JD Vance Warns Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to Shut up and Obey Trump
JD Vance Warns Ukraine’s Zelenskiy to Shut up and Obey Trump
Vice President JD Vance issued a stark warning to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday, cautioning the war-battered leader against “badmouthing” Donald Trump even as the U.S. pushes forward with handing over Ukrainian land to Russia in lopsided peace talks.
“The idea that Zelenskiy is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media,” Vance told the Daily Mail, “Everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration.”
Russian forces crossed the Ukrainian border on February 24, 2022, which Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to justify by falsely claiming that he needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine.
The U.S. and Russia opened discussions Tuesday aimed at ending the three-year war in a meeting that excluded Ukrainian leadership. Hours after the meeting ended, Trump suggested that Kyiv had started the conflict—a Russian talking point that drew Zelenskiy’s ire.
“I would like to see more truth from the Trump team,” Zelenskiy told reporters in a sandbagged presidential palace Wednesday, adding that the MAGA leader lives in a “disinformation space.”
But Trump did not respond well to Zelenskiy’s words. In a lengthy and venomous post on Truth Social Wednesday, the U.S. president wrongly accused the democratically-elected Ukrainian leader of being a “dictator.”
“Zelenskiy admits that half of the money we sent him is ‘MISSING,’” Trump wrote, incorrectly asserting that the U.S. had provided $350 billion to Ukraine. In actuality, the U.S. has allocated $119 billion in Ukraine aid, according to the Kiel Institute, which has been tracking international financial assistance for Ukraine.
“He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden ‘like a fiddle,’” Trump continued.
“A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskiy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do,” he added.
Not even other members of Republican leadership could not give a full-throttled defense of Trump deriding Zelenskiy as a dictator.
“The president speaks for himself,” Senate Majority leader John Thune said Wednesday afternoon.
Vance met with Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last week as Russia navigated through Trump to organize a deal that defense experts have warned will overwhelmingly benefit Russian interests.
Earlier that week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the NATO conference in Munich that the administration’s peace talks with Russia had taken several chips “off the table,” including Ukraine’s possible NATO membership (something the military alliance had promised in 2008), the possibility of a U.S. presence in Ukraine to enforce postwar security guarantees, and the end of NATO missions to Ukraine. He also added that it would be “unrealistic” for Ukraine to return to its pre-war borders, effectively ceding land to Moscow.
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Monopoly lets you do your part to save the whales in latest partnership
Monopoly lets you do your part to save the whales in latest partnership
Part of the proceeds will go to marine life conservation
Grab the new bundle for a themed token and board
WDC helps protect whales and dolphins from hunting and pollution
Marmalade Game Studio is teaming up with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) to give Monopoly fans a way to contribute to marine life conservation efforts, because what better way to spend your Monopoly earnings than by supporting a good cause? In particular, the new WDC bundle will be up for *****, and a minimum of £1,000 net revenue to be donated from the first £3,000 sales.
Succeeding proceeds means 10% of all sales will go to the charity as well. As for what the WDC bundle contains, you’ve got the Atlantis board to keep things in sync with the marine life theme, as well as the Blue Whale token and the Silver Dolphin token.
“We’re thrilled to have the chance to work alongside the leading charity dedicated to protecting whales and dolphins,” says Radu Rovin, Head of Studio at Marmalade Game Studio. “With the support of MONOPOLY’s incredible community, we’re helping whales and dolphins thrive.”
Obviously, we pesky humans have a knack for ruining pristine waters thanks to pollution, as well as endangering wildlife due to hunting and whaling. Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) aims to protect marine life from our harmful activities, with a vision where “every whale and dolphin is safe and free.”
If you’re on the hunt for something else though, why not take a look at our list of the best board games on Android?
In the meantime, if you’re eager to join in on all the fun, you can do so by checking out Monopoly on the App Store and on Google Play. It’s a premium purchase at $4.99 a pop or your local equivalent.
You can also join the community of followers on the official Twitter page to stay updated on all the latest developments, visit the official website for more info, or take a little peek at the embedded clip above to get a feel of the vibes and visuals.
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How natural gas could help solve the India-U.S. trade dispute
How natural gas could help solve the India-U.S. trade dispute
Workers walk on the jetty’s platform at the Dhamra LNG Terminal Private Limited (DLTPL) near Dhamra port in Bhadrak district of India’s Odisha state on October 16, 2024. (Photo by Punit PARANJPE / AFP) (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)
Punit Paranjpe | Afp | Getty Images
This report is from this week’s CNBC’s “Inside India” newsletter, which brings you timely, insightful news and market commentary on the emerging powerhouse and the big businesses behind its meteoric rise. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
The big story
Could the answer to ending trade tensions between India and the United States lie beneath the ground in Houston and Hyderabad?
The unexpected solution is bubbling up from America’s booming natural gas industry, just as the world’s most populous country is betting big on gas imports to power its growing economy.
India is on course to double its liquified natural gas (LNG) imports by 2030, progress that would please Washington while at the same time helping New Delhi reduce its reliance on coal and oil. The surge in demand is driven partly by the government’s intention to increase the share of natural gas in its energy mix to 15% by 2030 from 6.7% at the end of 2023.
“Being one of the fastest-growing energy markets, India is nearly doubling LNG imports globally, by our estimates for this decade” said Mayank Maheshwari, an equity analyst at Morgan Stanley. “Imports of U.S. LNG will be critical to the government’s push for a gas-based economy.”
The timing could not be better. Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled plans for “reciprocal tariffs” on countries that impose duties on American imports. India, with its higher tariff rates and a substantial trade deficit for goods with the United States, could be particularly vulnerable to such measures.
Energy trade is emerging as a potential bridge between the two nations. During their recent meeting in Washington, Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to work toward making the United States “a leading supplier of oil and gas to India.”
“Hopefully, their number one supplier,” Trump added.
A Gas-Hungry Economy
India’s appetite for natural gas is growing rapidly. The government has aggressively promoted vehicles powered by compressed natural gas, leading to a 33% increase in sales in 2024 to more than half a million vehicles, with Maruti Suzuki taking the lion’s share of the market. The number of households with piped natural gas connections has grown 250% over the past seven years ending November 2023 to 11.9 million.
In 2024, India also announced plans to convert a third of its heavy-duty trucks from diesel to liquefied natural gas over the ensuing five to seven years. Natural gas also plays a crucial role in fertilizer production, contributing to India’s food security.
However, domestic production is unlikely to keep pace with demand.
“Near-term demand is supported by a 51% jump in domestic gas production [between 2020 and 2025], but this will not be enough to meet the country’s growing demand for natural gas,” said Rystad Energy analysts led by Kaushal Ramesh in a report last year. “The result is that India will continue to rely heavily on imports to satisfy its future energy needs.”
The American Solution
This is where American gas exports could play a crucial role. “The interesting part about U.S. LNG exports is that they are affordable on a delivery basis for price-sensitive Indian consumers at [$9 to $10 per metric million British thermal units, or about 30% cheaper than spot LNG prices],” Morgan Stanley’s Maheshwari explained.
“Historically, natural gas companies in India have guided for a mix of oil- and gas-linked contracts as the optimal long-term gas sourcing strategy,” the analyst added. “We believe U.S. LNG contracts, if signed, would be a step in that direction.”
Santanu Sengupta, chief India economist at Goldman Sachs, noted that energy purchases have become a key component of evolving U.S.-India relations. The countries are working toward a trade deal that aims to sharply increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.
Recent developments, such as India’s state-run companies seeking long-term gas supply contracts, suggest momentum is building and India is serious about increasing gas imports.
The government-owned Gujarat State Petroleum recently signed a 10-year agreement with France’s TotalEnergies for gas supplies, while Indian Oil Corporation secured a 14-year deal with Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC.
The path to balanced trade is unlikely to be straightforward. China’s recent decision to impose additional tariffs on U.S. energy exports, including a 15% duty on LNG, could have unintended consequences. Citi’s Global Commodities Analyst Maggie Xueting Lin suggests this could benefit India by making more American gas available to Indian buyers.
