Monthly Archives: December 2023

Etsy Announces ‘Berry’ As The 2024 Colour Of The Year Promoting A Romantic Shift From Pink To Maturity

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In a deviation from the vibrant pinks that took center stage in 2023, Etsy, the online marketplace known for its unique and handcrafted items, has declared ‘Berry’ as its Color of the Year for 2024. Described as a color deeper than pink yet softer than red, Berry embodies a mature and romantic shade that resonates with the overarching theme of celebrating romance and a more sophisticated approach to life.

Designer: Etsy

The announcement of Berry as Etsy’s Color of the Year comes on the heels of the Barbie pink craze, since the release of the movie, that dominated 2023. While the bright and bold pink hues were widely embraced and loved, the shift towards Berry reflects changing consumer preferences. Etsy reports a 58% drop in searches for hot pink decor items, signaling a desire for a more nuanced and versatile color palette.

Berry’s appeal lies in its ability to offer a grown-up version of the popular pink trend. The color seamlessly blends rich reds and soothing blue tones, creating a deep yet soft hue that exudes elegance and romance. This sophisticated pop of color makes Berry a versatile choice, suitable for year-round use and integration into various aspects of life, including home decor and personal fashion.

Etsy anticipates that Berry will become a staple favorite, finding its way into a lot of handmade items showcased on the platform. From home decorations to fashion accessories, the color’s adaptability allows it to serve as the perfect backdrop for both subtle and statement pieces. This versatility ensures that Berry can effortlessly elevate any space or wardrobe with a touch of romance.

Etsy’s Color of the Year announcement aligns with a broader trend for 2024, celebrating the romanticization of life. The website encourages users to embrace this new romantic era by transforming their spaces into self-care sanctuaries or incorporating ballet-inspired flats and soft silky fabrics into their wardrobes. Berry becomes the symbol of this romantic shift, inviting individuals to infuse a sense of sophistication and depth into their lives.

As Etsy officially ushers in the romantic era of 2024 with the introduction of Berry as the Color of the Year, the marketplace’s global community of sellers and buyers is expected to embrace this charming hue. The transition from hot pink to Berry reflects evolving tastes and preferences, offering a fresh alternative that captures the essence of romance without compromising on maturity and versatility. Whether incorporated into home decor or personal fashion, Berry is set to leave its mark on the world of handmade and unique creations throughout the year.

The post Etsy Announces ‘Berry’ As The 2024 Colour Of The Year Promoting A Romantic Shift From Pink To Maturity first appeared on Yanko Design.

3-Minute Cup Noodles Timer Is Powered by the Noodles’ Weight

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Because trying to count to 180 myself requires patience I don’t have, KARAKURI constructed a 3D printed 3-minute Cup Noodles timer that is powered by the weight of the meal, slowly lowering the cup to the table’s surface over the course of three minutes. That’s ingenious. Me? I usually lose track of counting after a minute and eat my noodles extra al dente.

The video includes the original 3D computer design from which it was made, as well as all the 3D printed pieces being carefully assembled. Careful assembly – that’s important, especially when you’re dealing with such small, fragile pieces. You can’t just smack everything with a hammer and expect it to work. Or at least that’s what my watchmaking mentor told me after several unsuccessful repair attempts.

I haven’t been eating nearly as many Cup Noodles as I used to because I’m trying to watch my sodium intake, but I basically lived on them in college. And after college. Really, right up until my doctor said I needed to watch my sodium intake a few weeks ago.

Nikola founder Trevor Milton sentenced to four years in prison

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Trevor Milton, the disgraced founder of Nikola, was just sentenced to four years in prison on three counts of fraud. 

In October 2022, a jury found Milton guilty of one count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Milton faced up to 60 years in prison. Prosecutors asked the judge for an 11-year prison sentence and a $5 million fine, according to The New York Times, while the defense argued for probation. 

After announcing the sentence at a federal court hearing in New York City, U.S. District Judge Edgar Ramos spoke directly to Milton. "As difficult as it may be for you or your family to hear, I believe the jury got it right," Ramos said, as transcribed Reuters.

Milton addressed the court before sentencing was handed down, saying "I did not intend to harm anyone and I did not commit those crimes levied against me." He also spoke at length about his rural upbringing and recited biblical verse. 

Prosecutors claimed that Milton pumped up the value of the company's stock by lying to investors about "nearly all aspects" of Nikola's business. Among other things, Milton claimed his company had a fully functional electric truck. The company released a video that made it appear as though a Nikola One prototype was able to move by itself. However, an indictment alleged that the truck was actually rolling down a hill and that Milton was involved in the video's creation.

