Monthly Archives: February 2024

The Great British Bake Off gets an adorable LEGO recreation with the entire set, crew, and judges

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I absolutely can’t take my eyes off those tiny KitchenAid mixers on every counter!

One of Britain’s many cultural exports, the Great British Bake Off (renamed The Great British Baking Show in the US for legal reasons) is a wonderful example of what you get when you mix dry British humor with cooking. Sure, Masterchef has its appeal, but nothing is quite as funny as watching the Brits compete over their culinary talents. The sarcasm, chaos, camaraderie, warmth of the judges, and the sheer wit and humor of the hosts make the show a delightful watch no matter where you are… and if you’re a LEGO enthusiast as well, user ‘timoth_e_e’ has an adorable build that recreates the magic of the show, down to brick-size!

Designer: timoth_e_e

The LEGO Great British Bake Off set is littered with an INCREDIBLE amount of detail. Recreating almost every aspect of the show down to its tiniest details, the build set features six decked-out participant islands with burners, utensils, a sink, a KitchenAid mixer, and even an oven in the bottom, while the backdrop has those signature string lights, Union Jack flags, and the entire kitchen pantry for all the participants.

The show is nothing without its camera crew, which is why this set pays homage to them too, providing 3 dedicated Minifigures with filming gear. You’ve got two camera operators and a boom mic operator, two shoulder cams, two boom mics, a tripod, and a pair of poseable studio lights.

The entire build features a whopping 2800 pieces (nearly 4-5 times your average LEGO build), but a lot of that boils down to small details like just the sheer amount of equipment on each countertop, as well as the plants (which timoth_e_e mentions can be scaled down to reduce the ‘clutter’). The kitchens have just about everything you could ask for, with mixing bowls, whisks, cups, pie tins, and food galore.

“This set is meant to be very playable; the refrigerators and freezers open and close and have space for a 2×2 custard (or dough that needs proving), the counters and bakers can be switched around and mixed up for various combinations, and the ingredients on the counter can be switched out depending on if the bakers are working on a technical challenge or a showstopper,” says LEGO user timoth_e_e, the brainchild behind this set. “The idea is to be able to recreate almost any of the moments from the show with this model.”

Nothing beats a Lemon Meringue Pie, now does it?

Put your cake in the fridge to cool it down before you apply icing!

Once made, food gets displayed on the iconic Gingham altar, a linear table where the judges (and the hosts) inspect the food before digging in. In the meanwhile, contestants either wait at their stations, or sit on a row of benches, awaiting the verdict of the judges. The entire set has a whopping 21 Minifigures, including judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas, the three film crew, and 14 popular participants from multiple seasons of the show, allowing you to pick and choose your favorite contestants to play with.

“I think this model would be a fantastic addition to any Lego collection either as an amazing display piece or for its playability. With its instantly recognizable features and characters, the Great British Bake Off has a special magic that I think would translate well to Lego,” writes timoth_e_e on his submission page. The LEGO Great British Bake Off is his submission to the LEGO Ideas Forum, where enthusiasts create, share, and support original builds using LEGO bricks. Submissions that garner a lot of support get sent to the LEGO internal review team, and following their approval, get turned into retail kits for everyone to buy. With over 6,300 votes as of writing this, the MOC (My Own Creation) is well on its way to hitting the coveted 10,000 vote mark. You can vote for the build on the LEGO Ideas website.

The post The Great British Bake Off gets an adorable LEGO recreation with the entire set, crew, and judges first appeared on Yanko Design.

Aston Martin officially unveils track-special Vantage GT3 for its 2024 racing calendar

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Aston Martin chose the present day to reveal three of its new car models designed for three different platforms. Yes, the new generation of the Vantage is here alongside the GT3 version of the road racer and of course, the brand new AMR24 F1 that’ll hit the paddock for the 2024 Formula-1 season.

Our focus however is set on the Vantage GT3 that briefly made its debut in Daytona last month. The official reveal of the race track-oriented car developed in collaboration between Aston Martin Racing (AMR) and Aston Martin Performance Technologies (AMPT) happened today, and it replaces the outgoing Vantage GT3 that debuted in 2018. The latest version comes with an upgraded chassis, improved aerodynamics, and obvious cosmetic changes – making it more appealing.

Designer: Aston Martin

The striking GT3 has a very attractive nose section highlighted by the fender-mounted headlights. It gets even more boxy with the fenders having integrated louvers and a massive wing complemented by the new diffuser. The circuit-oriented car gets the same aluminum chassis as its road-legal counterpart. Every mechanical part is covered by carbon fiber panels, lending the performance vehicle a good balance of power-to-weight ratio.