Balancing Act
The broader trade relationship remains complex. India’s bilateral goods trade surplus with the United States has doubled over the past decade to $35 billion, according to Goldman Sachs. The U.S. trade-weighted average tariff rate stands at 2.9%, compared with India’s 9.4%.
But both sides appear willing to find common ground. India has already reduced tariffs on several American products and increased market access for its farm products.
The question remains whether the recent energy partnership can help bridge the wider trade gap that has been a source of friction between Washington and New Delhi.
Need to know
India and U.S. aims to double trade to $500 billion by 2030. That’s according to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made the announcement at a joint press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 13. Trump acknowledged India’s recent move to reduce tariffs on select imports, saying he would begin talks on disparities on trade and hoped to reach an agreement. India’s simple average tariff on countries with the most-favored-nation status, such as the U.S. stands at 17%, compared with America that levies 3.3%.
Economic outlook for India is positive. Growth in India’s economy is likely to accelerate in the second half of fiscal year 2024 to 2025, according to the Reserve Bank of India Bulletin for February. Increasing rural demand on the back of a strong agricultural sector, and recovering urban consumption on lower interest rates and taxes, will drive economic expansion, the RBI said.
Nuclear ambitions for India. NTPC, the state power company of India, is planning to construct nuclear power plants that have a combined capacity of 30 gigawatts, according to Reuters, which cited three sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The power company initially intended to build 10 GW of nuclear capacity, but increased its target after the Indian government announced plans to open up the sector, the sources said.
Tesla increases its presence in India. Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company chose Indian cities New Delhi and Mumbai as new sites for two Tesla showrooms, reported Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter. The locations will be showrooms and not service centers, and Tesla plans to “sell imported EVs in India,” according to the first source, who asked to remain unnamed to speak about private matters. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Tesla CEO Elon Musk in the United States on Feb. 13.
What happened in the markets?
Indian stocks continued to head lower after a brief positive session earlier in the week. The Nifty 50 index has fallen 0.07% this week and has lost 3.1% of its value so far this year. The benchmark is 12.6% below its most recent high in September 2024.
The 10-year Indian government bond yield has ticked to the 6.66% mark, 3 basis points lower from last week.
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
On CNBC TV this week, Raghuram Rajan, University of Chicago Booth School of Business professor of finance and former Reserve Bank of India governor, said that U.S.-India ties “could be a key relationship in the 21st century.” The defense and trade ties that the countries share, as well as the presence of an Indian diaspora in the U.S., underpin this relationship. Rajan also noted that India is the world’s largest importer of defense goods, which could mean “more cooperation with the U.S.” as the nation moves away from Russia.
Meanwhile, there will be a “wall of new supply for gas” starting in 2027, mostly from the U.S., Qatar and Australia, said Nikhil Bhandari, Goldman Sachs’ co-head of Asia Pacific natural resources and clean energy research. Moreover, if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace deal and normalize the flow of gas across Europe to pre-war levels, prices could fall to $6 to $7 per million British Thermal Units (MMBtu). That said, the gas market will be tight in 2025 because of a “strong winter,” and Goldman says it will remain so in 2026.
What’s happening next week?
Next week will see a flurry of data releases on the manufacturing and service sectors in various countries, as well as an IPO of a power plant equipment supplier in India.
February 21: Quality Power Electrical Equipments IPO, India HSBC flash PMI for February, euro zone HCOB flash PMI for February, U.K. S&P flash PMI for February, Japan Jibun Bank flash PMI for February, Japan inflation rate for January
February 24: Euro zone inflation rate for January, final
February 27: U.S. gross domestic product for fourth quarter, second estimate
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Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game Release Date—All Platforms Revealed
Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game Release Date—All Platforms Revealed
A new Lord of the Rings Game is coming—Tales of the Shire. It has a release date, and we know its available platforms. You can put the swords away and forget about cave trolls as Tales of the Shire is a different type of LOTR title.
The early months of 2025 are quite stacked. So much so Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game is going under the radar. This could be for two reasons: The reception to Gollum and Return to Moira and the attention being given to other releases. But Tales of the Shire is a new type of Lord of the Rings game likely appealing to a large demographic.
It’s a life sim where you get to experience the day-to-day life of a hobbit in the Shire. You don’t need to pack wellies for the Dead Marshes, and Isengard can stay where it is for now. Let’s find out the juicy details for Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game.
When is Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game Coming Out?
Fishing for food. Credit to Wētā Workshop.
Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game has a March 25 release date.
It arrives during a busy March 2025 with the likes of Killing Floor 3, Split Fiction, WWE 2K25, Atomfall, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Tales of the Shire might be the one for you if you’re not into life sims instead of shooters, post-apocalyptic titles, and wrestling
Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game Platforms
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch are the peculiar choices of platform for Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game.
I say peculiar because seldom do you see a title release for the Switch, and not old-gen PS4 and Xbox One consoles. This is the reality of the situation, so if you do own any of these formats, you can celebrate and get ready for elevenses.
If you are on old-gen, don’t rule out future ports if the game succeeds.
Are you picking this one up as a Lord of the Rings fan? Or because you enjoy life-sim games in the region of The Sims and Stardew Valley? Plus, can Tales of the Shire A Lord of the Rings Game break the recent jinx and deliver a solid LOTR title?
Check out more of our upcoming release date hubs: Elden Ring Nightreign, Monster Hunter Wilds, and PGA Tour 2K25.
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Asia markets down as Trump tariff threats, potentially higher-for-longer U.S. rates dent sentiment – CNBC
Asia markets down as Trump tariff threats, potentially higher-for-longer U.S. rates dent sentiment – CNBC
Asia markets down as Trump tariff threats, potentially higher-for-longer U.S. rates dent sentiment CNBCShares struggle, gold hits record high on geopolitical, tariff worries ReutersStock market today: Global shares trade mixed amid uncertainty over Trump’s policies The Associated PressStock market today: Asian shares mostly dip despite S&P 500 adding to its record on Wall Street MSNMarkets drop, gold hits record on Fed concern over Trump policies The Wellsboro Gazette
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NetEase Releases Statement on Western Marvel Rivals Team Layoffs
NetEase Releases Statement on Western Marvel Rivals Team Layoffs
RiseNShine12h ago
In an IGN interview:
“We want to reassure our fanbase that the core development team for Marvel Rivals, which continues to be led by Lead Producer Weicong Wu and Game Creative Director Guangyun Chen in Guangzhou, China, remains fully committed to delivering an exceptional experience.”
“We are investing more, not less, into the evolution and growth of this game. We’re excited to deliver new super hero characters, maps, features, and content to ensure an engaging live service experience for our worldwide player base.”
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PS6 Launching In 2028 “Feels Right,” Former PlayStation Boss Says
PS6 Launching In 2028 “Feels Right,” Former PlayStation Boss Says
Speaking to VentureBeat, Yoshida the last console cycle was about seven years long, and if that holds again, the PS6 would debut in 2027, and he said that feels “a bit too early.” Stressing that he has no inside information about the PS6, Yoshida said, “If the next PlayStation comes out in 2028, that feels right to me.”
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Microsoft Muse AI Model Unveiled; Can Generate Game Visuals and Controller Actions
Microsoft Muse AI Model Unveiled; Can Generate Game Visuals and Controller Actions
Microsoft researchers introduced a new artificial intelligence (AI) model on Wednesday that can generate 3D gameplay environments. Dubbed the World and Human Action Model (WHAM) or Muse, the new AI model was developed by the tech giant’s Research Game Intelligence and Teachable AI Experiences (**** X) teams in collaboration with Xbox Games Studios’ Ninja Theory. The company said that the large language model (LLM) can help game designers in the ideation process, as well as help generate game visuals and controller actions to help creatives in game development.
Microsoft Unveils Muse AI Model
In a blog post, the Redmond-based tech giant detailed the Muse AI model. This is a research product currently, although the company said that it is open-sourcing the weights and sample data of the model for the WHAM Demonstrator (a concept prototype of a visual interface to interact with the AI model). Developers can try out the model on Azure AI Foundry. A paper detailing the technical aspects of the model is published in the Nature journal.