In addition, Milton was accused of lying about Nikola having billions of dollars worth of pre-order reservations and that it was producing hydrogen fuel at four times less than market rates. Prosecutors also said Milton falsely claimed Nikola had developed "game-changing" battery tech.

Nikola is still in business and it plans to resume deliveries of its battery electric truck in early 2024 following a recall over battery issues that cost around $61.8 million to resolve. In the nine months to September 30, Nikola produced 96 trucks and shipped 79.

The company's stock price has dropped by 99 percent since 2020 and investors are said to have lost more than $660 million. Milton sold around $100 million of his Nikola stock in 2020 and spent most of that on luxury goods such as a plane and real estate, according to the Times. It's likely that Milton will appeal this conviction, as he's already asked Ramos for a new trial following the jury's guilty verdict.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nikola-founder-trevor-milton-sentenced-to-four-years-in-prison-192432136.html?src=rss

LEGO Polaroid OneStep SX-70 camera revives 70s photography nostalgia

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LEGO Ideas is the best thing that happened for the community of enthusiastic LEGO builders who can’t curtail their imagination when it comes to creating jaw-dropping builds. Now, yet another LEGO set brings back the nostalgia of photography just in time for the holiday season. Thanks to YouTuber Marc (Minibrick Productions YouTube channel) who shares his interesting ideas on Google’s invincible video-sharing platform.

Remember the Polaroid SX-70 fold-flat instant camera that rocked the early 1970s? Now this iconic shooter has got the LEGO treatment in the form of a 516-brick set. The creation is a result of Minibrick Productions’ submission of the idea that earlier debuted as a concept. It’s partially functional, so you can’t click real-time photographs with this camera. The LEGO Polaroid OneStep SX-70 is for yours to grab as it can be pre-ordered right away at a price tag of $80 with release slated for January 1, 2024. Certainly, that’s way cheaper than getting the original one that’s a prized collector’s item now.

Designer: LEGO Ideas

It’s a disappointment that this piece of retro-futurism cannot click actual photographs, still to keep the enthusiasts in the feels, there’s a Polaroid Time-Zero Land Film pack with three storable slides. Just slide one of these slides into the camera’s body and press the shutter button to eject the illustrated photograph. One of these photographic slides is that of Edwin H. Land, who invented the Polaroid camera.

To keep things authentic, the LEGO camera has the signature Color Spectrum of the Polaroid and the exposure compensation dial to a new 8×10 tile. As I said, it’s partially functional, so there working viewfinder and shutter button. To induce a bit of quirkiness, there’s the “photography-led” marketing that comes with the “NOT SHOT ON LEGO Polaroid Camera” sticker on the photos.

Piecing together this LEGO Polaroid camera is going to be a fun activity over the weekend and it’s going to induce the interest of onlookers who might mistake it for the real thing at first glance.

The post LEGO Polaroid OneStep SX-70 camera revives 70s photography nostalgia first appeared on Yanko Design.

Webb telescope’s new Uranus image looks like a portal to another dimension

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has a treat to celebrate the upcoming second anniversary of its launch. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), which operate the craft alongside the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), shared a recent image of the icy planet Uranus. The picture, resembling a glowing blue marble rippling into a black ocean, was funneled through the telescope’s infrared filters to capture wavelengths future space travelers wouldn’t see with the naked eye.

Compared with the generic-looking images of Uranus taken by Voyager 2 in the 1980s, the Webb telescope paints a more vivid picture. Capturing light in the infrared spectrum, the craft’s sensors reveal a “strange and dynamic ice world filled with exciting, atmospheric features,” as the team operating the telescope described it.

The JWST’s image showcases the planet’s rings surrounding the planet, including “the elusive Zeta ring,” Uranus’ faint and scattered innermost one. You can also catch its north polar cloud cap, the white blob near the center.

An image of Uranus taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. It appears as a glowing blue ball with rings surrounding it. Its scattered moons are labeled amid the black space behind it.
NASA / ESA / CSA

The image also captures 14 of Uranus’ 27 moons, labeled in the photo above. Among the (mostly Shakespearean-named) orbiting bodies pictured are Oberon, Titania, Umbriel, Juliet, Perdita, Rosalind, Puck, Belinda, Desdemona, Cressida, Ariel, Miranda, Bianca and Portia.

The JWST’s photo uses four NIRCam filters, revealing detail in the near-infrared spectrum. These include F140M (blue), F210M (cyan), F300M (yellow) and F460M (orange). An image NASA shared earlier this year showed Uranus in only two filters (blue and orange), resulting in a more primitive-looking view of the icy giant.

