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An alligator pictured earlier this year close to the resort where Cassandra Cline was killed A 45-year-old woman has been killed in an alligator attack on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Police responded to reports of a woman being attacked in a resort lagoon on Monday morning. The victim, named as local resident Cassandra Cline, died at the scene after being pulled from the water. Witnesses said she was attacked after trying to protect her pet dog from the 8ft (2.4m) alligator. The dog was reportedly uninjured in the incident. The local sheriff's department say officers killed the animal thought to be responsible.The Sea Pines resort where the woman lived and was attacked said in a statement it was "extremely saddened by the news". Earlier this year a 47-year-old dog walker was killed in a similar alligator attack in Florida. Monday's incident would be the first confirmed fatal attack by an alligator in South Carolina for decades, local officials told ABC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45251458

Out of the 37,000 public charging devices across the UK, only 2,400 (6.4%) were in Wales, Senedd committee hears Progress towards getting more electric vehicles on the road in Wales has been described as "embarrassing". A cross-party Senedd committee looked at the Welsh government's plan to develop a network of charging points. The chairman of the committee, Plaid Cymru MS Llyr Gruffydd, said its strategy had been beset by "broken promises and inadequate progress". The Welsh government said Wales had seen the biggest growth in charger and rapid charger provision across the UK. Fewer than half of the Welsh government's main commitments had been delivered on time, while work on some of the others had only just begun, many months after the deadline, a report by the Senedd's Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee found. It said the lack of progress calls into question the Welsh government's ability to deliver, especially in rural areas where the lack of electricity grid capacity is a significant issue. Its action plan includes setting up a "connections group" to co-ordinate the development of infrastructure, yet the group has never been established. Another proposed group, which would have brought together community organisations to determine the best locations for charging points across the country, was also never created. Gwenllian Owen says she needs to plan ahead more now she has an electric car Gwenllian Owen from Llangefni, on Anglesey, took delivery of a new all electric vehicle two weeks ago and got rid of her petrol car. "I think may main worry was: where will I get it charged? How much is it going to cost me to charge it? Especially now the cost of electricity and everything is so high," she said. "It's working out quite well. I'm probably spending around £50 a month to charge it, while my previous car, to fill it up every week-and-a-half to two weeks, that would cost me about £75 to £80 to do that." Asked about the availability of charging points, she said: "There's no doubt about that - there's a need. "It is happening, but it's happening at a slower rate, so there needs to be a lot more investment from the government to ensure that the facilities are there for people when they are travelling. "From north to south Wales, that's a journey I do in a motorhome, but I would really need to plan ahead if I drove down in my electric car because there would be a few stops on the way where I'd need to recharge. "So yes, it's a lot of preparation, but it's part of the excitement, isn't it? "I'm pleased with it. It's quiet, it's clean and I feel I'm doing my bit for the environment." 'Worst in Great Britain' The committee heard evidence from industry experts. Out of the 37,000 public charging devices across the UK, only 2,400 (6.4%) were in Wales, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) told the committee in January. Contacted by the BBC to verify these figures, SMMT said they were approximate figures for the whole of 2022 based on Zap Map data at the time of the hearing. Members of the committee also heard that despite a large growth in the number of chargers over the past few years, in Wales there is just one rapid charger per 15,000 people compared to one per 11,000 across the UK. Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) Cymru said that the lack of charging points represents the most significant barrier to the uptake of electric vehicles. In terms of provision at home and work, EVA Cymru told the committee the Welsh government had also failed to review building regulations to ensure adequate parking spaces and charging points. The report called on the Welsh government to complete a review as soon as possible and consider how hotels and visitor attractions could be encouraged to have charging points installed. 'Unacceptable and embarrassing' Committee chairman Mr Gruffydd said people would only switch to electric cars if they felt confident about being able to charge their cars when they needed to. "Frustratingly, this is far from the case today," he said. "There has been some progress over the last few years but nowhere near where it needs to be. "The Welsh government's Action Plan isn't even 18 months old yet and some of the targets have already been missed. This is unacceptable - and embarrassing." Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters said: "We've got a plan and we are working through it. We've got limited resources and rather than just spraying charging points everywhere we are working out where are the best places to put our resource to best effect." Mr Waters said he was "not embarrassed" by progress made so far and said he did not think people should be nervous about the lack of electric charging points. "I have an electric car and as long as you plan it's fine," he said. "You will not regret buying one and once you have bought one you won't go back." A Welsh government spokesman said: "We welcome today's report which contains some key learnings for us as we work to deliver the charging infrastructure Wales needs. "We were pleased to see that Wales is now showing the greatest percentage increase of any UK region in charging and rapid charging provision. "This is thanks to an ambitious delivery programme we have developed with key partners and we now look forward to building on these foundations. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65069542

The first foray into virtual reality for Guerrilla's beloved franchise is a big success, even if it doesn't do anything new. Horizon Call of the Mountain and PlayStation VR 2 are inextricably linked. The Guerrilla- and Firesprite-developed title is a successful virtual reality game thanks to the tech housed in the PSVR 2, and the PSVR 2's capabilities are best showcased by the game. Admittedly, the barrier to entry for experiencing it all is very high: You'll need to own a PS5, purchase the $550 headset, and then get the $60 game on top. But those who do will be treated to a game that's an impressive technical showpiece and an enjoyable Horizon game in its own right. Call of the Mountain takes place in the same vibrant setting that you're used to exploring as Aloy. However, for this game, the protagonist is Ryas, a member of the Shadow Carja who has been imprisoned for questionable actions. Ryas is busted out of prison and sent on a perilous journey to figure out why the machine animals of Horizon's worlds are acting out. This is a familiar narrative beat for a Horizon game, and a lot of the story is carried by Ryas. Ryas' brother went missing while also trying to solve this particular mystery, so he has a personal stake in going out of his way to help those around him in order to figure out what's going on, even if the people he's working withtreat him like an outsider. My interest in Call of the Mountain was primarily in seeing how it utilized the new hardware, so it caught me by surprise when I found myself invested in Ryas as a character. The game does a great job of slowly unpacking his story and showing that there may have been more to his history than it initially seems. He also serves as a good tour guide. As you clamber around towering structures, be they derelict buildings or rusting metallic behemoths of old, and explore different parts of the world, he'll occasionally offer context and history to provide further color to the landscape around you. He's not the scholarly type, so much of what he talks about comes from the perspective of someone who has heard tales of battles or knows aspects of other cultures. It's a nice balance that means you're constantly being told things while also letting Ryas act as a stand-in for you. He also questions some of his own preconceptions about things he has always been told or believed, and--as a member of the maligned Shadow Carja--watching his small steps of growth across the journey is interesting, even if it isn't profound. Ryas might not be a learned man, but he's certainly a capable one, as becomes evident when you're tasked with scaling structures and battling enemies. Ryas is a Climber and, as the title of his profession suggests, he's all about climbing. This is achieved through the Sense controllers, which--as mentioned in our PSVR 2 review--are very capable input devices that, in addition to all the buttons, triggers, and analog sticks you'd want to be able to properly engage with a game, include finger-tracking. Call of the Mountain maps your real hands to the virtual ones and then empowers you to grip onto climbable edges (highlighted in white) by holding down the triggers and physically moving your real arms to shift your virtual character around. Virtual reality climbing games are a dime a dozen--it's a very familiar mechanic--and there's nothing here that really pushes the mechanic forward. That said, it's executed very well. The Sense controllers make the act of clambering feel tactile and satisfying, and the PlayStation 5 and the PSVR 2 headset render the world around you with a fidelity compelling enough to instill a sense of tension and peril as you move around. As I scaled cliffs, shimmied across dangling ropes, and leaped across large gaps, I was cognizant of where I looked because, at times, I got vertigo when looking down. On the odd occasion where my virtual hands didn't properly grasp a handhold or ledge, I always had a sense of terror wash over me, even if it was very brief since the game is quite forgiving about correcting or using your other hand to panic recover. That sense of danger was particularly potent in situations that required me to take a running jump off an edge, or use a tool to swing across a chasm--my tip: Don't look down. Generally, that feeling of being connected to the world through the Sense controller and PSVR 2 headset held true in other interactions. My chosen movement method in Call of the Mountain involved moving my arms up and down to simulate walking, which sounds stupid and looks stupid, but felt like a good middle ground between instantly teleporting and directly controlling the character. The latter of those is available as an option, but I found it to be nauseating, literally. There are a variety of other options available that allow you to tweak how your character moves and turns, so you may be able to find the sweet spot for you. Combat changes the setup to be more on rails, with the player being able to move along a predefined path on the battlefield. Usually, it's just a big circle around the arena, and you're either dodging the attacks of nimble Watchers while trying to fire arrows into their eye, or desperately trying to get out of the way of a rampaging Thunderjaw. Horizon's encounter design, which is built on attacking weak points to strip metallic beasts of their armor and the mechanisms that allow them to do deadly attacks, works very well in Call of the Mountain. Most engagements are a dance of dodging fireballs, gunfire, tail swipes, and claw strikes, using your senses to identify the most vulnerable spots, and letting loose a flurry of arrows to bring them down. Again, bow and arrow mechanics in a VR game are hardly new or innovative, but it's executed very well. There's a layer of strategy in selecting the best type of arrow for the enemy you're facing, and then having the wherewithal to quickly reach over your shoulder and pull it out while trying to avoid damage. The real star of the show, however, is the visuals, and by extension, the immersive quality of playing Horizon Call of the Mountain. Again, this is a collaborative effort between the game and the hardware it's running on--both the PS5 and the PSVR 2. Call of the Mountain is one of the best-looking VR games I've ever seen, and being in its world is a genuine thrill--whether I was up close looking at the details on tools I was crafting to aid me on my journey, or marveling at a distant vista of verdant trees, rushing waterfalls, and collapsed architecture reclaimed by nature. At every turn and climb, there's something impressive to see, whether that's the world or the creatures that inhabit it. And it's even more impressive when the bigger set-pieces come into play, so it's easy to get caught up in just seeing the sights. As a result, Call of the Mountain ticks the box for that other kind of VR game that exists in abundance: the virtual tourist experience. Again, it's nothing new, but Call of the Mountain does it very well, transporting players to a world they're familiar with, but allowing them to experience it with an unprecedented level of intimacy. The ongoing refrain of "familiar done well" is the defining quality of Call of the Mountain. There's nothing revolutionary in the game that moves VR gaming forward and it doesn't do anything unexpected, so it ends up being exactly what it looks like: a well-made Horizon game in VR that has good climbing and shooting, as well as pretty environments to look at. As a showcase of what can be done with the PSVR 2, it more than handily serves its purpose. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/horizon-call-of-the-mountain-review-new-heights/1900-6418028/

Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki returns to his arcade roots with an unrewarding repetitive experience. Yu Suzuki has been making games longer than most of us have been playing them. Today he is best known as the creator of Shenmue, but he has a long history of innovating in arcades with titles like 1985's Space Harrier and the Virtua Fighter series. Air Twister on Apple Arcade represents a return to his arcade origins while also taking some lore and story lessons learned from Shenmue. But overall, the experience ends up feeling repetitive without being particularly rewarding. Air Twister begins strong with playable protagonist Princess Arch responding to an alien invasion threat on her home planet. She soars through the air alongside gigantic swans flying past massive mushrooms to a soundtrack from dutch composer Valensia that truly sounds like nothing I've heard in a video game. The visuals and music are a joy to take in, but the repetition stagnates the experience quickly as every playthrough (and there are a lot of playthroughs) is identical. Combating the alien invasion takes the form of an on-rails shooter that feels like a cross between Panzer Dragoon and Star Fox. As you fly forward you tap the screen to fire at enemies, or swipe across them to lock on to a handful and launch a collection of homing attacks. I found using a controller to be much more manageable, as it made moving Princess Arch out of the way of attacks while still locking onto enemies easier. I never found this style of play to be particularly compelling and during the last few levels I found success by just tapping the fire button repeatedly and moving Princess Arch constantly in random directions to dodge attacks, which wasn't strategic or interesting. Progress through the game's 12 levels comes from starting over from the beginning every time you die and using experience earned to unlock small upgrades to help you get further next time. Unlocks are handled via a gigantic map with various paths you can follow, which is a fine way to give the player some choice and visualize progress, but the layout means you have to spend experience on too many unlocks you don't care about to get to the ones that are helpful. Hearts that give more life are some of the most useful, but I had to spend experience on clothing, hairstyles, and make-up I would ultimately never use, just to extend my life a little bit. The best unlocks are a handful of improved weapons and shield accessories, but it takes a long time and far too many playthroughs to reach them. With each unlock comes a lore entry about the world, Princess Arch, or the enemies you're fighting. I enjoyed unlocking and reading these little bits of information, as the world is surprisingly fleshed out, interesting, and sometimes funny. Arch is apparently an expert at a sport called Flying Cucumber, which is what makes her so good in the air with a gun. A few additional Challenge Modes exist alongside the main game. They are mostly variations on playing the core campaign, but without the experience rewards and it makes them feel like time wasters. Fluffy mode changes the perspective and has some paltry experience reward incentives, but after awkwardly navigating through a maze to collect stars once, I felt no need to revisit it. Air Twister is fun to look at and I will be listening to the strange soundtrack outside of the game. There are moments, like the boss fight where you ride on the back of a flying elephant while combating a giant grandfather clock that spits out smaller clocks, that are creative and silly in a way I enjoy. Unfortunately, I rode on the back of that elephant and killed that grandfather clock dozens of times on my way to finally defeat the alien invasion, and by that time, the whole experience had become far more tedious and redundant than fun. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/air-twister-review-repetitious-fantasy/1900-6417918/

In some instances, the Resident Evil 4 remake is a more difficult game than the original release, and higher difficulty settings like Hardcore and Professional can prove to be a real challenge. However, those playing the game on PC at high framerates may have a less challenging experience due to what seems like a physics-related bug. As reported by Reddit user nopenotme10 on the series subreddit, all guns' fire rate seems to be tied to framerate, as it takes less time to empty a full magazine of any weapon at high framerates than at low. The user tested multiple weapons just to make sure the issue is not limited to select weapons, confirming, for example, that the LE-5 sub-machine gun takes around 3 seconds to empty a magazine at 30 FPS and around 2 at around 120 FPS. I did a couple of tests with the TMP sub-machine gun and noticed a clear difference with this weapon as well. Not a massive one, to be honest, but big enough that it could make the difference in some scenarios. As the issue has just come to light, CAPCOM has yet to say anything about it, and it's unclear if anything can be done. It is interesting to see how high framerates in the Resident Evil 4 remake could lead to a slightly less challenging experience outside of the better responsiveness granted by them, as the exact opposite happened with another game developed by CAPCOM and powered by the RE Engine, Monster Hunter Rise. After the game launched on PC last year, users spotted that most monsters' attacks had way better tracking at high framerates, essentially making the game harder. High framerates aren't the only thing that can make the Resident Evil 4 remake less challenging than intended. Earlier today, it was discovered by long-time speedrunner @Mattmatt10111 that it is possible to skip any door with a lock on the other side with a sniper rifle. This issue is likely getting fixed soon enough, as it makes it much easier to achieve high ranks even at high difficulty levels. Outside of some issues that players have been discovering, the Resident Evil 4 remake is a very solid game and one of the best remakes ever made, although CAPCOM played it a little too safe, as highlighted by Nathan in his review. The Resident Evil 4 remake is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S worldwide. More content will be coming to the game next month with the Mercenaries Mode DLC, which will be released for free on all formats. https://wccftech.com/resident-evil-4-remake-may-be-less-challenging-at-high-framerates-new-bug-allows-skipping-of-any-locked-door/

Apple will introduce more innovations than expected in the next version of the iOS 17 operating system , which will not only include bug fixes and performance improvements, but will also come with some of the "most requested by users" functions, according to the Analyst Mark Gurman. The technology company will present the new iOS 17 version at the next developer conference (WWDC 2023), whose date has yet to be confirmed and, according to the Bloomberg analyst and journalist, a more important version of the operating system will be shown than expected. initially. As Gurman has noted in his Bloomberg 'Power On' newsletter, and Macrumors has reported, iOS 16 was an "ambitious" update that " missed deadlines and got off to a buggy start." Apple will introduce more innovations than expected in the next version of the iOS 17 operating system , which will not only include bug fixes and performance improvements, but will also come with some of the "most requested by users" functions, according to the Analyst Mark Gurman. The technology company will present the new iOS 17 version at the next developer conference (WWDC 2023), whose date has yet to be confirmed and, according to the Bloomberg analyst and journalist, a more important version of the operating system will be shown than expected. initially. As Gurman has noted in his Bloomberg 'Power On' newsletter, and Macrumors has reported, iOS 16 was an "ambitious" update that " missed deadlines and got off to a buggy start." In this sense, when Apple began to develop iOS 17, it did so by focusing on releasing an update that would fix bugs and improve the performance of previous versions, leaving the implementation of new features in the background. "The initial idea was to call it a tuning pitch," says Gurman. However, now, Mark Gurman has advanced that Apple has made a "change of strategy" during the development process of the update and the release of iOS 17 is expected to have several new "nice to have " features. Thus, he has reported that the new objective of the 'software' , whose code name is 'Dawn', is to introduce "several of the functions most requested by users". https://www.europapress.es/portaltic/software/noticia-apple-incluira-algunas-funciones-mas-solicitadas-usuarios-ios-17-gurman-20230327125254.html

