I Am Sick and Tired of Marvel Rivals Not Giving Hawkeye Trick Arrows Like in the Comics
I Am Sick and Tired of Marvel Rivals Not Giving Hawkeye Trick Arrows Like in the Comics
Anybody who’s familiar with the Marvel Universe, especially the MCU, would know how Hawkeye has always been the underdog of the Avengers, a tradition that follows through in Marvel Rivals. The hero has always been overshadowed by the flashiness of other heroes like Iron Man and Thor, while he was stuck with his petty bow and arrows.
******* heroes overshadow Hawkeye in Rivals | Netease Games
Surprisingly, the depiction of his character in the comics isn’t that straightforward. Hawkeye, in the paper format, has a better arsenal than one could imagine, including the use of trick arrows, which many fans hope to see appear soon in Rivals as well.
Hawkeye and his trick arrows in Marvel Rivals: The player base calls for a rework
Hawkeye is severely underpowered in Marvel Rivals | Netease Games
In an attempt to capture a ******* audience, the developers of Marvel Rivals over at Netease Games deliberately decided to make the applicable characters accurate to their MCU description. Unfortunately, it also meant nerfing Hawkeye’s true potential once again, something that can be fixed in the future.
Being fair to Hawkeye’s combat, his primary fighting style depends on unpredictability, which includes the use of trick arrows, which, as the name suggests, are arrows that you can never be certain about what they are about to do. Talking about how Marvel Rivals skipped them in all of its entirety, users of the game’s official subreddit interacted with the following thread.
Comment byu/Amish_Warl0rd from discussion inmarvelrivals
Comment byu/Amish_Warl0rd from discussion inmarvelrivals
Comment byu/Amish_Warl0rd from discussion inmarvelrivals
Comment byu/Amish_Warl0rd from discussion inmarvelrivals
There is ultimately a large list of utilities Hawkeye can pull off with his trick arrows, whether that be putting off a smoke screen, or creating a zip line. He can also use it to deal damage in creative ways, like releasing toxic gas or making the arrow explode after a time gap.
Why Hawkeye needs a rework, for the fans
Introduction of Trick Arrows would change Hawkeye’s Character forever | Netease Games
A hero-shooter game thrives primarily on how fun its characters and their abilities are. However, Marvel Rivals adds another layer to this by introducing already popular and famous heroes into the mix. While it’s true that other agents such as Spider-Man and Iron Man lived up to their expectations, Hawkeye on the other hand can truly make use of a rework soon.
Making Hawkeye feel bland isn’t just a disservice to his fans, it’s also a wasted opportunity to showcase one of Marvel’s best fighters. Hawkeye deserves better. If the game wants to be taken seriously as a competitive title with unique heroes, then it needs to give Clint Barton his full arsenal.
Not to mention just how simply fun it would be to have Hawkeye play with different trick arrows. The player can always keep the opponent guessing what’s to come next, spicing up the gameplay and the meta as a whole.
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Nightmare Google Maps glitch is deleting timelines, and there isn’t a fix yet
Nightmare Google Maps glitch is deleting timelines, and there isn’t a fix yet
Google Maps timelines are disappearing for some users
It seems to be a Google One issue, but there’s no known fix
Thankfully not everyone is affected, but it’s frustrating for those who are
Google Maps timelines are disappearing, and not only is there no guaranteed fix for the issue right now, it isn’t clear if this is a permanent removal or only a temporary glitch.
At first glance, reports of people’s timelines being lost seems like they might have fallen afoul of Google Map’s big privacy change: your Google Maps timeline is moving from the cloud to your device, and unless you agree to various new settings by a deadline date (which is different for different users, weirdly) you’ll lose your travel history.
However, according to reports in the Google Maps subreddit (spotted by 9to5Google), it’s an unrelated issue as it’s affecting people who have agreed to backup their timeline locally. What’s more, they’re unable to restore old backups (even if they delete and reinstall the Maps app), and some are noting that new visits aren’t being tracked either.
Some users have posted saying that Google Support blames the issue on Google One, and that Google is working on a fix, though, at the time of writing, there doesn’t appear to be a reliable method for getting your timeline back.
There was a time when restoring a backup seemed to work, however, the issue has gone on so long the backups are now being overwritten – or simply can’t be restored – meaning this option isn’t available anymore.
Why is it such a big deal?
Thankfully, the issue doesn’t seem to be impacting everyone – the Google Maps timeline on our devices appears to be fine, for example – but this is nevertheless frustrating.
While having Google tracking your location sounds less than ideal for many, having a timeline of their travel history is a dream come true for plenty others. It serves as a useful tool for reminiscing about holidays, or finding a location you want to return to later – such as a cafe you stopped at the other day, or a museum you didn’t spend enough time in on your last trip away.
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I love looking back through my timeline and would be disappointed if my travel history was ripped from me by a glitch – especially as right now there’s no word on when users’ timelines will be restored.
From the sounds of things, it should be a glitch Google can resolve, but, for now, everyone affected will have to wait and see when a fix is sent out.
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Art Exhibitions at Hotel Bel-Air & The Beverly Hills Hotel
Art Exhibitions at Hotel Bel-Air & The Beverly Hills Hotel
The Beverly Hills Hotel. Photo courtesy of The Dorchester Collection
As part of an inspired new art programming initiative, Dorchester Collection’s Los Angeles properties, The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air, introduce an art exhibition series taking place throughout 2025. Developed in partnership with the hotel’s new art curator – Lily Ackerman, founder of London based Ackerman Studios, in collaboration with CURA Art – the exhibitions celebrate creativity and visual expression, placing the artist at the heart of every story.
Working in collaboration with collection management specialists Liza Shapiro and Georgia Powell of CURA Art, Ackerman Studios’ exclusive exhibition schedules for The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air highlight the rich diversity of Los Angeles’ artistic community. This partnership strengthens Dorchester Collection’s relationship with Lily Ackerman, who has overseen the art exhibition schedule at its London property at 45 Park Lane since 2017.
The Beginning of the End by Virginia Broersma. Credit Chris Young
“Spotlight LA” at The Beverly Hills Hotel
The “Spotlight LA” exhibition (February 21 to June 22, 2025) pays homage to the hotel’s history and deep connection with the city. The first of the three exhibitions, “Where Memory Forgets,” presents works by Los Angeles-based artist Virginia Broersma, whose art focuses on the concept of Southern California leisure. Her lush, oil-on-canvas paintings and framed works on paper speak to the sun-kissed colors of the Californian aesthetic.
Exhibition two (June 27 to November 2, 2025) showcases works by influential rock-and-roll photographer Guy Webster. His 40-year-career spans music, film, and politics, capturing album covers for The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys, as well as photographing film icons such as Rita Hayworth and Dean Martin. The son of Academy Award-winning songwriter Paul Francis Webster, Guy Webster was immersed in a creative environment from a young age and is celebrated today for his contribution to visual culture, particularly in capturing the spirit of a transformative era in music and entertainment.
Cher. Photo by Guy Webster
Barbra Streisand. Photo by Guy Webster
A third and final exhibition (November 7, 2025 to February 8, 2026) will be offered at The Beverly Hills Hotel; details will be announced closer to the launch date.
“Ackerman Studios, in collaboration with CURA Art, shines a spotlight on Los Angeles talent with Spotlight LA,” says Ackerman. ‘It’s a celebration of the rich diversity and artistic expression of Los Angeles’ creative community, featuring site-specific presentations from emerging and established talent at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel. This initiative showcases the city’s creative pulse, blending contemporary artistry with the enduring spirit of LA’s most storied venues.”
“Spatial Elegance – Timeless Horizons” at Hotel Bel-Air
At Hotel Bel-Air, the exhibition “Spatial Elegance – Timeless Horizons” presents sculptures in the peaceful surroundings of the hotel’s lush grounds and scenic gardens. Drawing inspiration from the tranquil environs, the interplay of light and the expansive Californian sky, the presentations create an immersive and meditative experience. Exhibition one (February 13 to June 15, 2025), entitled “Spectral Radiance,” showcases seven sculptures by artist Shana Mabari, each of which features mirrored, spectral-colored cylinders. Central to Mabari’s process is the intersection between art and science, as evidenced by how her work explores the dynamics of visual perception and physical space. Thoughtfully placed in the reception area and Living Room, as well as along the pathway leading to The Restaurant, these vibrant, reflective sculptures create an engaging visual experience. Reflective of the Californian “Light and Space” movement, the external pieces are lit at night to reveal a beautiful interplay of colors and dynamic illumination.