GT3 also gets the same twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 as the more toned-down Vantage but the unit is tweaked to comply with the FIA GT3 class regulations. Suspension on this one is majorly improved from the last model to give it better handling characteristics. This results in way better driving dynamics of the GT3 for professional and novice drivers as well. Also, the British marque promises the car has more stable braking and wears its tires more evenly.

According to Gustavo Betelli Racing Head of Performance at Aston Martin, the new GT3 is adapt for any “circuit, on any tire, and with any driver.” As we saw during the 24 Hours of Daytona the three Vantage GT3’s seemed like a complete package on the track. The number of cars in this lineup will be produced to a limited number of 30 by the end of season 2024.

The post Aston Martin officially unveils track-special Vantage GT3 for its 2024 racing calendar first appeared on Yanko Design.

Meta is testing a trending topics feature on Threads

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Meta is testing a new feature that will allow Threads users to see what kinds of conversations are trending on the platform. The app has begun testing “today’s top topics” in the United States, Mark Zuckerberg shared in a post on Threads.

The feature will surface “timely topics that others are discussing” and will appear in search and interspersed between posts in the app’s For You feed, according to Meta. Specific trends will be “determined by our AI systems based on what people are engaging with right now on Threads,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said.

Interestingly, Threads will surface trends related to politics and elections. The company said last week that it would no longer suggest political content in its recommendations unless users choose to opt-in. But Meta has confirmed that restriction won’t apply to its trending feature. “Political content can be a topic,” a Meta spokesperson told Engadget. “We will only remove political topics if they violate our Community Guidelines or other applicable integrity policies.”

The addition of trends has been a long-requested update for many Threads users hoping to make the service more usable as a source for real-time information and updates. The feature was previously spotted in an employee version of the app, but it was unclear if Meta would roll it out more broadly considering Mosseri’s desire to avoid “encouraging” conversations about “politics and hard news."

Though AI will determine much of what is surfaced, it sounds like the Meta does plan to do some curation of what appears as a “top topic.” A team of “content specialists” will “ensure that topics do not violate our Community Guidelines or other applicable integrity guidelines, and that topics are not duplicative, nonsensical, or misleading” a Meta spokesperson said.

For now, “today’s top topics” is only a “small test” but Zuckerberg said the feature would arrive in more countries and languages “once we get it tuned up.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/meta-is-testing-a-trending-topics-feature-on-threads-201812349.html?src=rss

Designed for professionals, Dyson Supersonic r has a redesigned heater for precise hair drying and styling

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Video:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3K_PMSqmkr/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3F6jzDq4lr/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3GTAwhI0ts/

After revolutionizing vacuum cleaners and air purifiers, Dyson has become a design language for most of us. This is aligned with the company’s philosophy of pioneering technologies that stand out for their authenticity and innovation, whether it is the bagless vacuum, air purifier, or Supersonic hair dryer.

The Supersonic is now redesigned for the professionals in the USA. The new Supersonic r hair dryer will be exclusively available for certified stylists starting April 2024, while individuals like us will have to wait a little longer to get our hands on this reworked blow dryer.

Designer: Dyson

Designed to be half the size of the original Supersonic, the r – which is symbolic of its lower case “r”-like shape – is reckoned the lightest and most precise hair dryer from the design house. To stand true to the claims perhaps, Dyson has stuck with the professional stylist exclusive offering only. After finding a sweet spot here, Dyson knows, the sales will skyrocket the moment it opens retails.

Beyond the size and design that would make the hair dryer more comfortable to use and easier to control, the Supersonic r, comes with a re-engineered heater that bends at the end of the shaft, along the hair dryer’s r shape to ensure even heat airflow. The heater tech is the first of its kind in the industry that along with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensors, makes Supersonic r a special product in the category.

The RFID sensors can communicate with the Supersonic r to allow the pro stylist to adjust the heater and Hyperdymium motor to a precise temperature and airflow. On board, there are three airflow controls and four heat modes for the user to toggle. With the benefits of precise heat and airflow, the blow drying is made effortless with no heat damage to the hair, which is further ensured with a range of attachments for varied styling needs: from quick hair drying to defining curls all for an asking price of $570. The Supersonic r was unveiled recently at the New York Fashion Week.

The post Designed for professionals, Dyson Supersonic r has a redesigned heater for precise hair drying and styling first appeared on Yanko Design.