You have bought a solid state drive because the hard drive of your old laptop or desktop computer used to saturate continuously, in the task manager it would go to 100%. However, you find yourself with the burden of reinstalling everything again. Worry not, as we are going to explain how to install Windows on an SSD , whether we are talking about Windows 10 or 11. The evolution of mass storage units stagnated for years due to the dominance of hard drives, which, although they increasingly offered more storage, their physical limitations meant that the speed of access to and transfer of data was seen. limited. The solution to this is to stop using this format and use non-volatile RAM memories, what we traditionally know as flash memories, which allow much higher access and transfer speeds than a hard drive. This is where many are tempted to install their PC's operating system on the solid state drive and in this article we are going to explain how to do it. What type of drive to choose for Windows? First of all, let's make it clear that this is independent of whether we use a SATA type unit, an M.2 or any other format that appears in the future. In any case, our advice is that, if you are looking to replace hard drives with SSD drives, that you opt for a combination of both types of solid-state drives and that depending on the type of application you are going to use. For example, it is no secret that in the future video editing applications, video games and graphic editing, both 2D and 3D, take advantage of the high bandwidth of M.2 SSDs and their PCI Express-type interface. Other types of applications with a SATA drive have quite a bit and since the form factor allows for more chips on the board they can have much more capacity. So installing Windows on one of these drives is not a bad idea either, especially when the operating system is the application that A or B ends up taking up more storage space. How to install Windows 11 on an SSD? Now, let's go to what interests us, which is to install Windows 11 on an SSD. 1 The first thing you will have to do is initialize the new storage unit in the disk manager and assign it one or more partitions. Take a look at this tutorial where we explain how to do it. Make sure you have the GPT check box selected when configuring the SSD, Windows cannot boot to drives without this feature active. We do not recommend removing the hard drive you had Windows installed on, just use one of the tools to clone data from one drive to another. We also have a complete tutorial on this. This will allow you to continue working with the same environment without having to waste time reinstalling anything, so it's fast and accurate. Before cloning, make sure to completely remove all apps and data that you no longer need. Once you have moved the data, in the BIOS change the boot priority order of the drives and have it start on the new drive to verify that everything is running smoothly. After these steps, what you are going to do with your old hard drive is no longer our business, but you should already be able to enjoy the advantages of running Windows 11 on an SSD. https://hardzone.es/noticias/componentes/instalar-ssd-windows/

The Vivo V27 Pro has a colour-changing back with a sleek design, but there’s more to it. HIGHLIGHTS Vivo V27 Pro has a starting price of Rs. 38,999 The phone has a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC It features a 50-megapixel front camera. Vivo V27 Pro continues the legacy of the company's lightweight and stylish smartphones in the V series. The V27 Pro was launched as a successor to last year's Vivo V25 Pro (Review). Compared to the outgoing model, the Vivo V27 Pro has received upgrades in many areas. However, the core philosophy remains the same — a sleek and lightweight design that changes the colour under light. The new V27 Pro gets a powerful SoC, curved-edge AMOLED display, and more. However, Vivo has cut corners in some crucial areas that might hamper the user experience. With all that is on offer, should you consider buying the new Vivo V27 Pro? Here is our full review to help you decide. Vivo V27 Pro price in India The Vivo V27 Pro has been launched in three storage options. The base variant that we have comes with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It is priced at Rs. 37,999. There is a 256GB variant with 8GB of RAM, which is priced at Rs 39,999. The 12GB RAM variant with 256GB storage is priced at Rs 42,999.Vivo V27 Pro design and display Perhaps the highlight feature of the Vivo V27 Pro is its design. The phone has a curved front and back that merges into the plastic frame to give it a premium look. The rear panel, much like its predecessor, has a Fluorite AG Glass which changes colour from light to dark blue within a few seconds when UV light or sunlight hits it. Vivo calls this colour Magic Blue. If you want something that does not change colour but looks equally modern and classy, you might consider checking the Noble Black colour.What is common between the two colour options is the excellent in-hand feel. The Vivo V27 Pro feels very light especially after using some heavy phones such as the Xiaomi 13 Pro (Review) and the iPhone 13 Pro (Review). While the V27 Pro weighs 182g on paper, it certainly does feel a lot lighter in the hand. It is also incredibly thin compared to many premium phones such as the iQoo Neo 7 5G (Review) and the OnePlus 11R 5G (Review), which weigh about 193g and 204g, respectively. The Vivo V27 Pro does not attract fingerprints or smudges easily, and despite being fairly tall, the phone is quite ergonomic to hold. It is also only 7.36mm thick which also means that there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. The power and volume buttons too, can be reached easily. That being said, the phone is not intended for one-handed use. I also like the new camera module design, which is minimal and looks quite good at the same time. On the front, there is a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with a full-HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. The screen offers good viewing angles and vivid colours even in the standard screen colour mode. Vivo does not specify the max display brightness level but I found it to get amply bright for indoor and outdoor use. The screen is curved towards the edges, which helps offer a great viewing experience. While the device is claimed to have an HDR10+ certification, streaming apps such as Netflix and others didn't seem to detect it at the time of testing. What takes away an immersive experience is the single-channel speaker. I am quite disappointed to see a sub-Rs. 40,000 smartphone to not have stereo speakers in 2023. The phone does not have an official IP rating either, but it did survive an unseasonal March drizzle in Mumbai. Vivo V27 Pro specifications and software The Vivo V27 Pro features a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC, which is manufactured on a 4nm process. The phone has up to 12GB of physical RAM along with 8GB of extended RAM. There is no microSD card support. It packs a 4,600mAh battery with support for 66W fast charging. The Vivo V27 Pro has support for seven 5G bands in India. The phone also offers connectivity options such as 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, Navic, and a USB Type-C port. Coming to the software, the Vivo V27 Pro runs the Android 13-based Funtouch OS 13 out of the box. Vivo has promised to provide two major Android updates and three years of security patches. And when it comes to updates, Vivo's game has been pretty strong. The company was among the quickest to release the latest Android update for its eligible devices. Even while reviewing the phone, the V27 Pro received its March security update which came with "system improvements and bug fixes". Funtouch OS 13 is quite customisable and can be personalised as per your preference. You get options to adjust the animation effects, and the speed of various routine tasks, such as charging, transitioning between the home screen and lockscreen, etc. There is also support for Android 13's colour palette, which matches the system icons and interface's colour with the wallpaper. Alternatively, users can choose from a bunch of preset colour options from the Settings app. You also get to create profiles for multiple users and guests, thus ensuring there is enough privacy. The custom skin supports Android's privacy indicators and highlights at the top right corner whenever an app or service is using the camera or microphone in the background. Some of the downsides include the app recommendation folders in the app drawer and home screen. You can remove them but the process involves multiple steps, unlike previously. Also, I received multiple notifications from the V-App Store, even when I never opened the app even once. This happens by default and the only solution is to long-press on any unwanted notification and tap on “Turn off notifications”, followed by “Turn off all notifications.” Vivo V27 Pro performance and battery life When it comes to performance, the Vivo V27 Pro impressed me. Be it routine tasks or games, the phone handled almost everything very well during my review period. I played Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 Legends and the experience was fairly good. Call of Duty: Mobile ran at the 'Ultra' framerate, which was good to see. I could switch to 'Max' frame rate and 'Very High' graphics for a balanced experience. While playing games, there wasn't any major stutter or lag. But I did notice the phone getting warmer quicker than usual. This could be due to the phone's slim design which is perhaps not the best for heat dissipation. I also noticed a slight stutter often while switching between apps. In case you were wondering, the screen's [CENSORED]ture was not a problem for me when playing games as I did not experience any accidental touch issues. The Vivo V27 Pro scored 836,701 points on AnTuTu, which is slightly lower than the performance-focused but much cheaper iQoo Neo 7 5G (Review). The phone, however, beat the OnePlus 11R, which comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC and scored 775,602 points in our tests. In Geekbench 6, the Vivo V27 Pro scored 998 and 2,198 points in the single-core and multi-core tests. While it performed surprisingly well in the single-core test, the multi-core test was quite lower than the rivals. In terms of battery life, the Vivo V27 Pro can last all day with medium to light usage. On days when I played games or used the camera a lot, the average screen-on time (SoT) was about 6 hours and 30 minutes. On other days with lighter use, the phone lasted for about eight hours on a single charge. In our HD video battery loop test, the Vivo V27 Pro lasted for 18 hours before running out of juice. The phone takes about an hour to charge from zero to 100 per cent with the bundled charger and cable. Vivo V27 Pro cameras The Vivo V27 Pro has three camera sensors on the back. There is a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766V primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. For selfies, there is a 50-megapixel front camera with autofocus. Starting with the primary camera, photos shot in daylight offer good details and contrast. The colours are a tad bit saturated but if prefer such a pallet then you will like the vibrancy. The rear camera also does a good job of maintaining the skin tone while capturing human subjects, although there is a bit of beautification happening despite disabling all possible filters. In low light, the camera does a good job of controlling highlights and exposing shadows. There are times when you will see little noise in the shadows in extremely dark shots but that's something acceptable for a sensor this size. The night sky does look slightly blue in some shots. Also, the shutter remains open for a couple of seconds on average and takes a second or so to process the output. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/reviews/vivo-v27-pro-review-price-india-specifications-vs-oneplus-11r-flipkart-3889400