Hotel Bel=Air. Photo courtesy of The Dorchester Collection
The second exhibition (June 20 to November 9, 2025) presents works by Michael Wilding, whose abstract sculptures explore the interplay between form and space and feature materials such as marble and bronze to showcase a harmonious blend of natural elements and artistic expression. Wilding’s works are often inspired by the shapes that occur when the earth, wind, and water converge to convey a sense of fluidity and movement.
Hotel Bel-Air’s final exhibition for 2025 (November 13, 2025 to February 15, 2026) features sculptures by South-African born artist Jill Berelowitz. Two series of works will be presented, one of which will focus on the natural world, and the other on the human form. Known for her bronze, steel and optical resin works, Berelowitz has become one of London’s most innovative sculptors.
The Offering by Michael Wilding, courtesy Wilding Cran Gallery
“This programming creates experiences that captivate and enhance guests’ stays, staying true to the essence of Hotel Bel-Air whilst connecting them to the city’s vibrant cultural influence,” says Ackerman. “Hotel Bel-Air represents the epitome of timeless elegance and refined modernity, so our vision is to honor this legacy of classic, high-quality design while showcasing breathtaking, nuanced, sculptural presentations.”
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A way to capitalize in a potential decline in inflation, using options
A way to capitalize in a potential decline in inflation, using options
The disinflationary impact of slackening consumer demand will begin to rein in inflation, but those impacts may not be reflected in the CPI data this week.
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Multi-Award Winning My Neighbour Totoro Opens In The West End For a Limited Run
Multi-Award Winning My Neighbour Totoro Opens In The West End For a Limited Run
The puppet-driven, stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro is about to begin a 34-week run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, following two blockbuster seasons at the Barbican. Adapted by Tom Morton-Smith (Oppenheimer) from Hayao Miyazaki’s celebrated 1988 animated feature film, the production is directed by Improbably Co-Founder, Phelim McDermott. The show won six Olivier Awards and five WhatsOnStageAwards, and broke the Barbican’s Box Office records for most tickets sold in a single day in April 2022, ahead of its global premiere in October 2022.
Two little girls move with their father to a remote new home in the country while their mother recuperates from TB in hospital, and only gradually become aware that something’s stirring in the trees outside. As the sisters explore their new environs, young Mei encounters magical creatures and the ancient protector of the forest she calls “Totoro”. Whilst Satsuki doesn’t believe her little sister at first, the sisters are both soon both swept up in exciting adventures with their new neighbours – transported to a long-forgotten realm of spirits, sprites, and natural wonder.
Victoria Chen joins the company to play the role of Mei. Reprising their roles are Ami Okumura Jones as Mei’s older sister Satsuki, Dai Tabuchi as Tatsuo, Jacqueline Tate as Granny, and Ai Ninomiya as the Singer.
The show’s unique Kazego Puppetry Ensemble will once again include Matthew Leonhart, Heather Lai, Shaofan Wilson (Miss Hara) and Anna Kato, who will be joined by a host of new members, including Rachel Clare Chan, Sally Cheng, and Sabrina Pui Yee Chin.
My Neighbour Totoro features production design by Tom Pye, puppetry design and direction by Basil Twist, costume design by Kimie Nakano, lighting design by Jessica Hung Han Yun, and movement by You-Ri Yamanaka. The production features music from Joe Hisaishi’s iconic score in a new orchestration by Will Stuart, performed live with sound design by Tony Gayle.
Artwork for the stage adaptation of My Neighbour Totoro includes a hand drawn title by Toshio Suzuki, Producer for Studio Ghibli, who was involved in the planning and production of the original animated film.
My Neighbour Totoro
Gillian Lynne Theatre
166 Drury Lane, London, WC2B 5PW
020 7087 7750
Twitter / TikTok: @totoro_show
Instagram / Facebook: @totoroshow / TotoroShow
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TotoroShow
#Totoroshow
#FindYourSpirit
Tickets from £25.
RSC £10 Tickets for 16-25s per performance. Details on how to book can found at
Johan Persson
Johan Persson
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Washington Post columnist quits after her opinion piece criticizing owner Jeff Bezos is rejected
Washington Post columnist quits after her opinion piece criticizing owner Jeff Bezos is rejected
A columnist who has worked at The Washington Post for four decades resigned on Monday after the newspaper’s management decided not to run her commentary critical of owner Jeff Bezos’ new editorial policy.
Ruth Marcus, who has worked at the newspaper since 1984, wrote that “it breaks my heart to conclude that I must leave.” Her resignation letter was first reported by The New York Times.
Her exit is fallout from the billionaire owner’s directive that the Post narrow the topics covered by its opinion section to personal liberties and the free market. The newspaper’s opinions editor, David Shipley, resigned because of the shift, announced two weeks ago.
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Marcus said that the Post’s publisher, Will Lewis, declined to publish her column, which she said was “respectfully dissenting” from Bezos’ edict. It was the first time in nearly 20 years of writing columns that she’s had one killed, she said.
The decision “underscores that the traditional freedom of columnists to select the topics they wish to address and say what they think has been dangerously eroded,” she wrote.
A Post spokeperson said Monday that “we’re grateful for Ruth’s significant contributions to The Washington Post over the past 40 years. We respect her decision to leave and wish her the best.”
The Post has been struggling over the past year, financially and editorially. Bezos’ decision last fall that the Post would not endorse a presidential candidate — after the editorial staff had prepared to support Democrat Kamala Harris — led to an exodus of subscribers. Uncertainty over the paper’s direction has led to many of its journalists leaving for other jobs.
Marcus’ resignation on Monday overshadowed a newsroom reorganization plan introduced by Lewis.
___
David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at and
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Seth Rogen Explains Why Sony Refused To Let Jonah Hill Touch A PlayStation 2 In Superbad
Seth Rogen Explains Why Sony Refused To Let Jonah Hill Touch A PlayStation 2 In Superbad
Seth Rogen shared a surprising bit of PlayStation trivia during a red carpet interview at SXSW. When asked what the funniest note he’d received on a script was, Rogen said it was a note from Sony on the screenplay for 2007’s Superbad, which Rogen co-wrote.
According to Rogen, a scene in which Evan (Michael Cera) can be seen playing a game on a PlayStation 2 was originally meant to show Seth (Jonah Hill) using the console–but Sony wasn’t having it.
“Jonah Hill’s Character, Seth, was so reprehensible to the studio,” Rogen explained, laughing. “They were like–there’s a scene where [Cera and Hill] are playing video games–and [Sony’s] like, ‘Jonah can’t touch a PlayStation.’ They were like, ‘We can’t have him interact with our products as a character, because [he’s] too vile a character.'”
According to Rogen, Sony found Hill’s portrayal of Seth so repulsive that they didn’t want his character associated with their hardware… a note Rogen found mildly offensive, as the character of Seth was, in fact, based on Rogen himself.
“I was like, ‘It’s based on me! That’s very insulting,'” Rogen continued, still laughing. “But we accommodated them, ultimately.”
Instead of both characters using the console together, as the script originally called for, Rogen rewrote the scene so that Cera’s character was using the console while Hill’s character tried on a series of ill-fitting shirts in the hopes of finding a flattering outfit for an upcoming party.
As the friends bicker about Cera’s taste in clothing and the party itself, Cera’s character can be seen playing 2004’s The Getaway: ****** Monday. A closer look reveals that he is playing as Sergeant Ben Mitchell and is fighting his way through Chapter 3: The Latvian Cowboy. Unfortunately, he seems to be struggling with the gameplay, muttering, “Where did I leave the M16?” despite the fact that the game’s arsenal of weapons does not include an M16.
“That’s fun,” Cera’s character awkwardly remarks after dying in-game. “Why do they even make that if you can’t even… win? Then why–why am I f***ing playing?”
The scene takes place roughly 30 minutes into the film. Notably, there is not a single shot that shows Hill touching the PlayStation 2–or even standing near it. The only times he shares the screen with the console, Cera’s character is also in the shot (and of course, is the only one touching the controller).
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Forget the MacBook Air M4: here are 9 older-model MacBook deals from $629.99
Forget the MacBook Air M4: here are 9 older-model MacBook deals from $629.99
Now that Apple has launched the MacBook Air M4, there are some great deals on the older MacBook Air models. Case in point, 2024’s 13-inch MacBook Air M3 is on ***** at Amazon for $999 (was $1,299), and there are plenty of bargains to be had on other older Air models.