You no longer have to visit an Apple Store if you forget your Vision Pro passcode

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Apple has launched a Vision Pro update that solves one of its most confounding issues at launch. Starting in visionOS 1.0.3, available Monday, headset owners who forgot their passcodes can reset their device and start over with a fresh install. Previously, owners who lost their passcodes had to visit an Apple Store — or ship the device to AppleCare customer support — to use their $3,500 device again.

Today’s new software is the first visionOS update to arrive since the mixed reality headset has been available to customers. The first two came before its public launch when only reviewers and developers had it. MacRumors first reported on today’s software update.

Apple’s official release notes read, “This update provides important bug fixes and adds an option to reset your device if you’ve forgotten your passcode.” It isn’t clear why Apple launched expensive hardware with a feature that required a visit to a physical store if it only took a couple of weeks to provide a much easier workaround that more closely aligns with the rest of its products. 

Engadget’s Devindra Hardawar views Apple’s $3,500 headset as a blend of fascination and frustration — better for developers or wealthy Apple fans than the general public. “That’s pretty much the Vision Pro experience in a nutshell,” Engadget’s Senior Editor wrote. “Wonder and frustration. A peek into the future that’s limited by the hardware that exists today — even if that hardware is among the best we’ve ever seen.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/you-no-longer-have-to-visit-an-apple-store-if-you-forget-your-vision-pro-passcode-194538095.html?src=rss

Phil Spencer will address Xbox multiplatform rumors on February 15

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The internet has been buzzing the last couple of weeks with rumors that Microsoft will begin publishing Xbox first-party games on competing consoles. The company promised it would soon share more details about its “vision for the future of Xbox” and that looks to be coming on February 15. Phil Spencer will appear on the Official Xbox Podcast to share “updates on the Xbox business.”

The episode drops at 3PM ET and it’ll also feature Sarah Bond, President of Xbox, and Matt Booty, the head of Xbox Game Studios. Those are three big names, so this could be a real barnburner of a podcast episode.

We don’t know what the team has in store, but there have been all kinds of rumors flooding the web, from Hi-Fi Rush coming to the Nintendo Switch to Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle showing up on the PS5. It’s somewhat unusual for one of the big three to outsource first-party titles to competing platforms, but it’s not unheard of. Sony puts many of its biggest games on Steam and there are already some former Xbox exclusives on the Switch, like Ori and the Blind Forest and its sequel.

Many fans, however, have used these rumors to fuel wild speculations that Xbox is about to exit the console business entirely. This isn’t likely, even if the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles have underperformed when compared to the Switch and PS5. The company held an internal townhall last week and Spencer reportedly told employees that it has no plans to stop making consoles and that Xbox systems would continue to be a large part of its overall strategy, according to games reporter Shannon Liao.

Also, Game Pass is still a huge selling point for Xbox consoles, with a May 2023 survey indicating that 32 percent of gamers subscribe to the service. There were over 33 million subscribers back in 2022, and that number’s likely to have grown since then.

Microsoft isn’t exactly struggling, even when you factor in the games division. As a matter of fact, the company’s gaming revenue was up an impressive 49 percent for Q2 2024, due primarily to the Activision acquisition deal. A recent earnings report indicated company revenue of $62 billion (up 18 percent from last year) and profits of $21.9 billion.

Even with those numbers, however, Microsoft’s gaming division is still laying people off left and right. The company just slashed 1,900 jobs from its Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax (aka Bethesda) teams. If it's looking for the constant growth that modern capitalism requires, dropping some of its more popular titles onto other consoles isn’t exactly the worst idea in the world. In any event, we’ll find out Thursday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/phil-spencer-will-address-xbox-multiplatform-rumors-on-february-15-193755729.html?src=rss

Terrazzo side table concept seems to tempt fate and defy the laws of physics

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Tables come in all shapes and sizes, but regardless of the design, they all need to have a single critical trait: they have to be stable. No matter how breathtaking a table might be, it is nothing but a piece of art if it comes crashing down under the lightest of weights. Stability can be achieved through many means, but for something like a coffee table or even a side table, that mostly means having a flat surface that doesn’t wobble or, more importantly, doesn’t tip over. That’s the behavior that people have come to expect from even the most beautiful table, which is why this side table concept is striking both for its elegant looks as well as its rather worrying composition that precariously balances the tabletop on a curved surface, or at least it would seem like it.

Designer: Stuart Cole

Objects that boggle the mind and seem to defy the laws of physics have always been a fascination for us, which is probably why balancing toys or levitating speakers have always been popular products. That, however, doesn’t apply to furniture, especially ones that we expect to be stable or fixed. Seeing a table that’s about to topple over is enough to give some people a heart attack, but fortunately, that’s not the case for the aptly named “Balance” side table design concept.

