the normal price. Hurry, though, as this is a time-limited deal to accompany the Digiarty festivities. With so many useful tools to upgrade your video and photo library, there’s never been a better time to buy Winxvideo AI, and thanks to the special deal there’s never been a cheaper time either. View Offer

Figma announced 'Sites' at Config 2025, which lets users create simple static websites from designs. Imagine a website generator like Framer or Webflow, but embedded inside Figma.The buzz is serious. Sites could become the de facto tool for quick marketing campaigns or small personal websites. But what if you need Sites to integrate with your existing design systems, custom components, and production code?Figma SitesFigma Sites is a visual developer tool similar to Webflow or Framer. It's focused on letting designers build websites without coding or leaving Figma.Its greatest strength is its integration with the Figma ecosystem. For designers already comfortable with the platform, Sites offers a path to deploy a design as a live website quickly.Easy interactivity and AI-enhanced codeFigma Sites includes numerous presets for everyday website interactions and effects. For instance, you can add a hover effect to a button or a typewriter effect to a text block.A future version of Sites will also include an AI tool for generating code.Responsive design and hands-off infrastructureFigma Sites can also display your design in desktop, tablet, and mobile layouts side by side. The preview version (press shift + space) and the published version are both fully responsive websites.Press the Publish button in the top-left corner once you’re ready to deploy the design into a working website. After some quick validations (it can even help with auto layout), Figma Sites will deploy your project to a generated URL. For a fee, you can wire up a custom domain.Coming soon: CMS and Code LayersRight now, Figma Sites translates your design into HTML and CSS. The team's future improvement, "Code Layers,” will take a user prompt and transform it into React and Tailwind CSS.Another future improvement is a CMS feature inside Figma Sites. This would allow users to manage their website content more efficiently. The idea of a fully integrated design-to-publish tool with an internal CMS is very appealing.Going from Figma to website to complete applicationSimple site builders are great for getting something online, but aren’t great at creating fully integrated applications that mesh with an existing codebase. This is a familiar problem.The challenge lies in moving beyond a static page built with HTML and CSS. What happens if you need this new site to use the Next.js framework and the App Router patterns that your team has adopted? Can you leverage your company's custom components? Is there a way to add complex user interactions? These limitations become significant hurdles for any product beyond a basic landing page or marketing campaign.Visual Editor: stepping beyond simple sitesBuilder.io's Visual Editor satisfies this larger need. Figma Sites gets you something fast without ever leaving the Figma ecosystem. Visual Editor gets you something nearly as fast, but it connects designs directly to your production codebase on one canvas.The core idea is different. Visual Editor is for feature-rich applications where your existing production codebase and design systems are first-class citizens.Figma Sites was engineered to transform a Figma design into a static site using no third-party tools and the most minimal toolchain possible. Visual Editor was engineered to transform designs into production applications at the enterprise scale:Figma-like precisionVisual Editor gives you a familiar, precise visual editing experience, but you're building interactive applications, not just static mockups. Use prompts to generate UI, then fine-tune it visually. The output isn't just a picture; it's code that works.Solving handoffsImport Figma designs with a click, and Builder translates them into interactive code using your component library. The CLI deeply integrates with your specific framework and codebase patterns, generating clean, maintainable code that developers want to work with. It respects your tech stack.On-brand generation, every timeStop worrying about brand drift. Because Builder understands your codebase, it uses your actual design system context—your colors, typography, spacing, and components—automatically ensuring everything generated is consistent and on-brand. No more manual checking.Dual workflows (develop & publish)Builder offers flexibility. Developers can use it to build new UIs that integrate directly with application code. Marketers or designers can use the 'Publish' workflow to create and update content visually using pre-built components, without needing a developer or a new deployment. This addresses the content bottleneck, too.Smashing workflow silosVisual Editor provides a unified canvas for design, development, and content updates. It fits into existing developer workflows (like Git) rather than trying to replace them, enabling better collaboration across the entire digital team.Getting started with Visual EditorReady to see the difference? You can try Visual Editor and experience how it connects to a real codebase.Open the Visual Copilot Figma plugin. Install it from the Figma Community if you haven't already.Select a layer or design in your Figma file that you want to bring into Builder.io.Click the "Export Design" button within the plugin.Click the "View Code in Builder" button. This will open your design directly in the Builder.io Visual Editor.