While these laptops might not have the latest Apple Silicon chips, they still have plenty of power for everyday tasks, easily transitioning from work to play. I’m even writing this on a MacBook Air M2 from 2022, and it still chews through most things I can throw at it.
So, I’ve pulled together a list of MacBook Air deals I’d recommend as someone who’s an active Air user and considers the slim machine to be one of the best laptops I’ve ever used.
If you’re not in the US, scroll down to the widget below for MacBook Air deals in your area.
9 of the best MacBook Air deals I recommend you check out
If you’re after advice for what MacBook Air to get then let me know.
But if you want the very latest in lightweight Mac tech, do check out out this MacBook Air M4 deal at Best Buy, and take a look at our roundup fo the best MacBook deals right now.
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Long May Henry VIII’s Queens Rule The West End
Long May Henry VIII’s Queens Rule The West End
Pamela Raith
Homegrown ‘her-story’ hit ‘Six The Musical’, concocted by Cambridge students Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss in 2017, is now a world-conquering smash-hit, with productions springing up everywhere from Broadway to South Korea and Sydney. This theatrical phenomenon is still just as enjoyable a watch at London’s Vaudeville Theatre, where rapturous audiences applaud its feisty reclamation of women’s stories.
The evening is a super-slick 80-minute irreverent blast from the past aimed at setting the record straight. It is laudably succinct: many more bloated shows could learn from Six’s laser-like focus. The absence of an interval enhances the shows propulsion and dynamism.
The format is mock Tudor pop concert **** talent-show, with the audience in the imaginary position of judge. Each cast member (in combatively kittenish, slightly kitsch, *******-allusive attire – think Vivienne Westwood meets warrior woman) takes it in turn to make her case (via vocal prowess and potted autobiography) for having had it the worst, to gain the prize of victimhood’s crown. The tightly drilled sextet also act as backing singers for one another.
The score adroitly toggles between pop and R&B genres, striking gold with a session of ******* techno. Lots of clever ideas lurk beneath the glitter, and the lyrics are packed with poise and witty rhymes (‘tried to elope but the pope said nope’). Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s choreography, Tom Curran’s orchestrations and Joe Beighton’s vocal arrangements are unswervingly sharp.
Add in a rocking four-piece band, and it’s a compact company – but one that makes a disproportionately large impact. That’s partly thanks to the performers’ enormous personalities: the show doesn’t just allow for their individual interpretations; it actively thrives on them.
Thao Therese Nguyen is the seductive scene-stealer of the current cast. Playing the sardonic Anne Boleyn, Nguy?n portrays her as a live-action vixenish cartoon character: eyes wide and lips pouting like Betty Boop, with a girlish giggle and a convincing mock-naiveté. She makes a point of reiterating that, in the domestic trauma stakes, nothing quite competes with being beheaded.
Excellent too is the company’s Dance Captain Gabriella Stylianou, who confidently embodies the teeth-gritted, tested-beyond-endurance Catherine of Aragon. It’s an oddly relatable female stance, even if the behaviour she’s describing is being shipped over to England to marry a prince who then dies – ‘so naturally I’m imprisoned for seven years.’ Stylianou builds from a controlled vocal delivery to ferocious riffs.
As Jane Seymour, Caitlin Tipping invests her confessional ballad with real feeling and electrifying high notes. But the number that’s grown most in resonance belongs to Katherine Howard, who was constantly abused by older men. In ‘All You Wanna Do’, Inez Budd viscerally expresses her sickening experiences of violation.
Reca Oakley is a riot as Anne of Cleves, whose divorce left her wealthy and independent. Oakley ‘gets down’ with flirtatious body rolls and slinky drops in her raucous, hilarious ‘Haus of Holbein’ number, which skewers women’s beauty standards in a Berghain-esque arrangement – the other queens donning neon shades and ruffs for the number – a surreal mash-up of ******* oompah music and ******** House. Each member of the cast performs in their natural accents, and the American Oakley brings a distinctive attitude.
Hannah Lowther plays a pulchritudinous Catherine Parr. She is the first of the six to point out that comparing traumas isn’t exactly healthy – leading to the show’s girl-power denouement.
Amidst the comic cat-fights, preening, posturing and flippant backchat, there is profound question here: who, in the last analysis, suffered the most? Is it no contest if you got beheaded? What about the broken heart, the shattered romantic dreams, the death during child-birth? In conveying the ‘real’ experience of these corseted characters, the show demands we put ourselves in their restrictive place and asks whether their outrage and their hurt would be so very far removed from that of their modern-day sisters? History is spun on its head to become herstory and you’re left wondering if Henry himself was in fact the sideshow.
The infectiously fun production (directed by Moss and Armitage) is more polished than ever – the choreography and lighting silkily synchronised like the deftest human embroidery. None of the cast misses a beat – or mischievous wink – as they hurtle through Hamilton-like rap, stirring soul, Hi-NRG beats and girl-power anthems. Six is a riotous, life-affirming act of restoration:these queens are set reign over the west end for years to come.
Six The Musical
Vaudeville Theatre, The Strand, London WC2R
Pamela Raith
Pamela Raith
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Menendez Brothers: DA Withdraws Resentencing Request Over 'Lies' and 'Fabricated' Evidence – TheWrap
Menendez Brothers: DA Withdraws Resentencing Request Over 'Lies' and 'Fabricated' Evidence – TheWrap
Menendez Brothers: DA Withdraws Resentencing Request Over ‘Lies’ and ‘Fabricated’ Evidence TheWrapMenendez brothers case: District Attorney Hochman to provide update on Lyle and Erik Menendez case today at news conference ABC7 Los AngelesMenendez brothers’ cousin calls DA ‘hostile,’ ‘patronizing,’ asks for his removal from case ABC News
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Next-Gen Xbox Console Release Planned For 2027
Next-Gen Xbox Console Release Planned For 2027
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March 10, 2025
The next-generation Xbox console is two years away from release. According to a new report from Windows Central’s Jez Corden, Microsoft is currently targeting 2027 for release of its next mainline Xbox consoles.
Per the report, the new systems are in full production at Microsoft.
“[Our] sources also indicate that Microsoft’s internal successor to the Xbox Series X|S platform has been fully greenlit all the way up to CEO Satya Nadella,” Corden writes.
He adds that it’s believed that the current plans for the next generation of Xbox include a “premium successor” to the Xbox Series X along with its own in-house developed handheld console. There are also plans for “several” new controllers.
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Corden’s report also follows up his earlier claims that new Xbox consoles will be “closer to Windows than ever before”. The new systems will also still support backwards compatibility to allow older games to be played.
In addition to the new consoles, Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch an Xbox-partnered handheld gaming system later in 2025.
None of these plans have been officially announced by Microsoft. Until that happens—and even after they become public—, understand that targets can always change. Insider Gaming has reached out to Xbox for comment on the claims. Should a response be received, it will be added to this story.
What do you think of the next generation Xbox consoles targetting a 2027 release date? Let us know down below and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming forums.
For more Insider Gaming, check out the leaked release date for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PlayStation 5. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.
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Charlize Theron Shares Her Beauty Regimen
Charlize Theron Shares Her Beauty Regimen
Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. Each week, we share things we’re eating, wearing, listening to or coveting now. Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday, along with monthly travel and beauty guides, and the latest stories from our print issues. And you can always reach us at *****@*****.tld.