The country is no stranger to chronic food shortages North Korea is experiencing a critical food crisis, experts say. The country is no stranger to chronic food shortages, but border controls, poor weather and sanctions have worsened the situation in recent years. Top officials are expected to meet at the end of February to discuss a "fundamental change" to agriculture policy, state media has said. This is a "very important and urgent task" amid "pressing" farming issues, news aggregator KCNA Watch reported. The news comes as Pyongyang continues its displays of military might. One state newspaper has likened using foreign aid to "poisoned candy". On Wednesday, Rondong Sinmun wrote that "imperialists" used aid as a "trap to plunder and subjugate" recipient countries. South Korea's unification ministry has reportedly also sounded the alarm on the food shortages and asked the World Food Programme (WFP) for help. Satellite imagery from South Korean authorities shows that the North produced 180,000 tonnes less food in 2022 than in 2021. In June, the WFP raised concerns that extreme weather conditions like drought and flooding could reduce production of both winter and spring crops. State media also reported late last year that the country was experiencing its "second worst" drought on record. As forecasted, food prices have risen this year amid poor harvests and people have been turning to inexpensive alternatives, said Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein, who works with North Korea-centred publication 38North.org. The price of corn has risen 20% at the start of 2023, with growing demand for the less preferred - compared to rice - but more affordable staple, reported Rimjin-gang, a North Korean magazine based in Japan. "If people are buying more corn it means food overall is getting more expensive, and staple foods like rice in particular," Mr Silberstein said. A kilogram of the crop now costs about 3,400 North Korean won (£3.10; $3.80). North Korea is ranked one of the poorest countries in the world. Recent estimates are scarce, but CIA World Factbook estimates its gross domestic product per capita to be around $1,700 in 2015. N Korea slams South's 'absurd' offer of aid Why doesn't North Korea have enough food? That said, the actual situation and numbers are unclear, given North Korea's opaque economy. "Due to North Korea's strict Covid border measures on goods and people, there's no way for any outsiders to go into the country and check for themselves what the situation is," said James Fretwell, an analyst at NK News. People take part in an annual rice planting event in Nampho City in Chongsan-ri, near Nampho on May 12, 2019. A file photo shows North Koreans taking part in an annual rice planting event in Nampho city in 2019 These measures have also made it difficult for organisations outside North Korea to send help in times of crisis, he added. North Korea has also strictly restricted cross-border trade and traffic since January 2020. Sokeel Park, South Korea country director in non-profit Liberty in North Korea (Link), described the regime's response to the pandemic as "extreme and paranoid". Mr Park, whose organisation helps resettle North Korean refugees in South Korea or the US, said the supply of basic necessities in the North has been dwindling since the start of the pandemic. Link has heard multiple credible reports of people starving to death, Mr Park said. The country has also seen a significant decline in humanitarian aid from the international community - the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said North Korea received $2.3m (£1.9m) from international organisations and other agencies last year, down from $14m in 2021. While this may be a result of prolonged border closures, some relief workers told the BBC that international sanctions, which have tightened in response to North Korea's military provocations, have also hindered the delivery of humanitarian supplies. Still, there are some signs that cross-border economic activity is starting again. Nikkei Asia reported last week that some truck travel with China, which accounts for over 90% of North Korea's trade, has resumed. But that does not necessarily mean standards of living will improve for ordinary North Koreans. Much of North Korea's spending goes on the military - its latest missile launchers were displayed earlier in February Much of North Korea's spending goes on the military - its latest missile launchers were displayed earlier in February Mr Park said the regime has focused its resources on its missile prowess and propaganda, at high social costs. Pyongyang fired a record number of ballistic missiles last year - more than 70, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, which can potentially reach the US mainland. Early this month, it showed off its largest-ever display of ICBMs at a military parade. "The regime has acknowledged how hard things are for ordinary North Korean people, but continues to prioritise propaganda and pageantry for the Kim family, missile launches, and strict controls [on] the po[CENSORED]tion," Mr Park added. Experts worry that the situation on the ground will deteriorate further, leading to a famine as devastating as the one the country experienced in the mid-to-late 1990s, often known in official documents as the "Arduous March". Estimates put the number of deaths between 600,000 to a million. "We don't seem to be near the levels of the 1990s famine," Mr Silberstein said. "But margins are razor thin. So even a slightly lessened supply of food could potentially have dire consequences." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64701184

Claire Basler has covered the walls of many of the rooms in her ancient château with exquisite floral murals .The château of artist Claire Basler, nestled in the languid hills of central France, is filled with flowers inside and surrounded by them outside. Not only are flowers the favourite subjects of her paintings, they are her favourite décor, too, and she arranges them like installations in each room to complement the murals she paints on walls, ceilings and doors. Being inside the home she shares with her husband, Pierre Imhof, is like being inside one of her paintings – mesmerising, magical and otherworldly.Claire’s ability to create unique and deeply moving interior environments comes, in part, from her desire to share the power of several seminal childhood experiences. When she was 12, she had an epiphany at a Gothic palace in Avignon. While other youngsters might have been tugging at their parents’ sleeves begging for early release from sightseeing at the Palais des Papes, Claire was immovable inside its 14th-century walls. Enveloped on all sides by ancient frescoes inside Pope Clement VI’s private study, the chambre du cerf, she was overcome. “I had the strong impression that I was not just looking at the painting,” she recalls, “but was part of the painting. French polish: a view of one of the barns and the courtyard garden. Photograph: Robyn Lea/Living Inside Claire’s unique view of the world was inherited from her parents. Her father, French modernist architect Jean-Jacques Basler, and her mother, Bernadette Basler, refused to subscribe to trends of their time. Her father had a passion for wildflowers and he not only shared his interest with Claire, but taught her how to really see them. The influence of his teachings on her artwork, her home’s interiors and her outlook has been lifelong. “We live in a very visually stimulating world and yet we now spend less time actually seeing things,” she explains. “You can spend your entire life thinking that everything is going wrong, because you haven’t been taught how to properly open your eyes.” For Claire, a simple flower has heightened meaning. Her use of flowers as subjects in her paintings and interior installations at her home offers the viewer a new way of experiencing colour, structure, form and space. She believes the words “décor” and “decorative” have been abused, leading to a demise in the appreciation of flowers as a subject in art. “A flower is not simply an element of décor – it is alive,” she explains. “Décor can be a fundamental expression of beauty, and beauty is intelligent – the motor of wisdom and understanding.” Claire has found her heartland in the Château de Beauvoir, in the commune of Échassières in central France. She also found a great love and partner in Pierre, whom she met in 2006. ‘A flower is not simply an element of décor – it is alive.’ Photograph: Robyn Lea/Living Inside When Claire and Pierre bought Château de Beauvoir in 2011, it had no hot water, heating or electricity, but it did provide them with a joint project for the foreseeable future. The property seemed perfect, with rare trees and ample space for areas of soft grass and clover. There was also a glasshouse and large additional buildings, including the former stables, which would provide Claire with studios and exhibition spaces full of natural light. Pierre, a passionate builder with skills in welding, carpentry and masonry, made plans to embark on a three-year restoration of the castle.Full of romance, the reality of life in a castle proved brutal. In October 2011, soon after moving in, the temperature dropped. Hovering between -10C and -20C for the month, it confined them to two rooms and rendered the studio unusable. The upside was that Claire felt compelled to start painting on the interior walls of the two rooms they inhabited.Now murals cover the walls of many rooms, with nature the singular theme. Claire’s belief in nature as healer, muse and protector is expressed in each work. Using paintings as the backdrop, she then installs bold floral arrangements, often using the same flowers as those depicted on the walls. Viewed in the half-light of early morning or in the dying light of a winter’s dusk, the painted and the real become one.Much like Claire at the Palais des Papes, house guests often feel they are inside her work. The blurring of lines between outdoors and in transports visitors to a more wonderful world than our own. Claire’s dream of existing not with her paintings but inside them has been achieved, and she shares this dream with others. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/mar/18/rooms-in-bloom-the-flower-filled-chateau-of-a-french-artist