To train a model on such a complex area is a difficult proposition. Microsoft researchers collected a large amount of human gameplay data from the 2020 game Bleeding Edge, a game published by Ninja Theory. The LLM was trained on a billion image action pairs, which is equivalent to seven years of human gameplay. The data is said to be collected ethically and is used only for research purposes.
The researchers said that scaling up the model training was a major challenge. Initially, Muse was trained on a cluster of Nvidia V100 GPUs, but then it was scaled to multiple Nvidia H100 GPUs.
Coming to the functionality, the Muse AI model accepts text prompts as well as visual inputs. Additionally, once a game environment is generated, it can be further enhanced using controller actions. The AI responds to the movements made by the user to render new environments aligned with the initial prompt, and consistent with the rest of the gameplay.
Due to being a unique AI model, typical benchmark tests cannot properly evaluate its capabilities. The researchers highlighted that they have internally tested the LLM on metrics such as consistency, diversity, and persistence. Since it is a research-focused model, the outputs have been limited to just 300x180p resolution.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.
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Wizardry Variants Daphne adds Guarda Fortress and puts more goodies up for grabs in latest update
Wizardry Variants Daphne adds Guarda Fortress and puts more goodies up for grabs in latest update
Discover a new chapter
1,000 Org Gems up for grabs
The Impregnable Guarda Fortress Missions now available
Drecom has officially launched a new story chapter within Wizardry Variants Daphne, adding a fresh narrative for you to sink your teeth into starting today. Now, I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with this franchise until it started popping up in our news more often lately, but it’s definitely a huge deal especially given how it’s recently surpassed a whopping one million downloads and rising.
If you’re also part of the uninitiated like I am, Wizardry Variants Daphne is a well-known 3D dungeon RPG with plenty of old-school vibes and a turn-based battle system. You’ll team up in a party of six, explore the dungeon, collect loot and battle monsters (and likely perish), restock in town, and then come back and try again.
With the latest update, you can now explore the new Abyss, Guarda Fortress, as well as score a total of 1,000 Org Gems and other goodies from the limited-time login event.
The Impregnable Guarda Fortress Missions are also available for you to take on, where Adventurer’s Remains and up to 400 Gems of Org will be up for grabs until March 5th.
If you’re curious about the lore behind the IP, you can tune into our Pocket Gamer Podcast where our trusty newshound Iwan discusses what it’s all about. And in the meantime, if you’re eager to join in on all the fun, you can do so by checking out Wizardry Variants Daphne on the App Store and on Google Play. It’s free-to-play with in-app purchases.
You can also join the community of followers on the official Twitter page to stay updated on all the latest developments, visit the official website for more info, or take a little peek at the embedded clip above to get a feel of the vibes and visuals.
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Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Ultra India ***** Date Tipped; Pricing Could Be Revealed on March 18
Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Ultra India ***** Date Tipped; Pricing Could Be Revealed on March 18
Xiaomi 15 series is confirmed to launch in global markets in March during Mobile World Congress (MWC). The lineup will include the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and presumably the standard Xiaomi 15. As we wait for the formal reveal, a tipster has suggested the ***** date of the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra in India. The company is said to announce the pricing of the phones in the third week of March.
Tipster Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd) citing unknown sources on X claimed that Xiaomi will announce the Indian pricing of Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra on March 18. The tipster states that they will go on ***** in the country from March 21.
The brand earlier teased that the Xiaomi 15 series including the new Ultra model will be launched on March 2 at the MWC 2025 in Barcelona. Xiaomi India has also teased the launch of the lineup.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is confirmed to go official in Xiaomi’s home country later this month alongside the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra EV. The launch could take place on February 26. Xiaomi is currently accepting pre-orders for the phone through Mi Mall in China.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra Specifications (Expected)
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra was earlier spotted on the Geekbench AI database with the Android 15 operating system, 16GB of RAM, and an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. The handset is tipped to feature a quad rear camera unit comprising a 50-megapixel 1-inch type Sony LYT-900 sensor, a 50-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL JN5 ultra wide-angle camera, a 50-megapixel Sony IMX858 telephoto sensor, and a 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL HP9 sensor with 4.3x optical zoom. It is said to meet both IP68 + IP69 standards.
Xiaomi 15 Key Specifications
The Xiaomi 15 was unveiled in China in October last year alongside the Xiaomi 15 Pro. The Pro model is likely to remain exclusive to the ******** market. The standard model runs on the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC and features a 6.36-inch 1.5K OLED display with a peak brightness of 3,200nits. It boasts a Leica-tuned triple rear camera setup led by a 50-megapixel primary sensor. It has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
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The Photographer Who Captured New York’s Fabulous Unknowns
The Photographer Who Captured New York’s Fabulous Unknowns
Arlene Gottfried was drawn to everyday folks who sparkled with the flair of performers. And through her eyes, New York took on the excitement of a circus. In her heyday, during the 1970s and 1980s, she prowled the city with her camera, finding colorful characters who responded with a knowing urban gaze. Typically, they were *******, Puerto Ricans, Jews and gays. In the neighborhoods where she lived and hung out — the Lower East Side, East Harlem, Crown Heights, Coney Island and Greenwich Village — these groups mixed freely, brewing up a heady ********* that intoxicated her, as can be seen in “Picture Stories: Photographs by Arlene Gottfried,” a small, tantalizing exhibition at the New York Historical, to commemorate its recent acquisition of nearly 300 of Gottfried’s photographs.
She arrived at the tail end of the comet of New York Street photography, a tradition blazed by many artists who have enjoyed greater recognition: Helen Levitt, Louis Faurer, Weegee, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Joel Meyerowitz and Tod Papageorge. For about a decade, until she died in 2017 at age 66 of breast *******, she lived in Westbeth, the subsidized artist residence in the West Village, which was also Arbus’s final home.
A native of Brooklyn, Gottfried earned a precarious freelance living. She possessed two essential skills: spotting intriguing people and winning their trust. Sometimes, also like Arbus, she maintained long-term relationships with her subjects, most significantly with a magnetic dancer and nightclub entertainer called Midnight, whose sad descent into schizophrenia she intimately recorded over 20 years.
She loved to depict the clothes that defined identities, especially if she found a fashion clash. When two soignée ladies in furs came face to face with Rick James, the funk-punk singer famous for his outrageous haberdashery, Gottfried captured the startled look of alarm on one woman’s face.
Probably her most famous photo, an only-in-New-York moment, depicts a heavily garbed Hasidic Jew who has somehow wandered onto a nudist beach at Jacob Riis Park, in Queens, only to be accosted by a stark-naked posing bodybuilder. Cheekily hilarious, it is included in a video but is not one of the 33 prints on the wall in “Picture Stories.”
A touching portrait she made around 1990, of a big-eyed, brown-skinned little girl holding a brown-skinned doll, led Gottfried to a sideline that, although tragically initiated, proved deeply satisfying. Shortly after she took the photograph, the child was murdered. Afterward, Gottfried began attending Sunday services at the Spanish Harlem church where the girl’s mother sang, and eventually joined the choir. A video of Gottfried performing a gospel number reveals that she was an extraordinary vocalist.
No matter how over-the-top her subjects were, Gottfried portrayed them without the slightest condescension or mockery. The older sister of the eccentric comedian Gilbert Gottfried, she felt comfortable with unconventional people, and they evidently reciprocated. She shot a portrait of a fire-eater practicing his act at a men’s bathroom in a disco. Looking at the two urinals behind him, you wonder, how did she make her way in there?
Gilbert’s widow, Dara Gottfried, cataloged the pictures in her sister-in-law’s archive and helped arrange the acquisition by the museum. The images document fabulous unknowns, New Yorkers who don’t belong to the elite and may be struggling to get by but are, at the moment Gottfried encounters them, emphatically enjoying their lives. Other than James, the closest thing to a celebrity in this show is a frequent Gottfried subject, Marsha P. Johnson, the gay activist and drag performer — a prominent figure in the Stonewall uprising of 1969 — who stands shoulder to shoulder with a shy boy holding roses.