Speaking of ice, Uranus has loads of it. The planet rotates on its side at about 98 degrees, plunging the opposite side of the planet into extreme cold and darkness for a quarter of a Uranian year. Oh, and since Uranian years last around 84 Earth years, that means, by our calendar, the planet’s dark side enjoys a blustery 21-year winter.

Image of Uranus taken with the James Webb Space Telescope. The planet appears as a blue marble-like ball surrounded by light-colored rings of varying clarity and intensity. Moons and distant stars and galaxies appear in the black space surrounding the planet.
NASA / ESA / CSA

Astronomers believe the Webb telescope’s images will help them better understand Uranus, especially its Zeta ring, for future missions. They also view the pictures as a proxy for learning about the nearly 2,000 documented exoplanets in other solar systems that share traits with our ringed and icy neighbor.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/webb-telescopes-new-uranus-image-looks-like-a-portal-to-another-dimension-181035887.html?src=rss

You can reserve Acura’s ZDX EV starting today

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Acura has opened reservations for its first fully electric vehicle (EV). Starting today, you can order the Acura ZDX at around $60,000 for a baseline model with a single-motor (rear-wheel-drive) powertrain. The first deliveries of the “performance SUV” are expected in early 2024.

The automaker said earlier this year it would shift to online-only sales of Acura EVs starting in 2024, and ZDX preorders appear to reflect that. The company said the EV is available through “a new, omni-channel digital sales process,” which buyers can use themselves at home, or receive assistance in using at Acura dealers (although the EVs won't be available at the dealership itself.)

The ZDX comes in two models. The standard ($60,000 and up) A-Spec variant ships with a 325-mile range, 340 horsepower, a rear-wheel-drive single motor and 20-inch wheels. Meanwhile, the all-wheel-drive ZDX Type S has a shorter 288-mile range but a more potent 500 horsepower, 22-inch wheels and a starting price of around $70,000. Parent company Honda describes the pricier Type S as “the most powerful and best performing Acura SUV ever.”

Marketing photo of the Acura ZDX electric SUV. The vehicle, in hold trim, cruises down a highway at night.
Acura

The EV has Android Auto, built-in Google apps and Apple CarPlay integration. It includes an 11-inch driver-side touchscreen, an 11.3-inch center display and a Bang & Olufsen audio system, which is standard. Its safety features include a rear pedestrian alert and blind zone steering assist. It even has hands-free cruise driver assistance.

The ZDX supports DC Fast Charging (and can add 81 miles through a 10-minute top-off). In addition, Honda has teamed with six other automakers on a project to build a network of 30,000 stations across North America. That initiative is expected to begin in the US by the summer of 2024.

Internal marketing photo of the Acura ZDX SUV. The EV’s interior shows the center display, steering wheel and other dash features.
Acura

You can order your ZDX in either model in Acura’s online reservations portal. Honda notes pre-orders will include a bonus Acura Energy Key Card, which can unlock “exclusive benefits,” including “discounts to Acura entertainment partners and special events.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-can-reserve-acuras-zdx-ev-starting-today-180050726.html?src=rss

Major apparel supplier behind North Face and Vans hit by cyberattack, disrupting its holiday fulfillments

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VF Corporation reported in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday that it had been hit by a cyberattack. The company owns a slew of apparel brands, including Vans, North Face, Timberland, Dickies and more — and it warns the disruption could affect your holiday shopping. 

VF first noticed "unauthorized occurrences" on its IT systems on December 13, it said in a statement to Engadget. While it began to mitigate the damage, VF found that the hackers had encrypted some of its IT systems and stole personal data. It's trying to come up with work arounds so that people can still buy from VF brands, but the $7 billion company said the attack messed with its ability to fulfill orders. 

"At this time, VF-operated retail stores globally are open, and currently consumers can purchase available merchandise, but VF is experiencing certain operational disruptions," a company spokesperson told Engadget on Monday. "At this time, consumers are also able to place orders on most of the brand e-commerce sites globally. However, the Company’s ability to fulfill orders is currently impacted." VF did not confirm who was behind the attack or provide additional details on what delays customers could experience.

The hack comes shortly after VF said it was experiencing financial headwinds at its quarterly earning meeting. It's still unclear whether customer data may have been impacted. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/major-apparel-supplier-behind-north-face-and-vans-hit-by-cyberattack-disrupting-its-holiday-fulfillments-174055214.html?src=rss

TikTok upgrades its app experience for tablets and foldables

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You can now mindlessly scroll your TikTok’s ‘for you page’ on larger screens and foldable devices. The new update will be available for users worldwide and on devices like the iPad or the various foldable Android phones out there. TikTok, which is traditionally mobile-forward, said it will deliver a clear video feed of content on bigger screens with “enhanced clarity.”