The plant at Crewe is set to become carbon-neutral with the investment, the firm says Luxury car manufacturer Bentley will invest £2.5bn as it moves towards making electric vehicles. It aims to produce its first electric car within the next three years, with exclusively electric models by 2030. The new models will be developed at the company's plant in Crewe, Cheshire, which will also see investment to become carbon neutral, the firm said. Bentley's CEO Adrian Hallmark said the plans were bold and ambitious and a "milestone moment" for the brand. "Our aim is to become the benchmark not just for luxury cars or sustainable credentials but the entire scope of our operations," he said. Securing production of our first BEV [battery-powered electric vehicle] in Crewe is a milestone moment for Bentley, and the UK, as we plan for a long-term sustainable future in Crewe." Sales of new cars and vans powered wholly by petrol and diesel are set to be banned in the UK from 2030. Bentley reveals plan to go fully electric by 2030 Bentley to cut up to a quarter of its workforce Set target to cut car use, minister told About 4,000 people are employed at Bentley's factory in Crewe and the firm said it plans to make the plant itself carbon neutral. Changes will include becoming net-zero with waste and water-use. Peter Bosch, from the company, said the announcement marked arguably the most important day in Bentley's modern history. "[It] is a testament to the hard work and skill of our colleagues in Crewe," he said. "The journey really does start now." Kieran Mullan, the Conservative MP for Crewe and Nantwich MP said the announcement was a vote of confidence in the area and future proofs jobs at the plant. "I can imagine if you're working in the car industry, there's a lot of uncertainty, a lot of change, and today's news means the workers at Bentley know that their future is secure," he said. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the announcement was excellent news and put Crewe at the cutting edge of Britain's green industrial revolution. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-60138564

The large alligator was captured and removed from the area An 85-year-old woman was killed in an alligator attack as she was walking her dog in Fort Pierce, Florida. Local media reported the 10-foot (3m) alligator first attacked the woman's dog, but went after her once she tried to save the pet. Alligator attacks - especially resulting in death - are uncommon according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The woman's dog survived the attack. "The victim has been recovered and a contracted nuisance alligator trapper has captured the alligator involved in the incident," the FWC said in a statement. The FWC and St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office responded to an emergency call about an alligator bite in the Spanish Lakes Fairways retirement community on Monday. Neighbours told local media that the alligator emerged from the water and lunged at the dog. She tried to get the dog away from the reptile but somehow fell victim to the gator. She has not been immediately identified. After locating the large alligator in the retirement community, six wildlife officials had to wrangle it into the back of a pickup truck. The FWC recommends staying aware of alligator sightings when near freshwater and if bitten by an alligator, the "best thing to do is fight back". Officials said alligators are "opportunistic feeders", and they eat prey readily available to them. If the prey is not easily overpowered, "they will often let go and retreat." Alligators can be found in all 67 counties of Florida, but they "seldom bite people and fatalities from such occurrences are rare", according to the FWC fact-sheet on its website. Since 1948, only 26 out 442 unprovoked bites in the state have resulted in human fatality, according to FWC data. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64720198

Plans for a third Menai crossing have been scrapped in their current form By Teleri Glyn Jones Environment & Rural Affairs Correspondent All major road building projects in Wales have been scrapped over environmental concerns. The planned third Menai bridge will not go ahead and neither will the controversial "red route" in Flintshire. The move is part of the Welsh government's National Transport Plan and follows a year-long review. Environmental campaigners called it "world-leading and brave" but some in the construction industry warned the announcement could put jobs at risk. It comes as the Welsh government is accused of endangering bus services as a senior minister said industry subsidies have yet to be confirmed beyond summer. The Welsh government said all future roads must pass strict criteria which means they must not increase carbon emissions, they must not increase the number of cars on the road, they must not lead to higher speeds and higher emissions, and they must not negatively impact the environment. Flintshire council leader Ian Roberts was disappointed by the decision. "The council is concerned that there are currently no alternative solutions being put forward and no funding for much needed improvement works to local transport infrastructure," he said. It comes as Ken Skates said Welsh government decisions on roads for the north should be made locally. Freeze on all new road building projects Shapps says UK government wants to 'fix' congestion The Clwyd South Senedd member and former Welsh transport minister said certainty over how transport in north Wales would be improved was needed. "I firmly believe that decisions over roads, buses, rail and active travel are best made at a regional level," he said. "It's time to devolve to the north, beginning with our major roads." A second Labour Senedd member questioned the move by his party. Blaenau Gwent's Alun Davies called for "more joined up thinking" by ministers. "If we're going to take services away from people in terms of distance, then what we have to be able to do is to provide the public transport options available for people to reach those services, and that hasn't happened," he added. Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters told the Senedd the approach of the last 70 years was not working. "We will not get to net zero unless we stop doing the same thing over and over," he said. "None of this is easy but neither is the alternative." To reach net zero by 2050, he said, the Welsh government must "be prepared to follow through". The deputy minister insisted new roads would be built in future, but said the government was "raising the bar" to ensure any new road was "the right response to transport problems". There has long been talk of an M4 relief road to ease congestion around Newport In 2021, the Welsh government announced it was conducting a roads review. An expert panel, led by transport consultant Lynn Sloman, assessed 59 road projects and made recommendations on which projects to proceed with, which to abandon and which to reconsider in a different form. Of these, 15 will go ahead, but all the rest have been rejected or will be revised. However, these and all future projects must adhere to a new set of strict criteria in order to be built. The Welsh government will not consider new projects unless they reduce carbon emissions and support a shift to public transport, walking and cycling, improve safety through small-scale change and help the Welsh government adapt to the effects of climate change. They must also provide connections to jobs and areas of economic activity in a way that maximises the use of public transport, walking and cycling. Which roads will not go ahead? The "red route" would have run from Northop through to the border with England The controversial Red Route in Flintshire will not go ahead as planned. Instead, improvements will be made to the A494 at Aston Hill. Plans for a third Menai crossing between Anglesey and the mainland have been replaced by a review into how to improve congestion and the resilience of the current bridges as well as getting people to use other ways to travel. Improvements to the A483 around Wrexham will also be scrapped and a review will be set up to consider an "exemplar" project to reduce car usage. Which projects will go ahead? Only some smaller-scale improvements to roads will go ahead. The largest of those is the A4042 corridor from Pontypool to the M4 through Torfaen, which had been paused during this review. Similarly improvements to the A487 between Fishguard and Cardigan will go ahead, as will the A4076 at Haverfordwest. What has been the reaction? Environmentalists have welcomed the announcement, calling it "world-leading". Haf Elgar, from Friends of the Earth Cymru, said: "We were seeing this review as a test of the Welsh government. "Were they going to be brave enough to walk the walk, not just to say 'we've got a climate emergency' but to actually take those difficult decisions and to make real changes to our future in Wales? "Today I think we're seeing that. "I think this is a fresh start that we're seeing that real changes will be made in order to move us to a greener and healthier future." But the construction industry is worried jobs will be cut and are calling for the Welsh government to give clarity on future investments in infrastructure Friends of the Earth Cymru's Haf Elgar welcomed a "fresh start" Director of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, Ed Evans, said: "It's a huge announcement, there's no two ways about it. "What we've just been through has created uncertainty but we can start to get clarity on investments in infrastructure, whether that's maintaining what we've got or new investment in energy for instance, then that will go a long way to ensure that jobs, business and communities are safeguarded." Christine Boston, from active travel charity Sustrans, added: "If we're serious about meeting the climate crisis challenge, we need to become a society that supports multi-modal transport. "If we want people to walk, wheel, or cycle alongside using public transport, we need continued investment in improving infrastructure that supports that." On Twitter, Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies said: "Labour ministers in the Senedd won't build new roads in Wales because they'll 'induce demand'. "Because encouraging more visitors to Wales and money into our economy is obviously a bad thing... Utter madness." Plaid Cymru's Delyth Jewell said many of the areas where road building projects were being paused were already underserved by public transport links. "We, of course, have to change that over-reliance on cars, but it won't happen overnight. It's the transition period that I'm most concerned about," she said. She said a pause in road building without more guaranteed investment in public transport could mean longer journeys, increased travel costs and reduced access to important services. Liberal Democrat leader, Jane Dodds, welcomed the announcement. She said: "For too long, we've spent millions on new roads with no real improvements in road safety or congestion." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-64640215