Three young men with resplendent Afros pose by a Spanish Harlem tenement that has been adorned with a vibrant street mural. A self-confident older woman in a bathing suit and sneakers rests between two beachside boulders. A little boy is flamboyantly dressed for Halloween as a member of the band Kiss. The photographer’s delight in the people in front of her camera is transparent.
In a portrait that is emblematic of her art, Gottfried photographed a circus entertainer dressed in a top hat and white tie, accompanied by his two canine partners, also formally attired, the large Doberman pinscher in a white tie and a turban, the miniature pinscher with a frilly collar. The small dog is watchful, the big one is beaming. As for the man, he cracks a wry smile. He knows that it is all a little ridiculous, but he’s loving it.
Picture Stories: Photographs by Arlene Gottfried
Through May 25, The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, Manhattan; 212 873-3400; nyhistory.org.
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Trump Wants Greenland. But What Do Greenlanders Want?
Trump Wants Greenland. But What Do Greenlanders Want?
President Trump wants to take over Greenland, although Greenland and Denmark say it’s not for *****. Jeffrey Gettleman, an international correspondent for The New York Times, visited Greenland to talk with people about what they want for their gigantic island.
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Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Ultra India ***** Date Tipped; Pricing Could Be Revealed on March 18
Xiaomi 15, Xiaomi 15 Ultra India ***** Date Tipped; Pricing Could Be Revealed on March 18
Xiaomi 15 series is confirmed to launch in global markets in March during Mobile World Congress (MWC). The lineup will include the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and presumably the standard Xiaomi 15. As we wait for the formal reveal, a tipster has suggested the ***** date of the Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra in India. The company is said to announce the pricing of the phones in the third week of March.
Tipster Abhishek Yadav (@yabhishekhd) citing unknown sources on X claimed that Xiaomi will announce the Indian pricing of Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra on March 18. The tipster states that they will go on ***** in the country from March 21.
The brand earlier teased that the Xiaomi 15 series including the new Ultra model will be launched on March 2 at the MWC 2025 in Barcelona. Xiaomi India has also teased the launch of the lineup.
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is confirmed to go official in Xiaomi’s home country later this month alongside the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra EV. The launch could take place on February 26. Xiaomi is currently accepting pre-orders for the phone through Mi Mall in China.
Xiaomi 15 Ultra Specifications (Expected)
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra was earlier spotted on the Geekbench AI database with the Android 15 operating system, 16GB of RAM, and an octa-core Snapdragon 8 Elite processor. The handset is tipped to feature a quad rear camera unit comprising a 50-megapixel 1-inch type Sony LYT-900 sensor, a 50-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL JN5 ultra wide-angle camera, a 50-megapixel Sony IMX858 telephoto sensor, and a 200-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL HP9 sensor with 4.3x optical zoom. It is said to meet both IP68 + IP69 standards.
Xiaomi 15 Key Specifications
The Xiaomi 15 was unveiled in China in October last year alongside the Xiaomi 15 Pro. The Pro model is likely to remain exclusive to the ******** market. The standard model runs on the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC and features a 6.36-inch 1.5K OLED display with a peak brightness of 3,200nits. It boasts a Leica-tuned triple rear camera setup led by a 50-megapixel primary sensor. It has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance.
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The Best Second-Chance Romance Books, According to Tia Williams
The Best Second-Chance Romance Books, According to Tia Williams
Romance tropes tend to spark debate. Does “enemies to lovers” normalize bullying? Is “fake dating” overused? What’s hotter, “brother’s best friend” or “oops, there’s only one bed”? As a romance author, I try not to pick favorites. But as a reader, I will boldly claim “second-chance romance” as the elite trope.
There’s just something so evolved about giving a lost love another shot. It’s adult! It suggests you’re open to growth, redemption and forgiveness. One must have an elevated faith in humanity to confidently return to the well of exes.
And then there’s the yearning. I love the idea of an old flame that never flickers out but burns in your soul for months, years, even decades, just aching to be reignited. Imagine The One Who Got Away murmuring in your ear: “It’s you. It’s always been you.” Delicious! (Especially since this rarely goes well in real life: After all, if you run into the same tree in the forest twice, you’re probably lost.) Here are some of my favorite second-chance romances.
By Casey McQuiston
When two ********* exes — Theo, an aspiring sommelier, and Kit, a hotshot baker — find themselves booked on the same European food-and-wine tour, they are forced to gallivant together across France, Italy and Spain while still smarting from their brutal breakup four years earlier. To take the pressure off, they decide on a friendly wager to see who can hook up with more gorgeous tour guides and enchanting locals along the way. What could go wrong? This transporting, lusty book is a vacation essential.
“The Pairing” is one of The New York Times’s 100 Notable Books of 2024.
By Alexis Daria
Meet Gabriel and Michelle, former teen besties from the Bronx, who were so close that they wrote fan fiction together — but who fell out after a fateful hookup. Fast-forward 13 years, and a professional collaboration forces them to reconcile. “A Lot Like Adiós” has it all: workplace drama (Mich spearheads the marketing campaign for Gabe’s celebrity gym), fake dating (their families think they’re lovers) and will-they-won’t-they chemistry (scorching).
By Julie Soto
Wedding planning in real life? Stressful. But in fiction? Bring me all the Big Day shenanigans. In Julie Soto’s delightful debut, an ambitious wedding planner, Ama, and a curmudgeonly florist, Elliot, are hired to work the same high-profile wedding and must figure out how to juggle celebrity brides, a reality TV crew and their own angst-ridden romantic past. There’s sparky banter, nuanced flashbacks and sexy forearm tattoos. I tore through this book in one weekend.
By Carley Fortune
This book is breathtakingly romantic. Steeped in warm, beach town dreaminess, the story follows Percy, a Toronto magazine editor, who returns to her family’s lakeside cottage for a ******** and encounters her teenage love, Sam. They haven’t spoken in 12 years, after a traumatic split. But the nostalgic pull of their six glorious summers together is almost too strong to bear. If sweeping, emotional reads do it for you, this is it.
By Alexa Martin
This one is a classic among sports romance fans. Poppy, a feisty nightclub waitress, has carved out a lovely life for herself and her son in the years since her parents kicked her out as a pregnant teen. But that life is upended after a chance meeting with T.K., a professional football superstar who also happens to be her high school sweetheart. This feel-good read has sparkling side characters, gritty family dynamics and truly sizzling romance (none of which require you to have any familiarity with the N.F.L.).
By Kennedy Ryan
I am a sucker for high-stakes, soul-mate love, and “Before I Let Go” hits the spot. Yasmen and Josiah’s story is emotional and raw, perfectly illustrating that real, lasting love isn’t (just) about picnics and rainbows. Theirs is an imperfect journey of patience, forgiveness, healing — not to mention jaw-droppingly steamy sex — as they rediscover their connection after divorce.
By J.J. McAvoy
My mom’s historical romances introduced me to the genre, back in the 1980s (shout out to Judith McNaught). Since they always starred white people, I’d recast the characters as ****** in my tween mind. Thank heaven today’s regency fans have a plethora of multiethnic stories to choose from. This one stars Aphrodite, a well-born beauty who fled London after her intended husband, Duke Evander, inexplicably married someone else. Now widowed, he’s desperate to lure her back. Nothing’s hotter than a lovesick duke.
By Elissa Sussman
Deliciously dishy, this celeb romance could have been ripped from the pages of a 2006 tabloid (in a good way). It follows a former teen pop star, Katee Rose, who finds herself back in the spotlight when a former boy-******* (and her one-time flame) Cal offers her a starring role in a Broadway musical he’s directing. Can she move past the scandal that blew up her career? Does she still melt at Cal’s smoldering gaze? Yes and yes! Millennials will love deciphering which real-life stars inspired the plot.
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Next Likely Chancellor Promises a Tougher Germany
Next Likely Chancellor Promises a Tougher Germany
Friedrich Merz, the man favored to be Germany’s next chancellor after elections on Sunday, is a conservative businessman who has never been a minister and was forced out of government years ago for challenging then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
As a Christian Democrat and committed trans-Atlanticist, he has been considered a potentially better match for President Trump than the current Social Democratic chancellor, Olaf Scholz. He is also expected to lead a foreign policy more aligned with Mr. Trump’s ideas about Europe’s taking responsibility for its own defense.