Step by Step
Charlize Theron’s Favorite Sunscreen and Serums
Interview by Laura Regensdorf
Usually the first thing I do in the morning is wake up my daughters because their alarms are going off but apparently they can’t hear them. Then I brush my teeth. I’m a Sensodyne girl and use an Oral-B electric toothbrush. I’m a big proponent of brushing your tongue; I’m also a twice-a-day flosser. I don’t use face wash in the morning — I prefer not to wash off all the moisture that I’ve tried to put into my skin the night before. If there’s dry weather, I’ll use a light serum, like Le Sérum from Dior’s Capture line, or 111Skin’s Vitamin C Booster. Other times I’ll just wear my Clé de Peau SPF 50+ sunblock. The color is this soft pink, and it’s incredibly *******, so it feels like you’re putting on moisturizer. I’m a fan of dry brushing, and I’m a really big lover of a steam. I’ll add some eucalyptus essential oil and do some breathing. I have a giant bottle of the Kiehl’s grapefruit body wash that lasts forever. When I get out of the shower, I do a pretty solid skin routine. I start with the Koh Gen Do Cleansing Spa Water. Then I put on a hydrogel face mask and use the Dior Prestige Le Pétale tool lightly over it — it might be the totally wrong way to do it, but I really like it. I love all the Capture serums, and I’ll alternate between the Retishot and Hyalushot, which I only use once or twice a week because it lasts. And I love the Capture Totale Intensive Restorative Night Creme. I want something that’s got a heavy tone to it when I go to bed because in the morning it feels like I’m just saturated with moisture. I’m not very blonde right now — for this movie, “Apex,” I’m shooting in Australia, I’m quite natural — and am taking care of my hair with Olaplex’s shampoo and conditioner. I also love Virtue’s Damage Reverse Serum and Restorative Treatment Mask. On a long flight, I use a moisturizing allergy drop for my eyes, put on the Laneige lip mask and sleep as much as I possibly can.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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A Remote Mountain Cabin in the Italian Alps
“For some time, my father, a writer, had a dream to find a little hut in the Alps where in the winter the snow might keep him trapped there for weeks,” says the Belgian hotelier Luna Lybeer. Her parents eventually found such a hut, abandoned on the edge of the Valtellina valley, which runs from the northern tip of Lake Como to Bormio in Italy; they then passed it on to Lybeer and her husband, Wout Allegaert. The couple transformed the 20th-century customs post (built to stop smugglers going between Italy and Switzerland) into Rifugio Val di Togno, a five-bedroom mountain cabin with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that opened quietly for guests in 2023. After driving to Arquino, the closest town, guests are picked up in a car with four-wheel drive that takes them 30 minutes into the mountains, “up about 27 switchbacks,” says Lybeer. Alternatively they can do the two-hour hike up. The property, which is completely self-sufficient — the water comes from a nearby spring and electricity from a water turbine — is all-inclusive out of necessity. “There’s nowhere else to eat nearby,” Lybeer says. She and Allegaert bake sourdough bread and prepare vegetarian dishes such as risotto with wild mushrooms sourced from the forest and vegetables from their garden; eggs come from their chickens. “We also make really good beer from stinging nettles,” she says. Artisanal cheeses come from their friend Tito, a shepherd whose cows they (along with guests so inclined) sometimes help herd into a nearby mountain meadow. About $180 all-inclusive, per person per day, rifugiovalditogno.com.
“If you look around palazzos or museums, there are flowers everywhere, made in concrete or marble or wood,” says the Milan-based Argentine artist Conie Vallese. Her work similarly translates blossoms into more durable forms, as seen in sterling silver cutlery with delicately wrought petals and bronze chairs sprouting life-size lilies. Flowers adorn her latest project too: a suite of five handblown glass vases, created in collaboration with the Danish women’s wear label By Malene Birger. The project came about in tandem with the brand’s spring 2025 campaign, which features Vallese against the backdrop of the Florentine villa Torre di Bellosguardo. The creative director Maja Dixdotter envisioned clothes “for a woman who is anchored in her identity and dresses for herself, even in the quiet moments at home,” she says — a narrative “naturally framed around Conie.” The collection includes a dusty blue maxi dress with stylized floral buttons, botanical print silk separates and a crocheted coat in ****** and ivory. For the vases, Vallese worked with a family-run glassmaker in Murano, sketching the initial shapes in chalk on the floor; candy stripes and filigree detailing and exuberant flowers followed. The series made a brief appearance last fall in Paris during a showroom presentation, and is now offered for ***** through By Malene Birger’s Copenhagen and Stockholm shops. $1,400, bymalenebirger.com; to purchase internationally, email *****@*****.tld.
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An Akris Handbag That’s a Tribute to Its Founder
The eastern Swiss city of St. Gallen has long been a center of textile development, going back to the Middle Ages when local flax crops fueled a booming linen industry. It was here in 1922 that Alice Kriemler-Schoch founded the company that would eventually become known as Akris (a shortened version of her name). The company initially specialized in the production of aprons; it added a range of women’s ready-to-wear in the mid-1940s. Handbags were introduced much later, in 2009, under the direction of Kriemler-Schoch’s grandson Albert Kriemler, who took on creative direction of Akris in 1980, a position he still holds today. Now, Kriemler is introducing a new bag, the Alice, in tribute to its founder. Made of Italian calf leather, it features a tripartite interior within a rectilinear body and is topped with a curved handle. An optional strap allows its user to wear the bag across the body or slung over one shoulder, as it was worn when it debuted at Akris’s spring 2025 runway show in Paris. Echoing the palette of the brand’s seasonal ready-to-wear offering, the bag will be introduced in four shades: a sandy ecru, blush pink, pearly white and ****** with gold hardware. Available for preorder, $3,490, akris.com.
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In The Hague, a New Hotel That Celebrates Art and Art Deco
The De Plesman Hotel, which opens on March 1 in The Hague, is in a five-story red-brick Art Deco building that was once the headquarters of KLM, the world’s oldest still-operating airline. It was designed by the Dutch architect Dirk Roosenburg, who was childhood friends with Albert Plesman, the founder of KLM, from whom the hotel takes its name. The 120 rooms come with parquet floors and furnishings upholstered in textiles inspired by retro geometric patterns from the 1920s and ’30s. The hotel has partnered with De Galerie Den Haag, a local art space, to display a collection of paintings and photographs that were created for the property by artists, including the Dutch painter Casper Faassen and the Scottish photographer Soo Burnell. Suss, the hotel’s brasserie named after Plesman’s wife, serves a menu that’s geared toward comfort food with dishes such as Dutch oysters, sautéed cod with fennel sauce and a pear ****** Tatin. But De Plesman’s best amenity might be its location: It’s only 30 minutes from Schipol airport by train and sits midway between the heart of The Hague (which has several of the Netherlands’ most famous museums, including the Mauritshuis, where Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl With the Pearl Earring” is displayed) and Scheveningen, the country’s best-known beach resort, on the North Sea. Amsterdam is only an hour away too, which makes De Plesman a great base for day-trip excursions. From about $105 a night, deplesman.com.
When Anouk Biard opened her skin-care studio in Paris in 2021, the facialist — who practices kobido, a traditional Japanese massage technique — furnished her Ninth Arrondissement space with just a handful of antiques, including a Josef Hoffman chair and an Art Deco vitrine. An array of 1930s French inkwells and ******** snuff bottles, filled with the organic oils that she incorporates into her signature treatment, lined the shelves. “You don’t need much, but what you do have should be beautiful,” says Biard. This month, she debuted her own glass flacon, which is handblown in Toulouse and packaged in a pouch made from 18th-century silk. The first run is limited to 45 bottles — 10 of which can be found at New York City’s Desert Vintage boutique — and sold alongside seven facial oils, including skin-softening safflower and a vibrant red St. John’s wort. Biard also imagines the 100-milliliter vessel going beyond the vanity: “You could even fill it with olive oil in your kitchen,” she says. “Why not?” $498, available at Desert Vintage in New York and Anouk Biard in Paris; email *****@*****.tld for more information.
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Loews Regency New York Hotel & The Met Unveil Exclusive Museum Experiences
Loews Regency New York Hotel & The Met Unveil Exclusive Museum Experiences
Edgar Degas’ The Fourteen Year-Old Dancer. Photo by Sole D’Alessandro G., via Unsplash
Loews Regency New York Hotel, one of Manhattan’s most iconic hotels, is now offering exclusive experiences at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world’s leading art institutions. As part of the hotel’s enhanced Local by Loews Hotels offerings, guests now have an exclusive and rare opportunity to experience intimate, thematic tours of The Met’s renowned collection. Local by Loews Hotels is a brand program that brings guests closer to each destination’s distinctive culture, people, and businesses through exclusive partnerships, pop-ups, and year-round local experiences.
Loews Regency New York Hotel has an enviable address on Park Ave.
The exclusive tours, available on April 16 and May 21, are offered as part of The Met’s prestigious Corporate Patron Program. Limited to only 10 guests per session, these intimate tours are led by The Met’s esteemed Museum educators. Each tour starts at the Museum on a Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., when the Museum is closed to the public, allowing for a unique, less crowded experience. The tours provide access to various aspects of The Met’s celebrated collection, offering participants an unparalleled glimpse into the world of art and history.
