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By all accounts, I am a good cook. Yet in all my years, I don't think I've ever made a wonderful batch of rice on the stovetop. Overcooking, undercooking, scorching; you name it, Ive done it. Those of us who grew up watching Alton Brown's insightful Good Eats cooking show may cling to the rule against bringing "unitaskers" into our kitchens, but I've decided that in order to more optimally enjoy my katsu, curries and burritos, it's time to bring in some specialized help.A rice cooker frees up your attention to do the rest of your food prep instead of babying your grains or abandoning them to a crispy, crunchy fate. I tested several options to find the best rice cookers that deliver delicious, fluffy rice every time, because life's too short to settle for disappointing food. Best rice cookers for 2025 How we test rice cookers Since rice is a foundation for so many different cuisines, I placed a high value on a machines ability to cook different grain types well. I started testing each rice cooker by making a Japanese style, sushi-grade white rice. The appliances that delivered tasty results moved on to the brown rice round, then the top performers made long-grain white basmati as a final challenge. Some models I tested included a steamer basket, but I didn't try all of them out. This is a rice-only party. Multi-cookers and steaming functions are merely a nice bonus in these, although if that's a feature you want, an instant pot might be more your jam. While I weighed rice tastiness and texture as the most important criteria, I also assessed how easy the machines were to use and to clean. Because a cool piece of gear that sits in your cabinet gathering dust is a cool, but ultimately useless piece of gear. I limited my testing to models retailing for less than $300, which felt like the most I could recommend investing in a specialized appliance, and value for cost wound up being the distinguishing point for my top picks.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/kitchen-tech/best-rice-cooker-120015478.html?src=rss
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The UK's Children's Commissioner is calling for a ban on AI deepfake apps that create nude or sexual images of children, according to a new report. It states that such "nudification" apps have become so prevalent that many girls have stopped posting photos on social media. And though creating or uploading CSAM images is illegal, apps used to create deepfake nude images are still legal. "Children have told me they are frightened by the very idea of this technology even being available, let alone used. They fear that anyone a stranger, a classmate, or even a friend could use a smartphone as a way of manipulating them by creating a naked image using these bespoke apps." said Childrens Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza. "There is no positive reason for these [apps] to exist." De Souza pointed out that nudification AI apps are widely available on mainstream platforms, including the largest search engines and app stores. At the same time, they "disproportionately target girls and young women, and many tools appear only to work on female bodies." She added that young people are demanding action to take action against the misuse of such tools. To that end, de Souza is calling on the government to introduce a total ban on apps that use artificial intelligence to generate sexually explicit deepfakes. She also wants the government to create legal responsibilities for GenAI app developers to identify the risks their products pose to children, establish effective systems to remove CSAM from the internet and recognize deepfake sexual abuse as a form of violence against women and girls. The UK has already taken steps to ban such technology by introducing new criminal offenses for producing or sharing sexually explicit deepfakes. It also announced its intention to make it a criminal offense if a person takes intimate photos or video without consent. However, the Children's Commissioner is focused more specifically on the harm such technology can do to young people, noting that there is a link between deepfake abuse and suicidal ideation and PTSD, as The Guardian pointed out. "Even before any controversy came out, I could already tell what it was going to be used for, and it was not going to be good things. I could already tell it was gonna be a technological wonder that's going to be abused," said one 16-year-old girl surveyed by the Commissioner. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 or you can simply dial 988. Crisis Text Line can be reached by texting HOME to 741741 (US), 686868 (Canada), or 85258 (UK). Wikipedia maintains a list of crisis lines for people outside of those countries.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cybersecurity/uk-regulator-wants-to-ban-apps-that-can-make-deepfake-nude-images-of-children-110924095.html?src=rss
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Forza Horizon 5 is the entire reason I have an Xbox Series S. Im not really a car guy in real life if money, practicality and burning through fossil fuels were less of a concern, Id get a fun hot hatch with a stick, for sure. I dont care about luxuries or exotics, and I drive a 12-year-old Prius C in real life. But Forza Horizon 5 so skillfully melds open-world exploration, intense competition and replayability while also letting me try out dozens of cars Ive daydreamed about driving that it felt like a must-buy. My colleague Jess Conditts review of Forza Horizon 5 in 2021 pushed me over the edge. A couple months later, I got my hands on my first Xbox console and had put a startling amount of time into the game; I was far more addicted than I expected and having an absolute blast. In the three-plus years since, I have fallen off it a bit. Its not a daily or weekly play at this point, but there are definitely times where it gets its hooks back into me and I hit my favorite tracks, try different cars or dive into the weekly challenges. And now, Forza Horizon 5 is available on the PS5, my preferred console. Its probably the biggest Xbox-born franchise to go cross-platform at this point and just the latest example of how Microsoft appears to be done thinking about console exclusives. More broadly, the company has given plenty of signs that consoles that sit under your TV arent its main priority moving a high-profile game like Forza Horizon 5 is just another example. It works for me, though, because it means I really dont need an Xbox anymore. I might keep it around for a bit, because Im a pack rat and there are still a handful of titles on Game Pass Id like to play at some point. But there are so few games that one needs an Xbox for at this point that I could dump it and really not miss much of a beat there are already tons of games Ill never get around to without worrying about Game Pass. And unsurprisingly, Forza Horizon 5 runs perfectly on the PS5. Everything that makes the game great on the Xbox shows up here, and I generally prefer the DualSense controller over the Xbox one. The triggers feel great for pumping the gas and brakes, and the haptic feedback is generally better too. Im a little sad to give up all my progression on the Xbox version specifically my garage full of cars Ive earned over the last few years. But, its also fun to start fresh and have a reason to unlock everything again and start fresh on the games many missions. Even though this game is three and a half years old, its still worth picking up now. Developer Playground Games has been consistently adding new content, including the Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure expansions from 2022 and 2023. And along with the PS5 launch, theres a new Horizon Realms feature (coming to all platforms) that rounds up 11 limited-time evolving world areas that were previously featured in seasonal updates. Im not expecting much more in the way of major content updates at this point, but if youre new to the game on PS5 there is more than enough to keep you busy for a long time. Playground Games Visually, the game matches its Xbox Series X counterpart, with 60 FPS performance mode and 30 FPS graphics mode. Its an upgrade over the Series S version Ive spent so much time with, as that console maxes out at 1440p, and there are graphical upgrades that go beyond just resolution. But Forza Horizon 5 is an absolutely gorgeous game regardless of what console youre playing on, and Im not a pixel junkie. If you have the game already on an Xbox console, theres no real reason to buy it on the PS5 unless youre looking to streamline how much is under your TV. As it turns out, thats where Im at right now. I need to cut back on my hoarding tendencies, and as much as I appreciate the tiny footprint of the Xbox Series S and the solid selection of Game Pass titles, I do not have unlimited space or time. I really appreciate what I got out of this little console over the years, but I dont think its a stretch to say that 75 percent of the time I used the Series S as a Forza machine. But hey, Microsoft got its cash from me and I got years of enjoyment, so Im not mad. I just hope if theres another Forza Horizon game in the future that it hits the PlayStation at the same time as the Xbox assuming there still is a console called Xbox, that is.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/forza-horizon-5-is-on-the-ps5-so-i-no-longer-need-an-xbox-110016202.html?src=rss
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