But recent comments by Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have displayed just how difficult any partnership may be with a United States that is less reliable and possibly hostile, and sympathetic to Russia’s narrative on Ukraine and spheres of influence.
That challenge is especially profound for Germany, and after Sunday is likely to fall on Mr. Merz, 69, who is known to be assertive and direct, if a bit awkward.
He pushed back strongly against Mr. Trump’s latest comments siding with Russia, as well as what was seen as interference in Germany’s election by Mr. Vance when he criticized Europe for sidelining far-right parties at the Munich Security Conference last week.
Speaking Tuesday night in Halle, Mr. Merz described a new contest between democracies and autocracies and spoke of “an epochal rupture” with the United States. “We see in America a president who admires autocratic systems and rides roughshod over all kinds of norms,” he said, and a “vice president who tells us how to run our democracy.”
Today he said, “we are no longer sure if the Americans still stand by our side as they did after 1945,” or “whether we can still rely on the Americans.”
Mr. Merz was also sharply critical of Mr. Vance’s intervention and had earlier defended ******* democracy and restrictions on hate speech. He accused Mr. Vance of “intervening quite openly in an election.” He slammed Mr. Trump’s trade policies, including threats of broad new tariffs on European goods and services.
That boldness is characteristic of Mr. Mertz, analysts say, and reflects a worldview that aspires to a Germany that is more forcefully engaged in European and global affairs. Mr. Scholz, on the other hand, has often been criticized for his tentativeness and caution, even from within his own coalition.
Mr. Merz has vowed to carve out a more prominent ******* role inside the European Union and NATO, to pursue better relations with France and Poland, and to take a tougher stance against China, which he has described as a full member of the “axis of autocracies.”
He has also promised more forthright support for Ukraine’s battle against Russia and that Germany will meet and surpass the current NATO target of 2 percent of gross domestic product being spent on the military. And he wants his ministers to be able to speak reasonable English.
“I fully agree with all those who are demanding more leadership from Germany,” Mr. Merz has said. “And I am willing to do that.”
The bluntness of Mr. Merz would benefit Germany, argued Noah Barkin, a senior adviser at the Rhodium Group, a geopolitical advisory firm, particularly at a moment when Europe’s security environment is rapidly changing.
“Scholz is extremely risk averse, a waffler, and Merz speaks in a clearer language, whether it’s on Russia or China,” Mr. Barkin said. “Scholz would never describe Russia, China, Iran and North Korea as an ‘axis of autocracies,’ and I wouldn’t underestimate that.”
Mr. Merz wants a single clear voice from the new government, Mr. Barkin said. “That won’t be easy in a coalition government or with the E.U.’s 27 member states, but the commitment is half the battle.”
Guntram Wolff, an economist and former head of the ******* Council on Foreign Relations, worked on a foreign-policy paper for Mr. Merz’s party. “There is a clear pro-European stance,” he said.
There is also “a clear understanding about Russia and Russian imperialism, that peace and freedom can only be sustained against Russia, not with it,” he added.
In a recent foreign-policy speech at the Körber Foundation, Mr. Merz, a former member of the European Parliament, promised to provide ******* leadership in Europe, which has not been a priority for Mr. Scholz, and to establish a national security council in the chancellery.
“I have been advocating that we do our own homework here in Europe in view of Donald Trump’s return to office, rather than sitting like a rabbit in front of a snake,” he said. “If we want to be taken seriously as equals, we as Europeans must put ourselves in a position to take responsibility for our own security.”
But given the compromise nature of ******* coalition politics — which may again require a three-party coalition after Sunday’s election — it’s also not a given that “the tougher rhetoric will lead to concrete changes in policy,” Mr. Barkin cautioned.
While ******* foreign policy is increasingly made inside the chancellery, traditionally a coalition partner demands to head the foreign ministry. Many expect that main partner to be the dovish Social Democrats, not least because their strength in the upper house of Parliament will be needed for any constitutional change on debt levels, which would make it far easier to increase military spending.
But given the conflicting ambitions on Ukraine of the possible coalition partners, some fear the resulting policy could be as muddled as that of the last government’s.
Mr. Merz has been more forward-leaning on the need for greater ******* support for Ukraine, saying, for instance, that he would provide Ukraine with Germany’s long-range cruise missile, the Taurus.
That is something that Mr. Scholz has steadfastly refused to do, fearing it could provoke Russia. The Scholz formula for Ukraine has been that Russia must not win and Ukraine must not lose, which has been seen as a recipe for stalemate. Mr. Scholz has said he will not serve in a Merz cabinet, but another Social Democrat in the foreign ministry might be just as inclined to keep that policy.
Mr. Merz has not ruled out deploying ******* troops to secure a peace settlement in Ukraine, but he has been cautious, insisting that first there must be a coordinated European response, agreement from Moscow and a clear legal mandate.
“On paper, Merz looks and sounds like he would be clearer in his foreign policy, in defense and in his political and military support for Ukraine,” said Claudia Major, a foreign and defense analyst with the ******* Institute for International and Security Affairs. “But he must deal with his coalition partner, the economic situation and the Trump administration, and all this will limit his space for maneuver.”
Germany’s low economic growth could restrain any large increase in military spending, but a loosening of the constitutional debt brake, which Mr. Merz has promised, would create more fiscal space to do so.
As for China, given the importance of ******* exports there and Mr. Merz’s reputation as a supporter of free trade, few expect major changes to raise barriers to ******** imports or to institute tougher investment screening or export controls.
“There will be changes in substance, but on the margins,” Mr. Barkin said. “And Merz will have trouble navigating Trump, but as a pro-American businessman he’ll be in a better position than Scholz.”
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These are the top 5 things people are using AI for – and free therapy doesn’t make the list
These are the top 5 things people are using AI for – and free therapy doesn’t make the list
A new Future survey has revealed what we’re using AI for right now
The most popular use for AI in the US is to learn more about subjects
In the ***, people are using AI to write emails and generate content ideas
Generating photorealistic images, improving the quality of your writing and getting quick, in-depth answers to burning questions: you can use the best AI tools like ChatGPT to help you achieve a lot of things in 2025. And based on new survey data, that’s exactly what users in the *** and the US are doing.
The research, conducted by Future – the publisher that owns TechRadar – has revealed the top uses for AI tools on both sides of the pond. People taking part in the survey were asked what tasks they use AI to complete – examples included writing an email and generating content ideas.
More AI survey results
While some of the results aren’t surprising, the figures confirm the ever-growing role that AI tools play in modern life, particularly when it comes to the workplace. Some 70% of respondents in the US answered that they use AI for at least one of the listed tasks.
According to the research, that number is lower in the ***. Still, it’s significant that half of Brits who took part in the survey reported using AI tools for at least one of the tasks.
We’ve unpicked the findings in detail below, including a round-up of the least common uses for AI tools – which, somewhat sensibly, includes using chatbots as a free therapist…
The results are in…
Interestingly, the top four uses for AI tools are the same in both the *** and the US: that is, to learn more about a different subject, use it as an alternative to traditional search engines, write an email, and generate content ideas. Here’s a list of the US responses, divided into responses from Zillennials alongside a nationally representative sample:
All of these are relatively conventional uses of mainstream AI tools such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. What differs across continents is the order of popularity, as well as the percentage of users who favor AI tools for each of the listed tasks.
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In the US, the most popular uses for AI tools are to learn about a different subject and as an alternative to traditional search engines. 27% of survey participants reported using AI tools for each.
Joint-second in the US list of AI-assisted tasks are writing an email and generating content ideas, which were both selected by 24% of respondents.
That order is pretty much reversed in the ***: writing an email and generating content ideas share top billing among uses for AI tools, featuring in 19% of participants’ lists. Beneath that come learning about a different subject (16%) and as an alternative to traditional search engines (13%).
Another interesting comparison is between the tasks which rank bottom of the top five in each country. In the US, 15% of users reported using AI tools to generate code and formulae, which could reflect the country’s employment landscape and its high number of software developers.