Met interior. Photo by Matthieu Joannon, via Unsplash
The Met Tours include:
Spirituality in Art – Wednesday, April 16 at 4:00 pm
Discover connections among works of art inspired by devotional beliefs across time and cultures.
Spend an hour in exploring various parts of The Met collection, from ancient Egyptian art to French Impressionist paintings, Islamic textiles, or the work of contemporary artists.
American Art (1650-1915) – Wednesday, May 21 at 4:00 pm
In advance of the Memorial Day holiday, hotel guests are invited to explore the wide array of works in The American Wing, including decorative arts, paintings, sculpture, and historic interiors, spanning some three hundred years.
Guests can pair their love of art with a romantic hotel experience with the property’s new Love at Loews package.
Loews Regency New York Hotel’s elegant lobby
“This program reflects our commitment to connecting our guests with the very best of New York City’s cultural offerings,” said John Maibach, Managing Director, Loews Regency New York Hotel. “Our guests are already frequent visitors to The Met, located a short distance from our doors, so we believe this new exclusive offering will be something they will really enjoy and further enhances our Local by Loews Hotels programming – connecting our hotel guests with the unique elements of our neighborhood and community.”
Guests wishing to participate in these private tours can secure their spot by contacting the hotel’s concierge team directly after booking their room reservations. Availability is limited, ensuring an intimate and personalized experience for each participant.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is just a short walk from Loews Regency New York Hotel
Loews Regency New York Hotel has defined Park Avenue hospitality since the moment it opened its doors in 1963. Built by Robert “Bob” and Lawrence “Larry” Tisch, the iconic, family-owned hotel has long maintained prominence on the Upper East Side with a graciousness that is grounded in family heritage. Dedicated to delivering unscripted guest moments, Loews Regency is one of a portfolio of 26 hotels and resorts across the U.S. and Canada, each within major city centers and resort destinations. This, its Park Ave. gem, is the brand’s flagship hotel, and it is everything a visitor to New York City might desire: glamour, luxury, and location.
For more information on this new offering and to book an upcoming stay at Loews Regency New York Hotel, click here.
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Is the Audi R8 Coming Back After All?
Is the Audi R8 Coming Back After All?
The Audi R8 might not be as dead as we once thought, if a new report from Autocar is correct. Take this information as the anonymously-sourced report that it is, but if true, the R8 could be coming back as an Audi version of the Lamborghini Temerario.
Autocar claims to have knowledge that engineering on the vehicle is officially underway with the backing of Audi chairman Gernot Döllner. The details are theoretically similar in scope to the two previous generations of R8: take the important bits from Lamborghini; temper its character into something more Germanic; and wrap it all in Audi styling.
According to the report, the Temerario would share its flat-plane crank 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 that produces 788 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque while revving to 10,000 rpm with the next-gen R8; its hybrid components would also come with, including three electric motors and a small 3.8 kWh battery pack, which raise total output to 907 horsepower in the Lambo. An eight-speed dual-clutch automatic would handle shifting, and Audi would be able to keep its signature Quattro all-wheel-drive branding alive, thanks to two of the electric motors being on the front axle.
Lamborghini
If made, this new R8 would share a structure with the Temerario, too, bringing chassis and platform improvements over the outgoing R8. Expect any such car to have 0-60 mph time under three seconds and a top speed similar to the Temerario’s 213-mph figure.
Autocar says this revival of the R8 is a result of Audi’s board and the VW Group tweaking its ICE-to-EV transition plans. The revised outlook would extend the life cycles of certain internal combustion models and increase the number of plug-in hybrids throughout the lineup. Additionally, a new R8 could be used in motorsports applications… but that’s just as up in the air as the rest of this news.
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The Witcher 3 Mixing Long Story-telling in an Open World Was a Risk Because Games “combine these really expansive storytelling techniques”
The Witcher 3 Mixing Long Story-telling in an Open World Was a Risk Because Games “combine these really expansive storytelling techniques”
CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was undoubtedly a massive success, with the third mainline entry in The Witcher video game franchise amassing critical acclaim from both players and reviewers alike.
The title was released for PC and consoles back in May 2015, and has seen multiple expansions and quality of life updates since then, and has stood the test of time as one of the best RPGs to have been ever made.
However, making an expansive RPG on the same scale as The Witcher 3 is no easy task, and the studio had to take quite a few risks along the way – which may or may not have worked well in its favor initially.
The Witcher 3 Was A Risky Game To Develop For, Especially With Its Story Focus
The Witcher 3 faced some hurdles in development | image Credit: CD Projekt Red
Speaking to GamesRadar+ in an exclusive interview, the then lead designer of The Witcher 3, Mateusz Tomaskiewicz detailed the many hardships and innovations the game had to go through during its development.
In particular, The Witcher 3 had been described to be a very risky game to develop for, at least at that time for CD Projekt Red. Mateusz described the pitfalls experienced by the team, mentioning that what The Witcher 3 tried to do at the time was kind of unique – there was no other RPG quite like it yet.
This can perhaps be attributed to why the game was so massively successful, as it filled a niche previously unknown. The game merged elements of a traditional RPG, with expansive storytelling segments that were more akin to an action-adventure game.
CD Projekt Red took a lot of risks | Image Credit: CD Projekt Red
Mateusz also remarked that they did not really know whether the open world style of the game would be an ideal fit for the storytelling. After all, The Witcher 3 combined aspects of traditional, linear, single player RPGs with open world elements – which is not something CD Projekt Red was familiar with at the time.
Coming from The Witcher 2, this was a massive overhaul, and the team had to put in quite a lot more effort and risk than one would expect. It all paid off in the end though, and Wild Hunt remains a massive success and accomplishment for CD Projekt Red, with the title managing to bag multiple Game of The Year awards along the way.
Things Worked Out In The End, And The Witcher Series Is More Popular Than Ever
The Witcher IV is shaping up to be quite exciting | Image Credit: CD Projekt Red
The Witcher series was always considered to be an underdog of sorts, at least until The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings. The first Witcher game was well received, and praised for its storytelling, but was criticized for its outdated game engine, and clunky combat system.
A lot has transpired between these years, and The Witcher 3 remains the most accessible entry yet – truly built for a modern audience.
Following the success of The Witcher 3, developer CD Projekt Red has already confirmed the development of a sequel in the form of The Witcher IV, which brings Ciri as the protagonist, with Geralt having a much smaller role this time around.
How the game will shape up remains to be seen, but one thing lies for certain – the Witcher series is stronger than ever, and hopefully manages to live up to the hype after the disastrous Cyberpunk 2077 launch.
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With Ponte, Harry Pontefract Is Turning Upcycled Objects Into Exquisite Clothing
With Ponte, Harry Pontefract Is Turning Upcycled Objects Into Exquisite Clothing
On the Verge showcases emerging talent from the worlds of fashion, food, music, art and design.
The British designer Harry Pontefract’s clothing often starts with a very specific obsession. Last year, for example, his fixation with vintage faux fruit led him on a six-month search for plastic grapes, which he incorporated into his latest collection in the form of a sleeveless dress hand-embroidered with cascading bunches of them in shades of ****** and deep Bordeaux. He describes the aesthetic of the piece as “cheap opulence.” Several garments — including a slim-fitting, hand-sewn corset dress that pools below the ankles and a cloudlike matching stole — consist of longhaired sheepskins, which he selected from the flocks of two female shepherds in Wales and England’s Peak District. One of the animals, he says, was named Dilys. “It’s really about if something moves me or about bringing things into a new light,” says Pontefract, 36. He admits, however, that when it comes to the fake fruit, “everyone’s been sort of calling me crazy.”
A native of Sheffield, Pontefract now lives and works in an old shoe factory in East London’s Hackney neighborhood. He began collecting unusual materials — “hoarding,” he says — as a child, and the attic and basement of his parents’ home are still crammed with boxes of his accumulated treasures. As a teen, he and his friends would customize their jeans using his mother’s sewing machine, a hobby that became a vocation when he enrolled in the fashion design program at London’s Central Saint Martins. His 2016 graduate collection featured deconstructed underpinnings — upcycled bras and silk negligees — that slipped suggestively off the body and were styled with layers of skin-colored tights. Post-graduation, during his six-year stint on the design team at the fashion house Loewe in Paris, he continued to experiment with his one-off creations on the side before formally launching Ponte, which is sold exclusively at Dover Street Market, two years ago.