The top and bottom of screens that stream TikTok videos will have a navigation bar that makes it easier to access tabs and featured videos. With this update, clips can also be watched in landscape orientation. This creates new opportunities for video creators to generate content in a horizontal format after years of a vertical-only.

TikTok also said it is going to continue experimenting with features like Topic Feeds, which would allow users to explore videos in specific categories like gaming, food or fashion. The platform has been exploring new ways to deliver content to users and it has been quietly testing the idea of an AI-powered chatbot that can recommend videos to users. While it’s still the leading app for short-form videos, creating unique ways to deliver content to its users can help set the social media company itself apart from competitors in the space, like Instagram’s Reels and YouTube Shorts.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-upgrades-its-app-experience-for-tablets-and-foldables-172456485.html?src=rss

Flipboard is moving to the fediverse

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Flipboard is the latest mainstream app to officially join the fediverse, the collection of decentralized services that run on the ActivityPub protocol. The news reading app, which has been experimenting with Mastodon for nearly a year, now plans to become fully interoperable with Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse.

The news reading app is starting with the accounts of about two dozen publishers, including Polygon, Medium, Semafor, Kotaku and Mental Floss, whose Flipboard content will be discoverable across the fediverse. By next month, the company expects all public Flipboard accounts will be federated, meaning anyone on an ActivityPub-powered app will be able to view their posts and interact with them.

And beginning in April, according to Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, all fediverse content will also be readily available within the Flipboard app itself. This means users will be able to use Flipboard browse content shared to Mastodon, Pixelfed (a photo sharing app kind of like Instagram), PeerTube (a decentralized video platform) and the rest of the apps that make up the fediverse.

Flipboard’s official entrance into the fediverse comes at a moment where there is increasing enthusiasm for ActivityPub within the social media industry. Last week, Meta announced that it was taking its first steps toward making Threads compatible with Mastodon and the rest of the fediverse. “I think you’ll probably have more than 150 million people in the fediverse by the end of the next year,” McCue tells Engadget, “You have millions of Flipboard users, millions of Threads users all joining this network ... it’s not going to take very long before this becomes the largest social network.”

McCue’s enthusiasm for Mastodon and the fediverse is especially notable given his once close ties to Twitter. The Flipboard CEO was a member of Twitter’s board between 2010 and 2012, and reportedly considered selling Flipboard to the company in 2015. But Elon Musk’s takeover of the company, and the disintegration of its API, prompted him to begin experimenting with Mastodon and Bluesky integrations earlier this year.

He now believes that momentum for the fediverse is so strong, Twitter may ultimately end up supporting ActivityPub too. “More and more companies will have to look at ActivityPub,” he predicts. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Twitter ultimately decides they’re going to have to do this.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/flipboard-is-moving-to-the-fediverse-170426320.html?src=rss

NordVPN comes to the Apple TV

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Apple’s recently-released tvOS 17 update allows for native VPN apps and big-name providers are wasting no time. ExpressVPN dropped an app a couple of weeks ago and now the same is true of one of its primary competitors. NordVPN now has an official Apple TV app available for download.

This is the real deal and works with your current NordVPN subscription, if you have one. The setup is simple. Just download the app and sign in. If you’re new to the service, download the app and create an account. Once connected, you’ll have access to the company’s global array of secure servers.

The app encrypts all network traffic and uses the company’s NordLynx protocol to speed up the connection, which should offer an optimized streaming experience with minimal buffering. Of course, this will likely depend on the locations of your actual network connection and virtual network connection.

Back when Apple first announced that native VPNs would be coming to tvOS 17, NordVPN expressed doubts, telling The Verge that the company was “concerned that there may be some limitations.” It looks like it got over those doubts.

So, why would you even want or need a dedicated VPN on your Apple streaming box? There are a couple of reasons, all of which involve traveling with the diminutive device. You can customize settings, like preferred server location, which helps get around geographic restrictions regarding streaming content. Nobody’s gonna stop you from binging Foundation while on vacation. Even without geo-restrictions, bringing your Apple TV into a hotel room will allow you to stream whatever you want instead of relying on, gag, cable.

Before tvOS 17, you couldn’t configure a VPN on these devices. You’d have to install a VPN client on the router, which is notoriously complicated. Kudos to Apple on this one. NordVPN isn’t the only available VPN on the Apple TV App Store. There’s the aforementioned ExpressVPN, PureVPN and several more. You can install VPN apps on Apple TV HD and Apple TV 4K devices, running tvOS 17 or later.

Speaking of tvOS 17, the company just dropped an update. The latest and greatest tvOS 17.2 brings a redesigned interface and the ability to answer FaceTime calls directly from the TV.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nordvpn-comes-to-the-apple-tv-162030095.html?src=rss