That purpose doesn’t even rank in the top nine for Brits. Instead, the fifth-ranked use of AI in the *** is for assistance during a job application, coming in at 12%. It isn’t clear whether users are using AI tools to polish their written applications, to refine their resumes or to generate practice interview questions, but all of these are possibilities.
The results largely match similar research on the subject. Ben Wood, Chief Analyst at CCS Insight, told us: “This research aligns well with the feedback CCS Insight is seeing from consumers.
“Around 45% of people we spoke to in the *** told us the most compelling use case for AI is collating answers without having to click on search results. Summarizing long documents and automatically writing emails or letters in a particular style are also popular user cases.”
What else are people using AI for?
(Image credit: Future)
Things are just as interesting as you look further down the list. It’s clear that uptake of AI tools is generally higher in the US than in the ***.
For example, using AI tools for assistance with a job application ranks at number seven on the US list, yet it was picked by 13% of respondents – more than in the *** list, where it ranks at position five.
As above, there are some obvious similarities when comparing *** and US lists. The sixth-ranked use for AI in both countries is to create a project management schedule. This shouldn’t come as a surprise: there are a number of AI-powered project management tools, plus generative AI chatbots have the ability to quickly generate schedules based on contextual information.
Eight and ninth on both lists are the following uses for AI:
As a free therapist (11% in the US / 10% in the ***)
To describe a day in your dream life (11% in the US / 8% in the ***)
While they might rank at the bottom of the list, those are still fairly high numbers for what might look like unconventional uses for AI.
However, there’s been a lot of discussion about the ethical considerations surrounding chatbots acting as therapists. That at least a tenth of users in both the *** and the US are happy to use AI tools as an avenue to free therapy shows how quickly the tech is spreading outside of the workplace.
Notably, 10% of users in the *** also responded that they have used AI tools to create a tailored gym plan. Its popularity on the list supports the idea that some people are happy to get life and fitness advice for free from a chatbot, rather than paying a premium for the input of a trained human.
On the surface, that might seem a concerning revelation for wellness practitioners in the ***, as well as other industries built around advisory roles.
However, it’s also worth noting that the survey didn’t ask respondents to go into further detail. Participants weren’t asked if they see AI as a potential replacement for trained professionals, for example, or whether they were happy with the fitness plans generated by AI tools. This is something that we’ve tested ourselves, asking ChatGPT and Gemini to design workouts, with mixed results.
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‘The Monkey’ Review: A Stephen King Story Adapted Into a Gory Farce
‘The Monkey’ Review: A Stephen King Story Adapted Into a Gory Farce
Twenty-five years later, Hal (Theo James) is estranged from Bill and has his own son, named Petey, but only sees him once a year. Fearing that anyone he’s too close to will somehow become the monkey’s victim, Hal leads a lonely life. But you cannot outrun a curse like that one.
Much of “The Monkey” hinges on James’s performance as older Hal, whom the people around him treat as a complete loser but who is likely the only one with a brain. It’s kind of a sustained joke, helped along by the fact that James looks like, well, a very handsome movie star, whereas everyone else in this town seems to have been left in the oven a little too long. Thus, while James’s performance is relatively unremarkable until near the end, it works: He’s just a guy who’s trying to live quietly, but life, and death, have other plans.
Adapted from a Stephen King short story, “The Monkey” is directed by Osgood Perkins, whose most recent film was last year’s disturbing, vibey horror hit “Longlegs.” I didn’t chuckle much during that viewing experience, but “The Monkey” is working in an entirely different register, though it feels like it’s spinning its wheels in the second act, which is mostly setup for the third. The movie’s presumption is that the more inventive the means of death — and the more quickly those means are visited upon the victim — the more they’ll provoke shocked laughter from the audience. At least in my screening, that was true.
The giddily ludicrous demises, doled out at random, are meant to balance out the darker themes in the film. There are two ideas stomping around in “The Monkey.” It is a parable of absent fathers and their estranged sons — more specifically, sons discovering that their fathers abandoned them not from a lack of love but from a desire to protect them from their own demons; the metaphor is made rather literal here. (While Perkins didn’t write the story himself, it’s worth noting, in the context of “The Monkey,” that his earliest acting role was in 1983’s “Psycho II,” playing a 12-year-old version of Norman Bates — the character whom Perkins’s own father, Anthony Perkins, portrayed in 1960 in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” Deep!)
The other thread, perhaps the most universal theme imaginable, is this: Everybody dies. Death is random. Whatever “Final Destination” (or the recent TV show “Laid,” for that matter) might suggest, Death isn’t trying to find you, or punish you for something. Neither can you will death to strike someone, absent the decision to off them yourself. Death just sort of happens; it’s absurd, and the absurdity makes it funny. “Nothing matters,” Lois tells the boys at a relative’s graveside, “or else everything matters.”
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Ukraine or Russia: Whose side is Trump on?
Ukraine or Russia: Whose side is Trump on?
Nick asks former *** foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt.
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Acer is still pushing its glasses-free 3D display tech, but I’m not convinced – and I doubt I ever will be
Acer is still pushing its glasses-free 3D display tech, but I’m not convinced – and I doubt I ever will be
Another year, another spate of tech hardware companies trying to entice gamers over to the dark side – by which I mean, trying to convince them that 3D display technology is the Next Big Thing in gaming. I’ve never been a fan; I shelled out for a Nintendo 3DS expecting a wild new dimension of gaming only to spend my entire time with the handheld in 2D mode.
Acer’s still trying to crack this particular nut, having launched its SpatialLabs glasses-free 3D tech a few years back. At the IEM Katowice esports tournament in Poland last week, I got to enjoy some hands-on time with its latest Predator SpatialLabs View 27 monitor – and honestly, although the tech has certainly improved since its earlier iterations, I’m still not convinced.
When most people hear the phrase ‘3D’, they think of a pair of chunky glasses (or perhaps the even older red-blue paper spectacles). SpatialLabs doesn’t work the same way as ‘conventional’ 3D displays; instead, it works by utilizing eye-tracking cameras to perfectly mesh two rendered images together on a stereoscopic display, creating a three-dimensional effect that shifts to remain effective even if you move your head – unlike Nintendo’s clunky handheld.
Gaming in three dimensions
Does it work? Yes, actually – while I’m not going to give you the spiel about graphics that ‘leap out of your screen’ or whatever, the Predator SpatialLabs View 27 does provide a good sense of physical depth, both for individual objects and wide scenes. I got to play some of Street Fighter VI’s World Tour mode on it, and it looked great; exploring Metro City (no, not the one from Megamind) demonstrated a tangible depth of field to the streets and the legions of random pedestrians I could challenge to a fistfight. I think some games might benefit from this tech more than others, and Acer has a list of supported titles if you’re curious.
Regardless of the game you play, though, there are a few glaring issues with using SpatialLabs for gaming. For starters, it’s liable to cause eye strain for some users – I certainly found this to be the case after just five minutes of getting my **** handed to me by Chun-Li, and I’ve heard similar reports from colleagues who have tested out previous SpatialLabs devices. Considering that many gamers (totally not me) are known to spend multi-hour binges at their desktops, it feels like a migraine waiting to happen.
Yes, I know the screen looks blurry; unfortunately, SpatialLabs can’t track the ‘eye’ of a camera. (Image credit: Future)
The other major problem with SpatialLabs – and basically any glasses-free 3D gaming solution – is that it tanks performance. There’s no good way to put this; stereoscopic 3D requires the real-time rendering of two full-resolution frames, which means that you’re going to struggle to achieve high framerates in games unless you’re packing some of the absolute best gaming hardware,
My esteemed colleague over at TechRadar Gaming, Dash Wood, struggled with exactly this problem when he reviewed the Acer Predator Helios 300 SpatialLabs Edition back in 2023. Despite being a relatively powerful gaming laptop, it struggled significantly once the 3D mode was turned on, and even the newer 2024 model (which uses an RTX 4080 GPU) is locked to a 2K resolution at 60Hz in 3D mode while running in 4K in 2D.