The table’s form is actually pretty simple, utilizing basic geometrical shapes like a disc and cups. It’s the tension between these shapes, however, that gives Balance its dynamic and rather unstable appearance. It’s almost as if the circular tabletop would topple and fall off the upside-down bowl shape of its base, or that the cup would similarly fall over the edge and break. Of course, it’s all just an illusion because all three parts are joined using interlocking mechanisms that prevent them from falling apart, at least not without much effort.

Balance’s appeal doesn’t stop at its eye-catching shape. Its unique appearance is due not only to the use of terrazzo but also from employing recycled materials. This gives the side table not only a distinctive visual character but also a sustainable narrative that will surely be a topic of conversation for envious visitors. You might even be tempted to use it as a coffee or center table, rather than just leaving it off to the side, though that temptation might also be tempered by unfounded worries that the table will eventually become unbalanced and send your cups and books crashing down.

The post Terrazzo side table concept seems to tempt fate and defy the laws of physics first appeared on Yanko Design.

Intuitive Machines is taking its shot at nailing the first commercial moon landing

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Houston-based space company Intuitive Machines is gearing up for an actual moonshot at the end of this month, when it’ll try to land a spacecraft named Odysseus on the lunar surface — ideally without it breaking in the process. The mission follows Astrobotic’s unsuccessful attempt in January; that company’s lander, Peregrine, never made it to the moon due to a propellant leak that cut its journey short. Peregrine’s failure means Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission could be the first ever commercial moon landing if it makes it there intact.

Intuitive Machines is hoping to make its landing attempt on February 22, targeting the Malapert A crater near the moon’s south pole for touchdown. This arrival date is dependent on Odysseus, one of the company’s Nova-C class landers, leaving Earth atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sometime between February 14 and February 16. The launch window opens at 12:57AM ET on Wednesday.

Odysseus is the first of three Nova-C landers Intuitive Machines plans to send to the moon this year, all of which will have commercial payloads on board and NASA instruments as contracted under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. At 14 feet tall (4.3 meters), the lander is roughly the size of a giraffe and can carry about 280 pounds (130kg) of cargo. Its mission, if it nails a soft landing, will be a short but potentially valuable one for informing future excursions to the region, including NASA’s upcoming crewed Artemis missions. Orbiting probes have found evidence of water ice at the lunar south pole, which could be used for astronaut subsistence and even fuel, making it an area of high interest for human exploration.

The lunar southpole
NASA

The solar-powered craft and any functional equipment it’s carrying are only expected to be in working condition for about a week before the onset of lunar night, a 14-day period of frigid darkness that the company says will leave the lander inoperable. But while everything’s up and running, the various instruments will gather data at the surface. NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a $77 million contract for the delivery of its payloads back in 2019, and there are six NASA instruments now hitching a ride on Odysseus.

One, the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), will “function as a permanent location mark” from its position on the moon after landing to help incoming spacecraft determine their distance from the surface, according to NASA. The lander is also carrying the Navigation Doppler LIDAR for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing (NDL), a sensor that measures velocity and altitude to better guide the descent, and the Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator (LN-1) to support communication and autonomous navigation in future missions.

NASA is also sending instruments to study surface plumes — everything that gets kicked up when the lander touches down — along with radio waves and the effects of space weather. That includes the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS), which will capture images of these dust plumes, and the Radio wave Observation at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES) instrument.

The rest of the payloads on board Odysseus are commercial. Columbia Sportswear worked with Intuitive Machines to incorporate the brand’s Apollo-inspired Omni-Heat Infinity thermal reflective material, which is being used for this mission to help protect the cryogenic propulsion tank, according to Intuitive Machines. Students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University developed a camera system dubbed the EagleCam that will attempt to separate from the lander before it touches down and snap a picture of the moment from a third-person point of view. EagleCam is also equipped with an experimental dust-removal system.

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus Nova-C lander is pictured in front of an American flag in a dimly lit warehouse room
Intuitive Machines

There are even some Jeff Koons sculptures heading to the moon, which will have physical and NFT counterparts back on Earth. In Koons’ Moon Phase piece, 125 small stainless steel sculptures of the moon at different phases are encased in a clear cube made by 4Space, with the names of important historical figures from around the world listed below each sphere. The International Lunar Observatory Association, based in Hawaii, and Canadensys Aerospace are sending a 1.3-pound dual-camera system called ILO-X, with which they’ll attempt to capture wide and narrow field images of the Milky Way from the moon.