Hogwarts Legacy brilliantly adapts all of the source material fans of the Potterverse will expect, but wastes it on a rote open-world filled with mundane quests. It's difficult to find someone oblivious to the world of Harry Potter. For many it was a property that grew up with them, with both the book and film series persisting in the zeitgeist for decades. It's confusing then that it's taken this long to get a game that promises to deliver on the fantasy of becoming a wizard or witch within that universe; attending classes, learning spells, engaging in mischief, and exploring the grandeur of Hogwarts Castle. Hogwarts Legacy delivers on that promise, to a degree. Its adaptation of this universe is undeniably the most extensive yet, allowing you to truly explore Hogwarts and its surrounding areas like never before. But it's also stuck too keenly in the present (and sometimes, past) of open-world game design, reducing much of what you do to repetitive checklist activities in a world that is disappointingly barren. Hogwarts Legacy takes place in the late 1800s, although you might be hard-pressed to notice that from the way characters speak or by the clothes they wear, which look ripped straight out of the films set in the late 1900s. You play as a prodigal witch or wizard of your own creation, this time fighting against a goblin uprising led by one particularly nasty one named Ranrok. This props up a predictable and surprisingly sporadic narrative, with main beats and progression only taking place every few hours as you complete the requisite quests around them, which are often barely related. There's so little screen time for many of the main characters that you struggle to get a sense of their motives, especially so in the case of Ranrok, who only appears to deliver a line or two to some subordinates before he disappears for a couple of hours. It robs him, and the story, of any sense of emotional tension, reducing it to nothing more than "talented good student takes out bad powerful goblin" by the end. which you'll be familiar with if you've kept abreast of modern open-world designs. There are enemy camps to clear out, flora and fauna to either collect or hunt down, pages from your collectible field guide to uncover, chests behind locked doors to rummage through, and so much more. It's meant to alleviate the time spent traveling to and from story missions while also offering monetary and gear rewards, but it's so easy to overlook entirely given how frequent those rewards are handed out in far more intrestings main quests. Problems arise, however, when Hogwarts Legacy forces you to engage with these mediocre side activities in order to progress. Many story quests are gated with both level and spell requirements, the former depending on your current numerical level and the latter on whether or not you have access to a specific spell. Experience is only rewarded for many of the activities strewn around the world and the various, albeit bland, side missions you can complete. Depending on how much you choose to explore Hogwarts Legacy's world organically or not, you can find yourself (like I did frequently) forced to take a pause from the main path and work through open-world missions just enough to continue, before being faced with the same hurdle again. The allure of better gear should offset the monotony, but it's so graciously handed out by defeated enemies that you'll find yourself rubbing up against your restrictive inventory. You start off with 20 slots that are shared across all five of your gear categories, which can be filled within just one or two missions if you're not making a habit of visiting a merchant to offload items or wastefully destroying them. Worse still is that the only way to alleviate this issue is to complete countless Merlin Trials across the map, all of which are one of a handful of small, quick puzzles repeated ad nauseam. Each milestone in this quest rewards you with four extra slots, and the requirements to the next one increases as you go, making it a tedious slog if all you want to do is reduce the frequency with which you have to manage your inventory. There's a sense of bloat that permeates many of Hogwarts Legacy's mechanics, informing design decisions that turn it into a familiar loot-based action game. There are so many systems that exist solely to tempt you into caring about maxing out your equipment levels or upgrading gear to enhance its stats, both of which are completely unnecessary in the face of how little a challenge the combat poses to keep up with you. The Room of Requirement, a small hub of sorts, is a space that lets you reveal unidentified gear, similar to Diablo or Destiny, craft potions and cultivate violent flora that both feature long timers you have to wait on before you can claim them, and a massive space for all your collected beasts that can be farmed for resources vital to upgrading your gear. Aside from the odd visit to complete a quest or craft a single potion, I felt little reason to return to this space for the many purposes it was designed for. Even unidentified gear became mostly irrelevant, as better gear (often in the same rarity class) would drop before I felt compelled to make the trip. These are some of the numerous systems that Hogwarts Legacy pushes you to engage with, often forcibly through questlines, with many of them not coalescing with the structure of the rest of the game, ending up as superfluous and a waste of time. Time is something Hogwarts Legacy and its repetitive quests, dull open world, and monotonous combat often do not respect, from its slow opening to its insistence on introducing new systems to juggle just for the sake of it. It's a bit of a shame that these parts couldn't coalesce in the same way that its presentation and respect for its universe does, because Hogwarts Castle persists as a delightful puzzle box to explore from the moment you step foot in its doors to the last day of term. There's equally delightful moments during some of the main quests, specifically those that balance puzzle-solving and combat in ways that challenge your understanding of the spells you have in engaging ways. But these moments are so spread out between much less interesting filler content that it will likely take some of the most dedicated Harry Potter fans to justify seeing the entire journey through. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/hogwarts-legacy-review-sleight-of-hand/1900-6418032/

Ubisoft's return to World War I is a heart-wrenching tale that buffers rudimentary gameplay. In 2014, Ubisoft released Valiant Hearts: The Great War, a game that stood out by virtue of it being a smaller, more intimate tale amidst its many more action-oriented brethren. Instead of explosive set pieces and main characters that doubled as killing machines, the game focuses on the people who find themselves forever marked by war. Nine years later, Valiant Hearts: Coming Home continues the tale on mobile devices exclusively through Netflix, and it picks up right where the previous story left off. While a lack of challenging gameplay and a short lifespan could sink other games, brevity is used to its advantage to ensure the story hits just as hard as its predecessor.. Coming Home begins in 1917, just as American troops are entering the war for the first time. Familiar faces Freddie and Anna return, along with three new main characters: James, Freddie's younger brother; George, a fighter pilot; and Ernst, a German sailor who, through no fault of his own, finds himself an unwitting participant in the war effort. The story is told across 19 scenes split into three chapters, which translates into about 2.5 hours of gameplay. On paper it sounds very short, but the story is efficiently told. None of the beats feel like they drag on; from the opening scene Coming Home does a remarkable job of being clear-cut with its narrative--even those designed to make the player feel uncomfortable. For example, the very first scene shows James's enlistment experience, which has him forced into racially segregated lines with one line receiving weapons and the other, James's line, being given brooms for custodial work. In another scene, the medic Ana frantically runs around a hospital healing wounded, putting the player in control as she removes shrapnel from limbs and administers bandages. That's one of my favorite things about this game. There is neither glory nor glamour in its conflict, and triumph comes not from dominating, but merely surviving. Even when a scene lightens the mood, there's still a palpable sense of dread that something could go wrong at any given moment. Coming Home does just as well at portraying those horrors as its predecessor without reusing any major plot points. While the story is another victory for Valiant Hearts, actually playing it doesn't always hold up. I don't think the game is poorly designed; the tasks asked of me during my playthrough, from a technical standpoint, work very well outside of the occasional misreading of a swipe or tap command. The problem is the game's 19 scenes are frequently simple and sometimes hardly interactive. Rather than obstacles, Coming Home often met me with speed bumps that require too little effort to feel engaging. Part of that minimal effort is due to the basic control scheme. Most actions can be completed with either a swipe or a tap on the screen. When holding an item, pressing on the screen will allow you to aim and throw it. If there's a heavy object to be pushed, tapping it while the character is standing near it will have said character grab it. It usually works, albeit mindlessly. There are moments, however, where an upward swipe to climb onto an object is registered as a tap instead, which makes the character grab onto the object again. It's annoying, but it's certainly not game-breaking. Some scenes involve walking through a small Metroidvania-style area looking for specific objectives or solving brief puzzles. Others are more linear, like the stealth missions where you must watch enemy movements and stay behind cover in order to avoid getting caught. Every once in a while the game shakes things up, either by making you pilot George's plane as he avoids obstacles like mortar shells and enemy planes--all of which attack George in sync with the game's classical music--or having you tap to the rhythm of the on-screen band like rudimentary Guitar Hero. None of these sequences is designed to hold players up for very long. In this way, it's simpler than its predecessor, but the pacing also helps the story, ultimately. The game isn't totally linear, though it very nearly is. Each mission features hidden items that unlock journal entries depicting real-world events and items used during the war, which is a welcome returning feature from the 2014 game. However, the item placement is very obvious, which makes finding these trinkets much simpler than they could be. While the idea of hidden items fleshing out the story is nice, especially in a game dedicated to sharing a history lesson, I would have appreciated needing to work harder to find them. I never expected to be playing a sequel to Valiant Hearts--much less playing it on mobile through Netflix--but after finishing Coming Home I realized that mobile, and by extension Netflix, does make a good place to revisit this franchise. The gameplay is simplified compared to its predecessor, which doesn't always work in the game's favor. However, the scene-based structure allows for bite-sized sessions while on the go, while the short total completion time allows for marathoning the entire game if the player chooses. When viewed through that lens, Valiant Hearts: Coming Home is a success story. It tells an emotionally resonant story through multiple episodes, each with simple gameplay mechanics and a difficulty level that's welcoming to many players. That being said, seasoned video game veterans will notice the lack of substance in gameplay, even if they're moved by the story being told. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/valiant-hearts-coming-home-review-in-the-trenches/1900-6418024/

The Final Fantasy VII remake project is being developed with the same spirit as the original, and the Final Fantasy series creator believes the director Yoshinori Kitase's talent will lead to the best possible result. Speaking during MAGIC (Monaco Anime Game International Conference) with Full Frontal, Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was asked about the remake, saying that director Yoshinori Kitase, who was also the director of the original, is doing the remake with the same spirit as when he made the original game, but with much better technology. As the series got better thanks to his talent, the series creator feels that Yoshinori Kitase is at his full potential now since modern technology allows for the development of games with movie-quality graphics. Hironobu Sakaguchi was also asked about Final Fantasy XVI and its producer, mostly due to his well-known love of Final Fantasy XIV. The series creator praised Naoki Yoshida, saying that he is not only very serious and hardworking but also an excellent producer and director, with huge respect for older entries in the series and a great understanding of what makes them what they are. As such, he has great expectations for the game. The Final Fantasy VII remake project is set to continue during Winter 2023 with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second entry in the trilogy. Much like the first part, the new game will feature story changes over the original, possibly even bigger than expected. Releasing only on current-generation hardware, the game will also take advantage of the increased power for much better visuals and faster load times. https://wccftech.com/final-fantasy-vii-remake-is-being-made-with-the-same-spirit-of-the-original-series-creator-says/