3D vs VR
I’m willing to give Acer a pass on the eye-strain point. Although it feels like 3D has been around forever, this sort of glasses-free tech is still a relatively fledgling technology. Some people struggle to use VR for extended periods of time, and while I used to feel this way, the technology has advanced enough that I’ve become more comfortable with strapping on my headset and picking up my motion controllers for some Beat Saber or Pistol Whip in lieu of going to the gym.
However, as I thought about this, a thought occurred to me: why does anyone still think 3D is the future of gaming when virtual reality exists as it does today? VR is still improving too, but faster than 3D displays are. I can attest to the extreme difference between a first-gen Oculus Rift and Apple’s Vision Pro headset; it’s night and day, a far greater leap than I feel Acer’s Predator SpatialLabs View 27 makes over a 3D TV from the 2000s like Sony’s first 3D Bravia, even if it’s managed to ditch the bulky glasses. Why would I want to use a screen that gives a kinda-sorta-three-dimensional effect when I could put on a Meta Quest 3 and be fully immersed in a rendered world that appears to surround me completely?
So yeah – sorry, Acer, and sorry to everyone else who is hard at work on 3D displays right now. I just don’t think the gaming sphere will ever truly embrace 3D when VR exists. Mind you, there are other valid uses for this technology – Acer highlights the value of its SpatialLabs displays to professionals like architects and 3D asset designers (and prison dentists, according to a conversation I had with Acer PR), so it’s probably not about to die out anytime soon. Still, I think it might be time for SpatialLabs to shift focus away from gamers, and take serious aim at the enterprise space.
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Why Did It Take a Fire for the World to Learn of Altadena’s ****** Arts Legacy?
Why Did It Take a Fire for the World to Learn of Altadena’s ****** Arts Legacy?
Saar, whom White would eventually recruit to teach at Otis, grew up in Altadena in the 1930s and ’40s. Her neighborhood’s paperboy, she told me, was Jackie Robinson, who lived down the street. Her local landmarks included the five-and-dime store, where she bought trinkets and art supplies. Though she would eventually settle in Laurel Canyon after studying art at Pasadena Junior College and U.C.LA., she has maintained tight family and professional relationships to both Altadena and northwest Pasadena throughout her life.
In the 1950s Saar (whose maiden name was Brown) started a jewelry business, cleverly named Brown and Tann, with Curtis Tann. Saar’s sister, the teacher and civic leader Jeffalyn Johnson, settled in a home on Lincoln Avenue, where she and her husband, Alvin, hosted art shows in their backyard. Visitors would dress in their Sunday best. Other venues for art display, Saar said, were churches, afternoon tea parties and artist-run studios. Often there would be musical performances or book readings.
“It was very Altadena — laid-back, informal and filled with makers supporting each other,” said Moore, adding that artists here often stayed under the radar, without recognition by distant galleries, museums and critics. When Saar and others broke through , they were often identified as part of the larger Los Angeles scene.
And then came the fires. Hundreds of artists have lost their homes and studios, and it’s unclear how many will be able, or willing, to return.
“I just don’t want to go through this again,” said La Monte Westmoreland, 83, a longtime Altadena collage artist who lost one home in the 1993 Kinneloa fire. He rebuilt, only to lose his patio, koi pond and metal and ceramic sculptures in this one. “I don’t want to think about the next fire.”
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Nearly One in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as L.G.B.T.Q.
Nearly One in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as L.G.B.T.Q.
Nearly one in 10 adults in the United States identifies as L.G.B.T.Q., according to a large analysis from Gallup released Thursday — almost triple the share since Gallup began counting in 2012, and up by two-thirds since 2020.
The increases have been driven by young people, and by ********* women.
Nearly one-quarter of adults in Generation Z, defined by Gallup as those 18 to 27, identify as L.G.B.T.Q., according to the analysis, which included 14,000 adults across all of Gallup’s telephone surveys last year. More than half of these L.G.B.T.Q. young adults identify as *********.
Among all respondents, 1.3 percent identified as transgender, up from 0.6 percent in 2020. That is higher than other large surveys have found in recent years.
Members of Gen Z were most likely to be transgender, Gallup found — 4.1 percent were, compared with 1.7 percent of millennials and less than 1 percent in each older generation. Various groups have tried to count this population, and Gallup’s survey is considered one of the most complete.
Respondents were asked if they considered themselves straight or heterosexual, lesbian, gay, ********* or transgender, and could choose more than one identity or volunteer another. About 86 percent of respondents said they were straight, according to Gallup.
President Trump’s administration has recently reversed a variety of initiatives aimed at supporting L.G.B.T.Q. people, particularly those who are transgender.
Based on an executive order declaring that there are only two sexes and that they cannot be changed, the Trump administration has threatened to end federal funding for hospitals that provide gender-transition health care to people under 19; ban transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams; and ban transgender people from serving in the military.
The president has announced plans to revoke federal funding from schools that teach about “gender ideology,” and dismantled a policy protecting transgender students from discrimination. Government agencies have removed resources related to terms like L.G.B.T.Q. and gender from their websites. (Some have been restored under a court order.)
Increasing L.G.B.T.Q. identification has been “largely driven by the many decades of gradual increasing societal acceptance,” said Dr. Mitchell R. Lunn, who co-directs the Pride Study, a research project at Stanford on the health of L.G.B.T.Q. people. Now, he said, “I think we may lose a lot of the really positive momentum that we’ve built over the past decades.”
Dr. Lunn said he thinks the Gallup numbers are probably an underestimate, mostly because people might not feel comfortable sharing the information in a telephone survey. (Five percent of respondents declined to answer Gallup’s question.) He said he wouldn’t be surprised if the numbers declined next year, if social acceptance decreases under the Trump administration: “I worry that it will push some people to go back into the closet and not be out about their identity anymore.”
In the surveys, there were large differences in L.G.B.T.Q. identification by political ideology. Twenty-one percent of liberals identified this way, compared with 3 percent of conservatives. There were also significant gender differences: Women were almost twice as likely as men to identify as L.G.B.T.Q. In Gen Z, 31 percent did, compared with 12 percent of men.
Though L.G.B.T.Q. identification has increased in recent years for all but the oldest generations, it has grown fastest among young people. An average of 23 percent of Gen Z adults have identified this way over the last two years, up from 19 percent from 2020 to 2022.
Most of them identify as *********. Of Gen Z women, 23 percent are *********, compared with 12 percent of millennial women. While men have generally been less likely to identify as *********, that is changing for those in their teens and 20s. Eight percent of Gen Z men identify as *********, compared with 2 percent of millennial men, and Gen Z is the only age group in which men are likelier to say they’re ********* than gay.
********* men have faced additional stigma, studies have found, but researchers have said that might be changing for young men as the definition of masculinity has broadened, and as young people increasingly think about sexuality on a spectrum. Jessie Ford, a sociologist at Columbia, said that in her interviews with young people, they talk about wanting to be open in their sexuality and avoid rigid identities like straight or gay.
It’s now common for middle and high schools to have L.G.B.T.Q. affinity groups, which researchers have said are important for adolescent mental health at a time when they are exploring their identity. Schools have been especially welcoming in the West and Northeast, according to GLSEN, a nonprofit that researches L.G.B.T.Q. students.
Yet even as acceptance has been growing, so has stigma. Many states, particularly ones led by Republicans, have proposed or enacted restrictions aimed at L.G.B.T.Q. young people in recent years, particularly young transgender people. This has probably contributed to the poor mental health of young people who are gay or transgender, researchers said.
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ACCC still ‘concerned’ about Woolworths and Coles discounts
ACCC still ‘concerned’ about Woolworths and Coles discounts
Australia’s consumer watchdog says customers’ concerns in the supermarket and retail sector remain a key priority in the year ahead.
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What Is Moral Injury? – The New York Times
What Is Moral Injury? – The New York Times
When Jennifer S. Wortham was a teenager, her younger brother Patrick started acting out and getting in trouble at school.
Their stepfather had recently died and their mother was struggling. If anyone could help get Patrick back on track, she thought, it was the Catholic priest who had become a close family friend.