In addition to the sheep fleeces — which were blow-dried, teased and sprayed by a hairstylist to create the effect of “blurred memories, so you can’t really see where the dress ends and the background begins, like a Gerhard Richter painting,” Pontefract says — the new collection, his fourth, will include a gown of sorts made from hand-shredded Brillo pads molded into trailing lengths of metallic rope. “It’s important that you can’t tell what it is,” he says of that dress, which one would never guess was made from steel wool. “That’s much more interesting: It leaves it up to whoever’s looking at it to feel something.”
Along with such museum-worthy looks (the Costume Institute at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art just acquired a pair of Ponte tights, which are padded with polyester stuffing from old toys to look like jodhpurs), there are also more wearable styles, including reconstructed denim jeans, a leather suit stitched together from eight different salvaged trench coats and a precisely tailored ****** suit made from dead-stock wool. A single-breasted, drop-shoulder jacket paired with wide-leg knife-pleat pants, it has a slouchy, modern fit — and, of course, a back story. A large silky patch sewn onto the seat of the trousers is “made out of an old satin dress that I found somewhere,” Pontefract says. “There’s a slight, ******* nature to it. You won’t see it in a photograph, but I know it’s there.”
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Sources: Rams re-signing backup QB Garoppolo – ESPN
Sources: Rams re-signing backup QB Garoppolo – ESPN
Sources: Rams re-signing backup QB Garoppolo ESPNRams re-sign veteran QB Jimmy Garoppolo to back up Matthew Stafford NFL.comRams keep Jimmy Garoppolo on a one-year deal NBC SportsRams keep backup quarterback for another year Turf Show TimesJimmy Garoppolo, agrees to re-sign with Rams on 1-year deal: Sources The Athletic
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Diablo 4 Season 8 Is All About Bosses, And It’s Bringing Back A Fan-Favorite
Diablo 4 Season 8 Is All About Bosses, And It’s Bringing Back A Fan-Favorite
Diablo 4 Season 8 will be all about taking on the game’s endgame bosses and channeling their powers, Blizzard revealed, along the way confirming the return of one of the franchise’s biggest bosses ever.
As part of a recent Campfire Chat livestream, Blizzard discussed what players can expect from Season 8. Alongside a slower pace, difficulty changes, and class balance updates, the theme of Season 8 will revolve around a revamped endgame boss system that will make channeling them more straightforward and rewarding.
Three new endgame bosses in total will be added as part of Season 8: Urivar and the Harbinger of Hatred from Diablo 4’s Vessel of Hatred campaign, and a third that will be familiar to Diablo 3 players. That boss is none other than Belial, the Lord of Lies, who will serve as the game’s new pinnacle boss. Players may remember him from his multi-phase Act-2 battle in Diablo 3, the final phase of which his massive form took up the majority of the screen.
“Belial is back in Sanctuary,” Diablo 4 lead season designer Deric Nuñez said during the livestream. “He is climbing his way to the top of the lair boss ladder. He is the new exalted, pinnacle challenge within the ladder. He is the highest challenge, the highest reward.”
Defeating the endgame bosses during Season 8 will unlock that boss’ powers for players to use. There will be a total of 24 boss powers to collect and experiment with as part of Season 8, Blizzard said. There will additionally be a new boss-rush style open world event, Apparition Incursions, that players can take part in as part of the Season. Defeating and looting any endgame boss will have a small chance to initiate an ambush by Belial (in his smaller, less screen-covering form). If players can then take out Belial too, the loot rewards will double.
“This is really cool, because it’s like a two-for-the-price-of-one payout,” Nuñez said.
Alongside the new bosses and the ability to channel some of their iconic powers, Blizzard is vastly simplifying the boss summoning process. Currently, players collect a number of different items required to summon different bosses, resulting in inventory clutter and a constant state of having some items needed to summon a boss but not the others.
Come Season 8, that system will be done away with and replaced by a much simpler Lair Key system. Each endgame boss will require their own Lair Key, but those keys are only used to unlock their hoard of loot upon being defeated. Players will actually be able to challenge the endgame bosses at any time in order to see how their character stacks up and to practice and learn each bosses mechanics, without the risk of losing precious boss summoning materials as is currently the case.
The public test realm for Diablo 4 Season 8 will start on March 11. Season 8 proper, meanwhile, was recently delayed and is expected to arrive April 29.
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What is Pictory: Everything we know about this business-focussed AI video generator
What is Pictory: Everything we know about this business-focussed AI video generator
Pictory is an easy-to-use AI video generator that is primarily aimed at business users. You simply input text or a URL and Pictory will use a powerful GPT-powered tool to take a script and generate footage which can then be edited to suit.
In doing so, it’s able to slash the amount of time it takes to create professional-looking videos while also giving you ample control. So, read on to discover more about this AI tool and its large array of features to decide whether it’s something you’d like to try.
This article was correct as of March 2025. AI tools are updated regularly and it is possible that some features have changed since this article was written. Some features may also only be available in certain countries.
What is Pictory?
Traditionally, creating videos has been a rather fiddly task requiring expensive equipment, decent editing software and lots of time and practice.
Without an eye for such things, achieving professional results is no easy task but Pictory turns video creation on its head by asking you to merely describe what you want out of a video.
Enter a script and it will get on with analysing your words before looking for relevant visuals and building a storyboard. It can also draw scripts from webpages by entering a URL or by allowing it access to your Zoom, Webinar, Teams and Podcast recordings.
In all cases, you end up with a captioned video that can be customized in multiple ways. You can use different AI voices, add your own branding, or look for replacement footage, images and music. You can also change the script before finalizing your project and sharing it. You don’t need any video editing skills at all.
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(Image credit: Pictory.ai)
What can you use Pictory for?
Pictory is aimed squarely at anyone who wants to create a video and, while it’s a business tool at heart, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it to produce personal projects.
In fact, you’re able to upload your own videos and images to quickly create slideshows. You can also record yourself and get the AI to remove filler words and silences, or record your screen which can be helpful if you’re looking to demonstrate something to someone.
Pictory will work with PowerPoint files too so if you’re creating a presentation, you could aim to impress by accompanying it with a video.
To help you achieve the right results, there are templates to hand and you can upload your own music if you wish. You also have a choice of effects, text animations, transitions and colors.
What can’t you use Pictory for?
Pictory is rather single-minded so don’t expect it to hold a conversation, find facts for you, produce reports or run your home. This tool creates videos based on your input and that’s that – it won’t even carry out research for you so you can’t enter something along the lines of, “create a video about the best PS5 games”.
But that’s no bad thing. With Pictory, you can create content for TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms, produce course material and better YouTube videos. You can make instructional videos and produce virtual lessons. Having a focussed AI tool is not a bad thing but bear in mind you can’t create videos longer than 30 minutes.
How much does Pictory cost?
There’s a free trial which should be your first port of call. It allows you to play around with the AI tool for 14 days and you don’t need to enter a credit card or any personal details other than your name and email address.
If you want to go beyond that, though, the Starter tier costs $19 / £15 / AU$30 a month giving you 200 video minutes each month. It’ll cost you $39 / £30 / AU$61 a month for 600 minutes each month on the Professional tier and $99 / £76 / AU$157 a month for 1,800 video minutes each month on the Team tier.
You won’t be able to enjoy automatic video highlights, music track uploading, AI voices from Elevenlabs and the use of your own voiceover with a Starter tier.
Where can you use Pictory?
You can only use Pictory via a browser at pictory.ai. As it stands, there are no specific apps for iOS and Android but it does mean you can use Pictory across all devices.
(Image credit: Pictory.ai)
Is Pictory any good?
TechRadar Pro believes Pictory is one of the best AI video generators and it has been praised for its simple dashboard and super easy video-generating process. It’s good at understanding what an inputted script is all about and it has proven capable of creating a professional-looking video in minutes.
When generating its own scripts from a webpage, however, the results are bit more mixed. “The resulting script, although good, still needed quite a bit of work to make it properly reflect the original,” said tech journalist Nigel Powell.
“The AI is not yet clever enough to fully differentiate between generic web page text and the story itself, so there’s around 20 to 30% work needed to clean everything up.”
It’s also worth bearing in mind that you can only access the vast Getty Images library if you pay for the Professional tier otherwise you’re restricted to using the two million royalty free videos from Storyblocks.