The two main components of a PC are the processor and RAM , without them we cannot run programs and one without the other becomes two beautiful paperweights. Well, each time you are going to need more RAM for Windows 11 and that is why in less time than you expect your computer to be completely outdated. If there is something that we have observed from many laptops with RAM soldered to the board, since they use LPDDR memory, it is the little amount of memory that they have when there were already higher capacity configurations. The objective? A planned obsolescence in low-cost laptops to speed up consumption, but that is counterproductive for the end user. You're going to need more RAM thanks to Windows 11 It's no secret that software is less and less optimized, especially when it comes to RAM usage. However, memory configurations have been stuck for a long time at the same numbers, but with much faster memories. Although memory is usually built with less advanced manufacturing nodes than processors, the reality is that having smaller transistors means having more capacity. What happens if the current environment has been stagnant for some time? Well, it is necessary to increase the use of memory in terms of quantity and the greatest candidate for this is the operating system. It has happened several times in the history of computing. For example, in the mid-1990s, most PCs had either 4 or 8 MB of RAM, Windows 95 came out, and sales of the 16 and 32 MB modules skyrocketed. Well, almost 30 years later, at the same time that we see 24 and 48 GB modules appear, it seems that history repeats itself with Windows 11. And it is that Microsoft would have inflated what the operating system consumes in terms of RAM refers, in a maneuver to encourage not only the update of the memory, but also the purchase of new equipment. Tiny11, the shortened version of Win11 that uses less than a gig If we talk about NTDev, it will surely not sound familiar to many, however, they have managed to create a Windows 11 Build, which is based on removing certain superfluous elements from the system and leaving only what is strictly necessary for the applications to work. They have named this one Tiny11 and it is so light that it works on a PC with only 384 MB of RAM, and no, we have not made a mistake when it comes to transcribing. The problem is that such a small amount of memory leaves little space for applications, which today are designed to work in environments of several gigabytes and not less than one. However, this shows how bloated the Microsoft operating system is in terms of requirements and how it has always been used to encourage the purchase of RAM modules and new computers. The motivation for it on the part of Redmond? That the market does not stop and that consumption is continuous, after all you are going to need a new Windows license. https://hardzone.es/noticias/componentes/windows-11-demasiada-ram/

Microsoft has announced that you can already access the preview of its Loop application, a tool that offers functions powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and full integration with other brand services. The company presented Loop in November 2021 as an application focused on collaborative work with Office documents and tasks and which was made up of three essential elements: content components or blocks , pages and workspaces. Loop offers similar functionalities to Notion cross-platform task organizer and project management software and other services of this type, in which you can also create the aforementioned sections and take notes. SOFTWARE Last minute The preview of the collaborative work tool Microsoft Loop is now available Microsoft Loop interface-MICROSOFT Europa Press ICT Portal Posted: 03/23/2023 11:30 AM newsletter @portaltic MADRID, 23 (Portaltic/EP) Microsoft has announced that you can already access the preview of its Loop application, a tool that offers functions powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and full integration with other brand services. The company presented Loop in November 2021 as an application focused on collaborative work with Office documents and tasks and which was made up of three essential elements: content components or blocks , pages and workspaces. Loop offers similar functionalities to Notion cross-platform task organizer and project management software and other services of this type, in which you can also create the aforementioned sections and take notes. The difference between these and Loop is that the Microsoft application can be synchronized with other brand services, such as Word and Outlook, among others, available in Microsoft 365. Microsoft has now announced that Loop is now available in public preview, free of charge and on the web, so that any user can try this platform for collaborative work. In addition, it has indicated that Loop has support for Copilot, recently implemented in its suite of productivity applications. At this time, Copilot for Loop is in a closed preview release. It can also be used on 'smartphones', for which mobile versions have been created for iOS and Android. These applications are available for work accounts, although the company has indicated that users with personal accounts will be able to access them "soon". https://www.europapress.es/portaltic/software/noticia-ya-disponible-vista-previa-herramienta-trabajo-colaborativo-microsoft-loop-20230323113052.html

Russian armed men have been spotted in CAR's capital providing security - here during elections in 2020 Russian mercenaries have been accused of summarily executing, torturing and beating civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR). Witnesses told Human Rights Watch (HRW) that in one incident last July, Russian-speaking fighters shot dead at least 12 unarmed men at a roadblock. Most victims were put in a shallow hole by the road near Bossangoa, they said. CAR's government denies hiring mercenaries from the private Russian Wagner Group to fight rebels. Warning - this article contains distressing content UN experts have also accused Russian mercenaries of committing systematic and grave human rights violations in CAR, which is one of the world's poorest countries but is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium. The Wagner Group is widely reported to have deployed forces elsewhere in Africa - in Mali and Libya - and has played a major role in the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. Last month, suspected Russian mercenaries were among those accused in a HRW report of executing about 300 people in central Mali. This week, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Moscow's official position that Wagner has nothing to do with the Russian state. BBC Africa Live: Updates from the continent The row between France, Russia and Mali over a mass grave In its report, HRW says it has collected compelling evidence that Russian fighters have committed grave abuses against civilians in CAR with complete impunity since 2019. Between February 2019 and November 2021, the campaign group interviewed 40 people, including 10 victims and 15 witnesses, about abuses by men speaking Russian. The witnesses said that the men carried military-grade weapons and wore khaki clothes, scarves to cover their faces, military boots and sunglasses. Twelve of those interviewed had witnessed the killings near the western town of Bossangoa on 21 July 2021, said HRW. The unarmed young men who died had left Bossangoa on motorbikes shortly after 06:00 local time. They passed through a checkpoint to exit the town and they were later stopped at a roadblock about 12km (seven miles) outside Bossangoa on a road officials say was regularly patrolled by Russian fighters. They were told to get off the bikes, put their hands over the head and hand over their phones. According to HRW, between four and six Russian-speaking men then beat and kicked them as they lay on the ground. One by one, they were taken from the group, forced to kneel and shot in the head. It said those watching started to pray out loud - and amid the noise and confusion, two of the captives managed to escape. 'My finger was cut off' HRW also documented cases of detention and torture by Russian fighters in Bambari in 2019. A shopkeeper who was detained on suspicion of being a rebel alleged his finger was cut off by his Russian captors in January 2019. Mahamat Nour Mamadou told HRW that Russian men had cut off his finger with a knife "They beat me badly on my legs with iron rods and knives. My ankles were cuffed. One spoke through a translator and said, 'We will cut off your fingers,'" Mahamat Nour Mamadou said of his time in captivity. "I was screaming; it hurt so bad. They then took out a chain and wrapped it around my neck and pulled it tight. I fell down, and my tongue rolled out. A Russian put a brick in my mouth and kicked it. It loosened my tooth." He spoke out about his ordeal afterwards to journalists and HRW says he was later killed in September 2019 in unclear circumstances. Russia's relationship with CAR first became known in 2018 with an agreement that former Russian officers would come to offer military training. On 30 July 2018, three Russian journalists making a documentary investigating reports of Wagner's involvement in the country were shot dead - and those behind the killing have never been found. The Central African Republic has suffered from ongoing conflict since independence in 1960. In 2013, mainly Muslim rebels seized control of the largely Christian country. Self-defence militias were formed to fight back, leading to widespread massacres along religious lines. After President Faustin-Archange Touadéra came to office in 2016, the country started shifting its strategic alliance from France, the former colonial power, towards Russia. HRW says a lack of accountability has fuelled much of the violence and called for the government to investigate and prosecute all those, including foreign forces, responsible for murder, unlawful detention and torture. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61311272