The priest was no longer living near their home in California, so that summer, she and her mother sent Patrick to stay with him in Texas.
At the time, Patrick begged not to go. More than a decade later, the family found out why. The priest had been molesting both Patrick and his younger brother, Michael, since they were about 10 years old.
The discovery “completely destroyed my family,” said Dr. Wortham, who is now a researcher at the Human Flourishing program at Harvard.
She suffered for years, feeling guilty and heartbroken over having unknowingly facilitated some of the abuse. “We never celebrated Christmas together ever again,” she said. “We couldn’t all be together.”
The experience led Dr. Wortham to study the topic of moral injury, or the deep distress that can emerge when you feel that your values have been violated, either by yourself or someone else.
The resulting feelings of powerlessness, guilt and shame can lead to mental health problems like anxiety, depression and even suicidal behavior.
“Why are you experiencing all these feelings? It’s because deep down, at your core, who you are is actually being challenged, threatened or violated,” said Dr. Tessy A. Thomas, a physician and bioethics researcher in Danville, Pa., who has studied moral distress among health care workers.
In other words, she said, it can feel as though your very integrity is at stake.
How do you recognize moral injury?
Egregious betrayals, like what Dr. Wortham and her family experienced, can create psychological distress — but so can “relatively small, everyday events,” said Dr. Connor Arquette, a plastic surgery resident at Stanford who has researched moral injury.
“These moments often make us feel uneasy, even if we can’t immediately articulate why,” he said. And over time, people may reach a breaking point.
Say that you value fairness, Dr. Arquette said, but your team at a large academic hospital has been instructed to go above and beyond for a particularly wealthy or well-connected patient. If other patients aren’t receiving the same level of attention, you may feel as though your morals are being compromised, he added.
“Moral distress,” a precursor to moral injury, was coined in the mid-1980s in reference to nurses who felt they were being obstructed from doing what was morally correct while on the job.
Later, in the ’90s, the psychiatrist Jonathan Shay created the term “moral injury” to refer to veterans who were psychologically harmed by carrying out orders that violated their beliefs, such as instructions to kill or harm civilians.
The term has been applied to other groups as well: Teachers, health care workers, government officials and public safety professionals may encounter mandates that threaten to compromise their values, witness morally repugnant behavior or become a victim of somebody else’s transgression.
In the last five years, there has been “an explosion of research” on moral injury, said Dr. Harold G. Koenig, Dr. Wortham’s mentor and a psychiatrist at Duke University who, with his team, created scales to measure these emotional wounds.
Dr. Wortham and her colleagues have proposed modifying the American Psychiatric Association’s D.S.M.-5, psychiatry’s classification of mental health conditions, to include the notion that moral problems could contribute to a mental health condition.
In December, after more than a year of review, the A.P.A. agreed. The change will appear in September.
The addition helps validate the term “moral injury,” Dr. Koenig said. Now, he added, more research can be done to further define it and examine its effects on mental health outcomes.
How do you handle moral injury?
There isn’t a quick fix to address moral injury. But taking action can be an important step in the healing process. Speaking up and asking for change is one option.
Dr. Wortham went so far as to meet with Pope Francis, who later spoke with a group of ******* abuse survivors, which included her brothers, and apologized for the failings of the church. She is working with a team of experts to develop a moral injury guide for those who counsel clergy abuse survivors and their families.
There might be situations where your hands are tied — at work, for example — that make you question whether this is the right environment for you, Dr. Arquette said.
When faced with moral injury, experts say that building moral resilience is crucial.
Dr. Thomas does this with a daily ritual: Every time she washes her hands she thinks about the challenges that others may be facing. Then she finds a way to make a simple gesture, like checking in with a colleague who is having a stressful day. These small acts of compassion help bolster one of her core values: integrity.
“I can’t change all those external things that are happening,” she said. “The only thing I can control in the moment is my attitude and my behavior.”
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Are you polite to ChatGPT? Here’s where you rank among AI chatbot users
Are you polite to ChatGPT? Here’s where you rank among AI chatbot users
Only around 70% of people are polite to AI when interacting with it
Roughly two thirds of impolite AI users say it’s for brevity
12% of respondents are polite in case there’s a robot uprising
Are you polite when talking to AI? And if you are, is it because it’s the right thing to do or because you’re afraid being rude will have consequences after the robot uprising?
For some 12% of respondents to a new survey, it really is the case that they’re polite to AI because they fear the future consequences. That’s according to in-depth research conducted in December 2024 by Future, the publisher which owns TechRadar.
The survey of more than 1,000 people found that while roughly 1 in 2 people use AI (51% of surveyed people in the US, and 45% in the ***), not everyone is kind to chatbots such as ChatGPT and their smart speakers. In the US, only 67% of people who use AI are polite to it, while in the *** only 71% are polite.
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While this is the majority of people, and an increase of 3% and 11% respectively in each region compared to a previous running of the survey three months prior, the data shows that blunt and quick demands are the big reason why people forget to say please and thank you.
We’re being kinder to AI
Diving into the US stats specifically, of the 67% of people surveyed who said they’re always polite to AI, 82% answered that they did so simply because it’s “nice” to say “please” and “thank you” – regardless of whether you’re speaking to an AI or human. The remaining 18% of this group said that they’re polite in case there’s ever an AI uprising – banking on their previous politeness as a means of survival.
Of the 33% of participants who use AI and aren’t polite, meanwhile, two-fifths said they don’t see the point in being polite, while the rest are merely keeping their AI requests brief and to the point.
People in the *** are apparently a little more polite to AI than users in the US, with 71% of Brits surveyed saying if they interacted with AI they were always polite (an increase of 11% compared to the previous survey).
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Of that 71%, 83% of polite users (or 59% of all AI users surveyed in the ***) said they always remembered to say please and thank you to AI because it’s the right thing to do, while, 17% were worried about a robot uprising.
Not everyone in the *** is polite, of course, and of the 29% of AI users who admitted they didn’t bother with niceties, about a third said it was because they didn’t see the point, while the remaining two-thirds wanted to keep their AI requests short and sweet.
Analysis: Be nice to our AI overlords
While the majority of respondents tend to be polite to AI, expert opinion is divided as to whether it’s necessary or not.
“It is encouraging to see that users feel that being polite to AI-powered assistants is the right thing to do,” says Ben Wood, Chief Analyst at CCS Insight. “Personally, I think this is important from a societal perspective. If it becomes acceptable to be disrespectful to AI assistants, that behaviour will start to leech into interpersonal interactions, and that’s a slippery slope.
“This is not a new direction, and it’s worth noting that Amazon introduced a ‘politeness feature’ called Magic Word back in 2018, which encouraged children to say “please and thank you” by acknowledging use of the terms.”
That sentiment is mirrored by A.J. Ghergich, a global VP at Botify, who states that “When we say ‘please’ to ChatGPT, we’re not irrational – we’re irrepressibly human. The CASA (Computers Are Social Actors) paradigm reveals that our social instincts don’t distinguish between flesh-and-blood and code.”
John-Anthony Disotto, TechRadar’s Senior AI Writer, has a slightly different take, though: “I’m actually surprised that 70% of people are polite to AI, after all it’s just a computer program, right?
“There’s definitely an element of the unknown that plays into the way we interact with AI, and I think a lot of people are subconsciously scared of what the future holds. Opting for politeness as a way to keep AI on side is fear mongering at its finest, but we’ve all seen 2001: A Space Odyssey…”
Then again, it seems there is another reason to be polite to an AI – it can improve the results. As Ghergich says, “It turns out being polite to your AI isn’t just being nice for nothing – it’s a clever tactic.
“Studies show that when we’re polite, we trigger patterns in the AI that connect to helpful, detailed human communication. Polite prompts can improve AI performance by up to 30%.”
Whatever your reason for being polite to AI, it does line up with increasing efforts by AI providers to make their chatbots seem more human-like – perhaps explaining why we’re talking to the robots more kindly.
And if you aren’t polite to AI? Well, you’d better hope that robot uprising doesn’t take place any time soon.
510 participants from the US and 518 participants from the *** responded to the survey.
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