Odysseus is also carrying small discs called “Lunagrams” from Galactic Legacy Labs that contain messages from Earth, including text, images, audio and archives from major databases such as the Arch Mission Foundation and the English-language version of Wikipedia. Similar archival materials were sent to space with Peregrine last month. The information technology company Lonestar plans to demonstrate its Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) by storing data on the lander and transmitting documents ( including the US Declaration of Independence) between Earth and the moon. It’ll follow this up with a prototype mini data center on Intuitive Machines’ next launch.

Now, the pressure is on for the Odysseus Nova-C lander to actually get to the lunar surface safely. This year started off rocky for moon missions, with the failure of Astrobotic’s Peregrine and a descent hiccup that caused JAXA’s SLIM spacecraft to faceplant into the lunar surface (though the latter was miraculously able to resume functions to some degree after a few days). Intuitive Machines will have other chances to get it right if it doesn’t this time — it has multiple missions already booked up — but only one private lander can be “first.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intuitive-machines-is-taking-its-shot-at-nailing-the-first-commercial-moon-landing-170024349.html?src=rss

Pet water fountain lets you automate filtered water for your fur babies

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Just like with humans, hydration is pretty important for our four-legged friends. But also just like with people like me, we often forget to drink water unless it’s there already in front of us. And if you have pets at home and you can’t be with them for the most part of the day, it’s important to have enough water for them to last the whole day. Of course you can leave water in a bowl for them but it’s sometimes not enough or it’s not always that hygienic. Pet water fountains are a good option and this one in particular seems to be a pretty well-designed one.

Designer: PAWaii

The PAWaii Wireless Pet Water Fountain is one way to make sure that your pet is properly hydrated whether you’re at home to take care of them or not. It is one way to make sure that they will have access to clean and filtered water as it is has an NSF-certified filter that reduces calcium and magnesium ions and has UV sterilization that kills bacteria and microorganisms in the water. There are three modes that you can use and they can even be used simultaneously. There is an inductive mode, a regular mode that dispenses water per hour, and a manual mode.

To also ensure your pet’s safety, the device has a water-electricity separation design and an anti-slip silicone pad. But It also has a 5,000 mAh lithium-ion battery so it can last up to 70 days without a need to charge it if you schedule it to dispense water at least 25 times a day. The more it dispenses of course, the less the battery will last. It is also able to monitor the water consumption and drinking times and all the data is transmitted to the connected app so you can track everything remotely.

It looks like a regular water filter container for humans but the fountain part may attract your pets when the water gushes out and may induce them to actually drink whether they’re thirsty or not. It is available in a bright orange color but also a more minimalist white/transparent color, depending on your pet’s (or rather, your) taste. Now if only we could also have something similar for humans like me who need constant reminders to hydrate.

The post Pet water fountain lets you automate filtered water for your fur babies first appeared on Yanko Design.

Dell gaming laptops are up to $560 off right now

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Dell gaming laptops are up to $560 off right now via a large sale on Amazon. The deals apply to both Dell-branded computers and Alienware models. The laptops here range from budget-friendly releases to more luxe high-end models.

First up, there’s the Dell G16 7630, which is on sale for $1,200 instead of $1,600. That’s a savings of $400 or 25 percent. The G16 is a sibling to our favorite budget laptop, the G15. This computer is plenty powerful, with an Intel Core i9 chip, a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of solid-state storage.

There’s also a 16-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) display with a 165Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. The thermal cooling system takes design cues from Alienware computers, with a large vapor chamber. In just about every way, this is a massive improvement over the G15, which we already loved.

The Alienware m18 is also on sale for $2,240 instead of $2,800, which is a significant savings of $540 and the lowest price ever for this model. The biggest news here is that glorious 18-inch screen. It may not fit in your backpack, but it’ll certainly provide for fantastic visuals. To that end, the laptop ships with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 GPU and the 16:10 FHD display supports Dolby Vision and offers an impressive 480Hz response time.

The AMD Ryzen 9 processor can be overclocked, which is another boon for gamers, and you get 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a comprehensive cooling system that includes one of the company’s larger vapor chambers, four fans and seven heat pipes. This thing is an absolute beast.

This big Dell sale isn’t just for gaming laptops. You’ll find desktops here, along with displays, headphones, charging docks and just about everything else the company makes. It’s like Black Friday except, you know, it’s Monday and not even close to Thanksgiving.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dell-gaming-laptops-are-up-to-560-off-right-now-161535462.html?src=rss