Use Pictory if…
Pictory is great if you struggle to create professional looking videos or simply want to speed up the video making process using an easy-to-learn interface that you can get to grips with in minutes. You should also use Pictory if you want to quickly convert a PowerPoint presentation, document or webpage into a video with minimal effort.
Don’t use Pictory if…
Pictory is not ideal if you don’t want to put in any legwork at all because it won’t create a video from a prompt and you will invariably have to play around with the settings for a result that you’re going to be happy with. Don’t use Pictory if you want to ultra-control over your projects either – it doesn’t have a traditional timeline interface so making small adjustments is difficult.
Also consider
AI Studios is a market leader in AI-powered video generation and it’s just as easy to use.
Synthesia has a good range of video templates and it will create lifelike character animations and backgrounds too.
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Peter Som’s New Debut: A Cookbook
Peter Som’s New Debut: A Cookbook
Entertaining With shows how a party came together, with expert advice on everything from menus to music.
At a dinner party on the final evening of the Year of the Dragon, the fashion designer Peter Som was a charismatic host in his amber-lit West Village apartment, teasing guests, refreshing wine glasses and finishing several dishes in his galley kitchen. Friends, several of whom had known Som for decades, were put to work upon arrival. Seth Johnson, a gardener and florist, shaved cucumbers on a mandoline. Christine Y. Kim, a curator at large at the Tate Modern, lit candles and filled water glasses. Kim, whom Som has known since college, wore a ****** wool dress with petal sleeves from the designer’s first collection from fall 1999. Later, Roopal Patel, the fashion director of Saks Fifth Avenue, arrived wearing a dress covered in plush ****** ribbons and invited Som to guess its maker. “You’re rusty,” she said with a smile after he made a few suggestions. “It’s Prada.”
Som, 54, is best known for the crisp silhouettes and precise seams of his namesake collection and his 2009 to 2012 women’s runway collections for Tommy Hilfiger. But if he’s out of practice with identifying designers, it’s because, since 2019, he’s immersed himself professionally in the culinary world. The pivot may seem surprising but, Som says, “especially during my crazy fashion career, cooking was what kept my feet on the ground — something that would always be there after a [chaotic] day.” Once he shut down his runway collection, cooking became even more central to his life, and he found that he “could be creative in another way, and have another dream doing something that I loved all along.” This month, he’ll release his first cookbook, “Family Style: Elegant Everyday Recipes Inspired by Home and Heritage,” which shares more than 100 dishes that pull from the flavors of Som’s ******** American upbringing. The recipes are approachable, with easy international touches such as cinnamon toast with miso and brown sugar and a potsticker frittata.
On this February evening, Som had gathered close friends to celebrate the Lunar New Year and preview recipes from the cookbook. His guests aimed their iPhones over the kitchen island to capture Som confidently inverting his Dutch oven onto a plate to reveal fried rice with a cracker-crisp top. (His recipe borrows the technique from the Persian dish tahdig.) The dish elevates the ******** American staple without too much fussiness, a hallmark of the food in Som’s book. “In the fashion world, the term ‘front of closet’ [refers to] garments that you wear all the time,” Som said. “I want these recipes to have the same idea: You’ll make them over and over.”
The attendees: In addition to Johnson, 34, Kim, 53, and Patel, 51, Som hosted Marcus Teo, 49, the creative director of the Hong Kong jewelry brand Chow **** Fook; Doris Josovitz, 45, a ceramist; Rob Wilson, 56, a designer and illustrator for brands like Todd Snyder and the Fifth Avenue Hotel; Uli Wagner, 54, an interior designer and architect; and Rafe Totengco, 56, the accessories designer and founder of Rafe New York.
The table: Som’s rectangular dining table was draped with a blue-and-white-striped cloth from Schumacher for Matouk. At each place setting, he arranged a white scalloped plate, chunky wine goblet and tiny glasses for water, all from Villeroy & Boch, as well as Juliska bamboo cutlery and a name card created by the Punctilious Mr. P’s Place Card Co. Som’s dining chairs are vintage, sourced from a junk shop in the Hamptons that he says has since become a SoulCycle. For the centerpiece, antique Christofle candlesticks were interspersed with glass vases filled with mossy sweet william and green and white ranunculus that Som and Johnson had selected that morning from Dutch Flower Line in Chelsea.
The food: Som prepared a few of his favorite recipes from the cookbook. For starters, he served tea eggs deviled with Kewpie mayonnaise and oyster sauce and a pile of rainbow shrimp chips interleaved with prosciutto, then dusted with a sweet, tangy spice mix. The family-style main course included golden-hued fried rice with a crispy crust; a radicchio salad with a miso maple dressing blended with anchovy paste and sesame oil; and Som’s Famous Lemon Chicken, a recipe passed down from his grandmother, who had been a pharmacist in Hong Kong. He baked chicken thighs skin-side up in a sauce of lemons, scallion, honey and soy. “It’s a little charred on the outside, but that’s what gives it [more] flavor,” Som said as he served the dish. For dessert, guests were treated to a pale pink Pavlova crowned with whipped cream, lychees and lime zest.
The drinks: Som served Pellegrino and Carneros chardonnay by Rombauer, a vineyard in Napa Valley. “It goes with a lot of things; it’s like a little ****** dress,” Som said of the wine. After dessert, guests lingered over a bottle of grappa, raising a toast to the Year of the Snake. “My eyelashes are burning,” said Totengco after a sip of the high-proof Italian brandy. “It’s changing my body temperature.”
The music: “Pink Pony Club,” “Femininomenon” and other songs from the singer-songwriter Chappell Roan’s exuberant ’80s-pop-inflected album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” played in the background while guests arrived. At dinner, Som transitioned into an eclectic, loungey playlist curated by the Hôtel Costes, in Paris’s First Arrondissement; Som learned about its mixes back when he traveled biannually to the Paris Fabric Show. His favorite, “Hôtel Costes 11,” includes “Soda Pop Confusion” by the French electro-pop group Variety Lab and “Enzo” by the Dutch dance music trio Kraak & Smaak.
The conversation: After toasting Som’s cookbook, Patel, Totengco and Kim reminisced about their decades-long friendship. They became close in their 20s in 1990s New York. (Som still lives in the same apartment he did then, though it’s ******* now, after he expanded into the apartment next door.) “He had just started his collection; we would come here and style it,” said Patel, who remembered sitting in the living room, taping the bottoms of shoes to prevent them from getting scuffed during photo shoots. Totengco recalled bolts of fabric stacked high in the kitchen. Later, Kim asked the guests who they thought might play Som in a “Julie & Julia”-style film adaptation of his life. “Jake Gyllenhaal, if I have to cast him myself,” Som said.
The recipe for Som’s “Prawn” and Prosciutto: The dish, for which Som used prosciutto from the Italian food hall Eataly, was inspired by a plate of potato chips tossed with jamón Ibérico he’d tried at the Lower East Side restaurant Ernesto’s. To recreate the snack at home, lay a few strips of prosciutto on a plate to create a sturdy base. Then pile freshly fried shrimp chips and more prosciutto in layers. Finish by dusting the mound with one teaspoon of light brown sugar, the zest of a lemon and togarashi, a Japanese chile powder, to taste.
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Manchester City: Gareth Taylor sacked by Women’s Super League side
Manchester City: Gareth Taylor sacked by Women’s Super League side
Women’s Super League side Manchester City have sacked head coach Gareth Taylor.
The 52-year-old took charge of City in May 2020 and led them to two major honours.
City missed out on last season’s WSL title on goal difference and are currently fourth, 12 points adrift of defending champions Chelsea.
“Manchester City prides itself on competing at the top of the WSL and on its outstanding record of qualifying for European competition,” said managing director Charlotte O’Neill.
“Unfortunately, results this season have so far not reached this high standard.”
More to follow.
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Control Ultimate Edition’s New Update Introduces Hideo Kojima Mission for All Platforms
Control Ultimate Edition’s New Update Introduces Hideo Kojima Mission for All Platforms
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March 10, 2025
Control Ultimate Edition’s March 2025 update will add the previously exclusive Hideo Kojima mission for all platforms.
Control Ultimate Edition’s 1.30 update went live for PC today and is scheduled to go live for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S shortly. Update 1.30 is a free content update, adding several improvements to support newer hardware. Players will see that along with the new Hideo Kojima mission, Control Ultimate Edition will receive new outfits, graphics tools, DLSS support and other general changes.