(Optional) Enhance in the Visual Editor: Use AI prompts or manual controls to add interactivity, connect data, or refine the design within Builder.Generate code with the CLI: Copy the provided CLI command from Builder.io and run it in your local project's terminal. The CLI will analyze your codebase and generate the integrated, production-ready code components.The best way to understand the power of Visual Editor is to experience how it generates code that uses your components and fits your workflow.ConclusionFigma Sites is a big step forward for Figma. If you already work with the platform, you get all your favorite Figma features and a near-frictionless path to simple, real websites.Sites fills an essential market need. But you might find the tool underpowered if your team faces the challenges of integrating designs with a complex codebase, maintaining brand consistency across an extensive application, or enabling collaboration between large, diverse teams. In those cases, Builder's Visual Editor is the enterprise-grade solution. It provides a robust, integrated visual development environment that respects your code and scales with your product.Further reading Introducing Visual Copilot: convert Figma designs to high quality code in a single click.Try Visual CopilotGet a demo

North Boulder Library / WORKacSave this picture!© Bruce DamonteLibrary•Boulder, United States Architects: WORKac Area Area of this architecture project Area:  12800 ft² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2024 Photographs Photographs:Bruce Damonte Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers:  ELEVATE, Holcim, Alucobond, American Hydrotech, Daltile, Forbo, Guardian Glass , InCord, Kawneer, Montel, Overhead Door Corp., Swing Set Mall, Wilsonart More SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. The Boulder Public Library issued an open Request for Proposal (RFP) in 2018 for a new branch library in North Boulder, a project the community had anticipated for over two decades. The RFP called for an "iconic" building, which many competitors interpreted as a visually striking design. However, WORKac www.work.ac - the architecture firm based in New York City and led by Amale Andraos and Dan Wood - proposed a vision where the library's iconic status would stem from its sustainability and its positive impact on the community and environment.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!This innovative approach resonated with the library. The building stands out as an original project rooted in WORKac's significant past experiences. Andraos and Wood have always been deeply committed to issues in education, a dedication that culminated in Andraos' role as Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University, where Dan Wood is an Associate Adjunct Professor. At the time this project was commissioned, their Kew Gardens Hills Library in Queens, NY had just recently opened, a source of pride for its community, and their joyful Miami Museum Garage - which inventively transforms the simple and often frustrating act of parking a car into an unexpected opportunity for social interaction - had reached wide international resonance.Save this picture!Save this picture!Rooted in community engagement - The North Boulder Library is situated within a diverse neighborhood that blends new developments for young professionals, art studios, galleries, and two manufactured home communities that include Boulder's largest Spanish-speaking population. The chosen site is a triangular plot bordered by Broadway to the west and Three Mile Creek to the south, with stunning views to the Boulder Flatirons. WORKac's approach to the project was deeply rooted in community engagement.Save this picture!Save this picture!WORKac worked for almost eight years on the project, including a three-year Community Engagement and Site Planning process, which entailed more than twenty public presentations of the design during different phases to community groups, politicians, and stakeholders. More than 3,000 people attended the opening ceremony on June 29, 2024. "Today and every day we endeavor to render architecture more human, to turn the pragmatic fantastic, and to reclaim the 'best' in 'best practice' away from the technocratic and towards the creative. We approach every project, regardless of scale, program, type or context with the same passion, drawing resolute realism together with polemical optimism," say Amale Andraos and Dan Wood.Save this picture!Site, Program and Architecture - Boulder's unique geographical position at the intersection of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains has historically shaped its rugged architectural vernacular. The North Boulder Library design celebrates this context, acknowledging the area's complex relationship with the natural environment. Through its connections with the urban surroundings, the library not only reflects its environment but also enhances its visual and functional relationship with the local community.Save this picture!The design of the North Boulder Library was directly informed by the community's input, leading to the inclusion of key programs such as Boulder Reads, which supports literacy development for children and adults, and a "Maker Kitchen," which evolved from the community's desire for a maker space together with ideas for a community garden and kitchen area. "Our greatest delight is for others to feel a sense of joy, of belonging, and of possibilities for the future," state the architects.Save this picture!The building negotiates the triangular site that includes a seasonal creek running diagonally through it with a building that respects the scale of its residential neighbors to the north while opening up to views of the Flatiron Mountains and Rocky Mountain foothills to the south and west. The library is designed with