While sleep and exercise are top priorities, strict diets and supplements aren’t essential in most academics’ routines Brain health can be a heavy subject. By midlife many of us are caring for parents or in-laws affected by dementia. It’s a stark reminder of our own brains’ vulnerability. That’s not to mention the ocean of information that exists on the subject, so deep that sifting through it all can be its own brainteaser. How much sauerkraut, really, should we be eating? Must we cut out drinking completely? Do those brain-training games really do anything? In my book, Save Your Brain, I try to demystify these tips by speaking to 22 mind experts from around the world. They share their advice, of course, but they also share something far more revealing: their own practices when it comes to brain health. Here’s what I learned. Exercise – and do it properly Everyone I spoke to exercises. And we’re not talking slow strolling once a week. Dr Rebecca Thurston, a professor from the University of Pittsburgh whose research covers brain ageing in women, works out six days a week. Her regime is structured and involves a mix of cardio, strength training, yoga and online Hiit exercises. Prof Victor Henderson, a neurologist at Stanford, does a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise between two and four times a week. A more DIY approach suits others. Dr Trevor Chong, a neuroscientist at Melbourne’s Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, opts for a home routine, using exercise equipment for half an hour of movement each night. It doesn’t have to be high-impact exercise, either – something as “easy” as gardening can also make for an effective workout. Dr Dimity Pond is a medical professor at the University of Newcastle and a practising general practitioner. She’s also a passionate gardener: a hobby that keeps her active alongside daily walks. “I’ve walked half an hour a day, five days a week, for the past 10 years,” she says. The heart matters Most experts see a GP regularly to keep their hearts in good health. Chong, a parent of young kids, is proactive in going to the doctor, and plans to monitor then aggressively treat any vascular risk factors that may emerge. Food for thought Most experts I talked to watch what they eat, but few are dogmatic about their diets. Chong tries to avoid too much meat or processed food, while others – like Thurston – follow a Mediterranean diet filled with seafood, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Rachel Buckley, assistant professor of neurology at Harvard, chooses intermittent fasting. “I’ve been on the 5:2 for eight years,” she says. Buckley carries a gene with definite links to Alzheimer’s disease, so warding off dementia is critical. With fasting, she eats normally for five days of the week and restricts her intake the other two days. Weight loss has never been the goal – instead she was drawn in by longevity data coming out of animal studies and data around famines. Now, as a mum of two young girls, she doesn’t eat in daylight hours on Mondays and Thursdays but enjoys a normal dinner. “I don’t want my girls to think I’m dieting.” Drinking, smoking and other vices None of the experts smoke. Drinking, however, is a different story: by and large, everyone continues to imbibe in moderation, or if they’re teetotal, it’s for reasons unrelated to brain health. Chong, for example, sticks to the recommended 10 standard drinks a week and spreads them evenly across Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Prof Ian Hickie, a director at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre and a co-host of the po[CENSORED]r Minding Your Mind podcast, drinks a small amount of alcohol with a meal or at social events. Others, like Henderson, drink less, but indulge in different ways. Henderson has just two standard drinks a week. But he loves his coffee and has four to five cups a day, half of which are decaf. Buckley, meanwhile, has totally cut out caffeine – but more to combat migraines than for brain health. Sleep is serious Getting seven to eight hours of quality shuteye per night is top of mind for all experts. Henderson, despite his caffeine intake, has no trouble sleeping: he’s naturally good at it. Not everyone is so lucky. Thurston has struggled with sleep from time to time. When insomnia hits, she uses CBT-I – a form of cognitive behavioural therapy targeted to insomnia – as a remedy. Brain training Working out your mind is just as important as working out your body. Of course, due to the nature of their professions, the experts already have an upper hand on this one. All credit their work with keeping their brains and social lives active. Henderson is still working at a university – a very social place to work – in his 70s.. Some take an intentional approach outside of academia. Henderson is an avid reader. “I prefer that to watching late-night TV shows,” he says, “and the ads for supplements that won’t help.” Thurston practises mindfulness meditation most days, though the length of time varies. For those who have them, grandkids are a constant source of joy and inspiration. Hickie socialises with his grandchildren regularly, while Pond credits hers for challenging her brain. “I don’t have time for brain exercises,” Pond says. Instead, she has a book club and schedules regular catch-ups with friends. To supplement or not to supplement? The jury’s out on this one. Many, including Henderson, Hickie and Chong, decry supplements as ineffective. Chong cites insufficient evidence for their influence on brain health. Those who do use supplements mostly agree on vitamin D, which Buckley and Thurston both take. Pond says she takes vitamin D for her bones, as well as fish oil supplements for her joints, but no specific brain health supplements. These messages may be boring, but they can essentially be distilled to: just keep healthy. It’s not a secret magic pill, it’s not an ancient mysterious cure – it’s the stuff doctors say all the time, whether it’s to help you prevent high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer or dementia. As Chong so eloquently puts it: “People dismiss this advice as ‘motherhood statements’, like the GP just dishes this advice out because they have to say something, and they’re sick of hearing it. But there’s excellent evidence that this works.” Save Your Brain by Dr Ginni Mansberg is available now through Murdoch Books. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/mar/27/excellent-evidence-that-this-works-how-mind-experts-protect-their-brains

Bentley said it hopes to "retain and redeploy" the 30 workers involved in assembling and testing W12s in Crewe Bentley said it will stop making its 12-cylinder petrol engine by 2024 in a pledge to be fully electric by 2030. The luxury car manufacturer said it had made more than 100,000 W12 engines since its launch in 2003. It said it hoped to "retain and redeploy" the 30 workers involved in assembling and testing W12s at its Crewe factory. Chairman and chief executive Adrian Hallmark said the company was taking "strides towards electrification". "The time has come to retire this now iconic powertrain," he added. The UK government plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 Jim Holder, editorial director of magazine What Car?, said Bentley and its customers were "acknowledging that we are entering a new environmentally conscious era, where outright performance and luxury can still be attained, but in a less consumptive manner". The government plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and a number of car markers have already started to move towards being completely electric, including Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-64731186

The animal is thought to have been taken when it was an egg or a hatchling, officials said An alligator believed to have been stolen from a Texas zoo 20 years ago was recently returned after it was discovered at a nearby home. The 8-ft (2.5m) gator named Tewa was probably stolen by a person who was volunteering at the Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo, officials say. It was found near Austin by the Texas Game Warden on Friday and returned to the zoo in New Braunfels on Monday. "Alligators don't make good pets, y'all," the agency said. The animal is thought to have been taken when it was an egg or a hatchling, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. They say it was kept in a backyard for "many years" about 50 miles from the zoo. The homeowner lacked the necessary permits to keep it so it was confiscated. The person, who has not been identified, has been issued with two citations. The zoo released a video saying Tewa was being introduced to the other alligators and will live out her life at the facility. They added that she has adapted well to her new environment since being returned to the zoo. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64871497

A former Labour transport minister has criticised the Welsh government after it cancelled all major road projects. Ken Skates said the roads review stopped most investment in roads without putting in place plans for improving public transport. The backbencher said there should never be another review that "ignores citizens". Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said it was "worth listening" to what previous ministers had to say. The announcement followed a year-long review, and prompted open criticism of the Welsh government from some Labour backbenchers. Defending the decision on Tuesday, Mr Waters said Wales would not get to net-zero carbon emissions "unless we stop doing the same thing over and over". "None of this is easy but neither is the alternative," he said. All major road building projects in Wales scrapped M4 relief road axed by Welsh Government Passengers in limbo after Wizz Air axes Cardiff The expert review panel, led by transport consultant Lynn Sloman, assessed 59 road projects and made recommendations on which projects to proceed with, which to abandon and which to reconsider in a different form. Of these, 15 will go ahead, but all the rest have been rejected or will be substantially revised. Mr Skates oversaw transport policy as economy minister until shortly after the last Senedd election in 2021. Speaking to BBC Wales, the MS for Clwyd South said: "We should never have another review conducted that ignores citizens, and leads to virtually no engagement with key people and public representatives." Among the projects scrapped are junction improvements to the A483 around Wrexham. He says the A483 project was "planned to remove the traffic from those local roads that were polluting the air, [and] that are damaging the environment because of sky-high carbon emissions". "I'm concerned that the panel didn't actually engage with any communities, as far as I'm aware. It didn't engage with locally elected members. The engagement with council highways officers was very poor. "What we had is a diktat which says basically a decision has been made 140 miles away, that vitally important infrastructure works will not go ahead, and by the way there are no alternatives that we can tell you about today." "There's both an argument on climate change, but there's also a very practical argument about the fact that our previous road building programme is just not affordable because of the changes to our budget," he said. "It's always worth listening to what previous ministers have to say about how we can help ourselves not just to make choices in policy terms but how we can bring people with us in the future." The Welsh government has stated all future roads must pass strict criteria which means they must not increase carbon emissions; they must not increase the number of cars on the road; they must not lead to higher speeds and higher emissions, and they must not negatively impact the environment. Among the projects scrapped is the controversial "red route" in Flintshire, which will not go ahead as planned. Instead, improvements will be made to the A494 at Aston Hill. 'Bold action' Environmental campaigners called the decision "world leading and brave". Christine Boston of cycle charity Sustrans Cymru said: "Addressing the climate emergency requires bold action. "Lots of people and organisations are celebrating because this is such a positive step. "Over the years we've had huge public engagement around developing the future generations act and this decision is completely in line with that. The priority is net zero." However there is concern among business groups. 'Economic backwater' Mike Plaut, the former chairman of CBI Wales, said the decision gave the impression Wales was "closed for business". "One of the future generations act aims is a prosperous Wales and this seems to take us in the opposite direction," he said. "We need to work on solutions that don't damage the Welsh economy but benefit jobs. "We are in danger of becoming an economic backwater." The Federation of Small Businesses in Wales head Ben Cottam added: "Areas of Wales desperately need improvement of existing infrastructure, as well as the certainty of resilience of future infrastructure." https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-64640227