For those wondering, Control’s ‘Dr. Yoshimi Tokui’s Guided Imagery Experience’ mission features a voiceover from Hideo Kojima. It was previously exclusive to the PlayStation 4 Digital Deluxe version, but it will arrive for all platforms after this update. The mission begins when players pick up “the Dr Tokui Tapes collectable in the Extrasensory Lab of the Research Sector. “
While trying out the previously exclusive Hideo Kojima mission in Control, players can also put on some exclusive outfits. These were only available for players who pre-ordered the game; however, after update 1.30, everybody gets access to the Astral Dive Suit, Tactical Response Gear, and Urban Response Gear.
Here are all the other improvements and support that was added with Control’s update 1.30:
Graphics
Added HDR support
Added new Ultra ray tracing preset, which gets you more rays per pixel and higher temporal stability
Added ultrawide monitor support for up to 48:9 monitors
Added an FOV scaling setting for the gameplay camera
Updated SDR to 10bit (from 8bit), which reduces visible colour banding
Improved graphics adapter detection at startup, with automatic selection between DX11 and DX12
Implemented screen aspect ratio fixes for ultrawide monitors
Your current monitor resolution can now reliably be selected from the screen resolution and rendering resolution menus
Added rendering resolution support beyond 4K
Implemented texture streaming fixes
Ray tracing bug fixes
DLSS Support
Added DLSS support for arbitrary resolutions
Added DLAA support
Updated DLSS to DLSS 3.7, with higher temporal stability
Film grain added back to DLSS SR
Fixed shadow resolution when DLSS is enabled
Added resolution-dependent mip map bias for DLSS. This enhances texture quality, for example, when applying the DLSS Performance setting.
General
Updated the audio on cinematics and end credits to remove unintended channel mixing. You will no longer hear anything that isn’t intended to be heard. (It wasn’t the Hiss, it was us. Sorry.)
Several bug and ****** fixes
In other news, Control 2 entered full production last month. Also, Annapurna Interactive is helping bring Control and Alan Wake to film and television. Will you play Control’s Hideo Kojima mission after the new update? Let us know in the comments or on our community forum!
For more information from Insider Gaming, read about Xbox launching Partner Gaming Handheld this year. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
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Blueprint to get nation moving, boost household budgets
Blueprint to get nation moving, boost household budgets
Revamped competition rules would swell the nation’s households by billions of dollars while helping to ease the cost of living, the federal government says.
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The Last of Us season two promises a lot more action alongside devastating drama
The Last of Us season two promises a lot more action alongside devastating drama
Season two of HBO’s The Last of Us is just a month away, and as such the hype cycle kicked into full gear this past weekend. A full trailer finally arrived on Saturday during a panel at SXSW with the show’s creators and cast (not to mention an ), and both that trailer and the panel discussion reinforced at least one major change coming this season: more action.
That could fix one of the ******* complaints fans had about season one, which garnered from critics and fans alike. While season one brought the Infected to life in terrifying fashion, there were long stretches of the show where they simply weren’t around, making them feel like less of an ever-present threat. The new trailer shows off the town of Jackson, where Joel and Ellie settled at the end of season one along with his brother Tommy, under a massive siege of Infected, the kind of battle that might take up an entire episode. And show creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann hinted that Infected would play a ******* role this season, not just in numbers.
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“It was important to us to always move the ball forward with the infected,” Mazin said during the SXSW panel. “It’s not a question of just more, but something else that is meaningful to what is going on so they don’t just become NPCs. So definitely an escalation, we’re careful about it because we know we have space yet to go [in future seasons].” And in response to the panel’s moderator noting the balance between action and drama, Druckmann pointed out that, for the showrunners, “everything is drama, even the action scenes. They all have to be character-driven.”
To that end, the trailer showed off a new-but-old way for the infection to spread that wasn’t present in the first season: spores. Anyone who played the games noted the absence of spores as a transmission for infection in the first season, but Mazin exclaimed “spores? They’re back!” when talking about how the Infected were evolving for the new season. “There had to be a dramatic reason to introduce [spores] now,” Druckmann said, “and now there is.” Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t more forthcoming about the details.
I didn’t really object to the lack of spores in season one; it felt more like a game mechanic than something crucial to the plot. But there are a few story beats in The Last of Us Part II that I can recall where having spores around leads to a crucial plot reveal, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they get integrated here, and what the on-screen excuse will be for not seeing them before now. Similarly, I chalked the smaller number of Infected up to changes made to translate a video game to a show, though I feel like the first season could have had one more big throw-down — but I feel like season two will answer those complaints and then some.
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Druckmann also said part of the reason the Infected weren’t more present was simply that the showrunners “weren’t exactly sure what we were doing.” That’s not in terms of the story, but specifically in terms of showing the Infected on screen. “What should Infected look like? How much should be practical effects? How much can be VFX? Now, we know what we’re doing and we swung for the fences,” he said. “In the game, we talk about how Jackson has had these attacks, but now we get to show it. And the reason we do it is we show you what’s at stake, not for individuals but for an entire community.”
The notion of community plays into the overarching story that Mazin and Druckmann want to tell in season two. Druckmann said that the first season followed Joel and Ellie and was a lot about them against other communities, like the group in Kansas City or David’s flock of followers late in the first season. “Now, we get to see them settled in Jackson, that’s their home, and there’s a love there for a community,” Druckmann explained. “That gets us into tribalism… what happens when you go against another group and you don’t see the humanity in them and how far will that take you, especially when they hurt someone you love.”
HBO
Mazin followed that up by noting that the show has tried to investigate “the cost of love” and is now trying to create a sense of a larger, communal love and how a smaller, tighter group can fit into it. “What happens if someone in your tight group is taken from you, and you feel alone? One thing Ellie said in season one was the thing she’s most afraid of is ending up alone,” Mazin said. “So all these characters have to face this potential threat of being alone, and without a tribe, and then what do you do?”
The other big theme that came out of the panel focused on how new cast members Kaitlyn Dever (Abby), Isabela Merced (Dina) and Young Mazino (Jesse) would fit in with returning stars Bella Ramsey (Ellie), Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Gabriel Luna (Tommy).
“Yes, [the new cast] came in like badasses,” said Pascal before then turning to Ramsey. “But you make it so easy, and so welcoming. I think we all really looked to Bella this time around as far as the cast is concerned. And this kind of open permission to be ourselves and to partner together in the scenes… I think it is the sort of unspoken leadership that made it such an easy, horrifying place to step into.” With his ever-present Dad-style humor, Pascal followed that by saying “The story was horrifying. Not Canada.”
“They’re not new to me, because we’ve lived all this time together and it was seamless… and I feel rather protective of you guys, and I love you guys, and you gave us everything,” Mazin said. “Not a weak link in the chain,” Druckmann interjected before Mazin went on to say how much he was looking forward to shooting with them yet again.
Ramsey spoke to how well the new cast integrated itself during season two’s filming. “I think it’s such a hard thing to do, to come into a world and a show that’s already really established, it must be so intimidating and these people just came in and made it their own and fit in so well,” they said. “Izzy brought a lot of joy and laughter and made everyone laugh consistently… it’s just a joy to work with all three of these guys.”
HBO
Kaitlyn Dever owned up to the anxiety the shoot produced, saying that stepping into a world that was so beloved was “nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing” — and that’s without mentioning the online hate that the character she’s portraying (and its voice actor) received in 2020 when The Last of Us Part II was leaked two months before its release. Dever didn’t get into that specific hornet’s nest during the panel, but did say that “there are so many expectations going into this, and it’s just a matter of balancing that and also coming to it with my own ideas and building the character with Craig and Neil.”
The cast was an undeniable highlight of the first season of The Last of Us — everyone on the show absolutely killed, regardless of whether they were in six episodes or were on the screen for six minutes. Projecting familial friendliness during a press tour is one thing, but the love and respect the actors have for each other as well as Mazin and Druckmann has been continually obvious over the last few years, particularly between Ramsey and Pascal.
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A fan shot a clip of Pascal watching the season two trailer during the panel, and he clearly gets emotional at the end of it, leaning over and giving Ramsey a big bear hug. As much as the show might be, on the surface, about fungal zombies, it only works because of the relationships between the characters on screen, whether that’s Joel and Ellie or now Ellie and Dina or Abby and her WLF crew. Assuming everyone gets that right in season two, the show should satisfy again — regardless of how many Infected are on screen.
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