the major community spaces on the second floor. The lower northern side integrates a shallow, fully- accessible ramp that allows these second-floor community and ESL classrooms to open at night when the library is closed, reinforcing the library's role as a community hub. This ramp is enhanced by a public art installation by Montreal-based Daily tous les jours that plays music as users ascend or descend. Despite its modest size, the building has four entrances and a variety of public spaces that seamlessly extend outdoors, connecting with both the residential neighborhood to the north and the Fourmile Canyon Creek park to the south.The building's design is both intriguing and unexpected. Its irregular geometry, a convergence of triangular forms, mirrors and influences the internal layout. This interplay of shapes creates a series of surprising spatial experiences.Save this picture!Save this picture!The main public floor is divided into a large reading room for adult patrons and a children's area with a private nook for story-reading and windows onto a slide that can be accessed through a rope climbing structure, allowing kids to climb up through the building and slide down into the library's new playground. Other key areas on the ground floor include the Maker Kitchen, which connects to an edible garden and playground, and large windows that offer breathtaking views of the mountains. The interior design incorporates custom elements like a wallpaper by graphic designer Andrew Freeman, principal at afreeman, featuring historical photos from Boulder's archives, celebrating the region's indigenous heritage. The building's exposed ceiling structure adds to the space's acoustic performance and aesthetic richness.Save this picture!WORKac's architecture is both unpretentious and inspiring. It embodies a sense of freedom that invites people to engage with the space and take ownership of it. This approach reflects a profound commitment to civic responsibility. Sustainability is a central focus of the project, with initial plans aiming for net-zero energy. Although some features were scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic challenges, Boulder's stringent sustainability regulations ensured that the library maintained its high green building standards. A rooftop solar array supplies a significant portion of the building's energy, while the site includes a rainwater garden planted with native, butterfly-attracting flowers and shrubs to protect the seasonal creek from runoff.Save this picture!A testament to the power of thoughtful design - The North Boulder Library is a testament to the power of thoughtful, community-driven design. Despite a modest budget, WORKac has created a building that is both beautiful and functional, serving as a model for equitable public architecture. Funded entirely by the City of Boulder, the library stands as a beacon of progressive values, sustainability, and community engagement, reflecting the spirit of the city it serves. WORKac is the recipient of the 2023 Arts and Letters Award in Architecture, a prestigious honor given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters to recognize exceptional American architects whose work embodies artistic excellence and has made a significant impact on the field of architecture. They are currently working on the Beirut Art Museum in Lebanon and projects at Vassar College, including a renovation to its main library.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less Project locationAddress:Boulder, United StatesLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officeWORKacOffice••• MaterialSteelMaterials and TagsPublished on May 14, 2025Cite: "North Boulder Library / WORKac" 14 May 2025. ArchDaily. 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We all saw this coming Max pivots back to HBO Max as WBD rethinks ability to compete with Netflix WBD is relenting on trying to get everyone to sign up for its streaming service. Scharon Harding – May 14, 2025 12:27 pm | 0 The new logo looks familiar. The new logo looks familiar. Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) streaming service Max will be called HBO Max starting this summer, bringing back a name that WBD curiously ditched a couple of years ago. In May 2020, the company then known as WarnerMedia Group launched its flagship streaming service, HBO Max. The successor to the HBO Now subscription-based streaming service that launched in 2014, and not to be confused with the now-defunct HBO Go (which was a video on-demand streaming service accessible to those with subscriptions to the HBO cable channel), HBO Max offered “the entire HBO service,” per WarnerMedia’s announcement. HBO Max also combined content from other titles WarnerMedia owned, including titles from DC Comics and Cartoon Network. But the main draw continued to be the ability to stream HBO’s prestigious library via a Netflix-like streaming subscription. When WarnerMedia acquired Discovery in 2022 and became WBD, it sought to combine the libraries of HBO Max and the Discovery+ streaming service. WBD landed on Max as the name for the combined app. The name seemed to suggest access to a maximum amount of streaming content with maximum appeal. However, it questionably distanced itself from the legacy of high-budget, award-winning TV shows and recent popular movies that the HBO brand had been building since 1972. Max wasn’t just about pushing the high-end stuff you’d expect from HBO but also reality shows from Discovery, including 90 Day Fiancé and Naked and Afraid. WBD CEO David Zaslav’s management team “concluded that the ‘HBO’ in the name positioned the general entertainment service as slightly too rarified to match rivals like Disney+ or Netflix,” Deadline reported at the time. Today, Zaslav and company are doing an about-face, with the CEO saying that WBD is “bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate” the streaming service’s “growth in the years ahead.” WBD's announcement added that “returning the HBO brand into HBO Max will further drive the service forward and amplify the uniqueness that subscribers can expect from the offering.” “It is also a testament to WBD’s willingness to keep boldly iterating its strategy and approach—leaning heavily on consumer data and insights—to best position itself for success,” the media conglomerate claimed. “Not everything for everyone” The announcement is a result of WBD rethinking its streaming strategy as leadership acknowledges that it failed to sell Max as an essential streaming service. Last month, executives admitted that Max is viewed as more of an add-on service, per The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Executives said at the time that they no longer want to try to push its streaming service as something for every member of the household. “What people want from us in a world where they’ve got Netflix and Amazon [Prime Video] are those things that differentiate us,” Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, told WSJ. The strategy pivot since has included moving further away from children’s programming and some Discovery content, like shows from the Food Network and HGTV. There have also been reports of WBD exploring splitting Discovery from Max. “We’re not fighting for the more-is-better game,” JB Perrette, WBD's streaming president and CEO, told WSJ. “We’ll let others deal with the volume.” In today’s announcement, Perrette doubled down on those sentiments: We will continue to focus on what makes us unique—not everything for everyone in a household, but something distinct and great for adults and families. It’s really not subjective, not even controversial—our programming just hits different. Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter Scharon Harding Senior Technology Reporter Scharon is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer gadgets and services. She's been reporting on technology for over 10 years, with bylines at Tom’s Hardware, Channelnomics, and CRN UK. 0 Comments

Source: Wright & Wright ArchitectsProposed scheme on Oxford High Street Wright & Wright Architects have secured planning permission for a major retrofit scheme for All Souls College, Oxford. The project is intended to create new academic and public-facing spaces within a group of conjoined historic buildings on Oxford’s High Street, expanding the college’s presence beyond its historic quadrangles. The scheme is intended to restore original architectural features across a series of existing buildings and shoprfronts, while introducing new facilities across multiple floors. The upper levels will include three seminar rooms, a lecture theatre with capacity for 100 people, fellows’ studies, staff offices and a rooftop garden. Historic elements such as 17th-century stone walls, ancient roof timbers and 18th-century ceilings are to be retained and revealed as part of the works. Clare Wright, founding partner at Wright & Wright, said: “It has been a privilege to help realise the College’s ambition to remodel an extraordinary set of historic buildings on an important site on Oxford’s High Street. In an era when city centres are languishing, this pioneering project can help preserve the soul of Oxford.” David Renton, estates bursar at All Souls College, said: “Our ambition is to create a place of learning that connects directly with the life of the city, while honouring the historic complexity of the site. We are excited to work with Wright & Wright to bring this vision to life.” Roof gardenSource: Wright & Wright Architects Front elevationSource: Wright & Wright Architects Proposed sectionSource: Wright & Wright Architects Front elevationSource: Wright & Wright Architects Study roomSource: Wright & Wright Architects 1/5 show caption The ground floor proposals include replacing existing shopfronts with bespoke joinery designed to reflect the proportions of earlier facades. The scheme also seeks to enhance the covered passageway linking the High Street to the Covered Market with improved signage, lighting and finishes. The project, comprising three conjoined structures, is described by the architects as a low-energy, deep retrofit. The design aims to reduce carbon emissions while safeguarding the building’s historic fabric. Later modern interventions are to be stripped out in order to improve environmental performance and expose earlier features. Founded in 1438, All Souls is one of the University of Oxford’s oldest and most academically distinctive colleges, known for its postgraduate-only focus on research and absence of undergraduates. Wright & Wright’s wider body of work includes projects for the British Museum, Lambeth Palace Library, the British Academy and several other Oxford colleges. A construction timeline has not yet been confirmed. Project team Architect: Wright & Wright Architects Structural & Civil Engineer: engineersHRW M&E, Sustainability Engineer: Max Fordham Acoustic Engineer: Max Fordham Heritage Consultant: Donald Insall Associates Project Manager: Ridge and Partners Cost Consultant: Gardiner & Theobald Property Management: Cluttons Planning Consultant: Carter Jonas Fire Consultant: OFR Consultants Landscape Consultant: Harris Bugg AV Consultant: Hewshott Retail Consultant: KLM Real Estate Accessibility Consultant: Mima Group Ltd Archaeological Consultant: Oxford Archaeology Building Regulations PD: Ridge and Partners Principal Designer Advisor: Stroma Visual Impact Assessment: Neaves Urbanism