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A throwback top-down soccer game that reminds you of simpler times, Tiny Football reminds you how far games have come yet stays true to its core as a fun bite-sized arcade classic capable of sucking you into pixelated goodness. Tiny Football features 64 national and club teams playable through exhibition matches against friends or tournaments against the AI, as well as a season mode if you enjoy the grind. Despite not having authentic licenses, each club and national team is modeled after their real life-like counterparts.Speaking of the surface, there isn’t a huge variety in pitch surfaces but there are enough to break up the monotony by giving you different visuals every so often. Pixel Style Straight out of the early ’90s, Tiny Football uses pixelated squares, even down to the ball that moves around the pitch in that old-school way of yesteryear. While there isn’t much by way of graphical differences between the players, they still move in a much more realistic way than those early ’90s games. There are even weather effects like rain, which will lead to your players occasionally slipping as the ball skips across the surface. Controls The key to any game, regardless of how simple or sophisticated, usually comes down to controls and here is where Tiny Football excels. Simple yet intuitive, the responsive controls allow you to perform all the basic commands you’d come to expect in a soccer game like shooting, passing, tackling, and of course dribbling. Speaking of tackling, there are even injuries that can occur due to dirty challenges — injuries that can force substitutions. Even the pre-match team selection menus are extremely easy to use yet intuitive. (I know a few AAA companies that could take a lesson from this game on that front.) Modes As previously mentioned, Tiny Football has a little bit of everything for everyone, no matter how you prefer to play. Friendlies versus the AI or another human are most certainly an option with a World Cup-style tournament also available. Customizable match lengths (I played on 2-minute matches) allows you to breeze through Season mode while still keeping the scorelines respectable. Most of my time was played in Tournament mode — playing a pseudo World Cup mode — equipped with customizable groups albeit no player stat tracking. Price Tiny Football is currently selling for $12.99 in the US while in early access. That’s a little bit too high in my opinion as it competes with other arcade-style football games like Retro Goal — a game that is much more affordable and properly priced at about $5. Considering the limitations of a game that is only available on PC, I can’t envision too many folks will be sitting down in front of their PCs and forking over some cash to play this when comparable alternatives are available for cheaper and on mobile devices. https://www.operationsports.com/tiny-football-early-access-review-pc-slightly-overpriced-but-fun/

In response to Russia’s continuing war of aggression against Ukraine and the gravity of the current escalation against civilians and civilian infrastructure, the Council adopted today a ninth package of new measures intended to step up pressure on Russia and its government. Export controls and restrictions Today's decision imposes new export controls and restrictions on dual-use goods and technology as well as goods and technology that can contribute to the technological enhancement of Russia’s defence and security sector by significantly expanding the list of entities connected to Russia’s military and industrial complex by additional 168 entities targeted by sectoral measures. This will ensure that key chemicals, nerve agents, night-vision and radio-navigation equipment, electronics and IT components that could be used by the Russian war machine cannot be freely traded. To avoid circumvention, some Russian-controlled entities based in illegally annexed Crimea or Sevastopol are also included in the list. Furthermore, the EU will expand the export ban on aviation and the space industry related goods and technology to include aircraft engines and their parts. This prohibition will apply to both manned and unmanned aircrafts, meaning that from now on there will be a ban on the direct exports of drone engines to Russia and any third country that could supply drones to Russia. None of the measures adopted in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine target in any way the trade in agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers, between third countries and Russia. However, in view of the Union’s determined stance to avoid and combat food insecurity around the world, and in order to avoid disruptions in the payment channels for agricultural products, it was decided to introduce a new derogation allowing to unfreeze assets of, and to make funds and economic resources available to, certain individuals who held a significant role in international trade in agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilisers, prior to their listing. Banking sector The EU will impose an asset freeze against two additional Russian banks and add the Russian Regional Development Bank to the list of Russian State-owned or controlled entities that are subject to a full transaction ban. Broadcasting In order to address the Russian Federation's systematic, international campaign of disinformation and information mani[CENSORED]tion intended to destabilise its neighbouring countries, the EU and its member states, the Council initiated the process for suspending the broadcasting licences of four additional media outlets: NTV/NTV Mir, Rossiya 1, REN TV and Pervyi Kanal. These outlets are under the permanent direct or indirect control of the leadership of the Russian Federation and have been used by latter for its continuous and concerted disinformation and war propaganda actions, which legitimise Russia’s aggression and undermine support for Ukraine. In line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, these measures will not prevent those media outlets and their staff from carrying out activities in the EU other than broadcasting, e.g. research and interviews. Consulting services Today's decisions introduce a ban on the provision of EU advertising, market research and public opinion polling services, as well as product testing and technical inspection services to the Russian Federation. Energy and mining sectors The EU will expand the prohibition targeting new investments in the Russian energy sector by additionally prohibiting new investments in the Russian mining sector, with the exception of mining and quarrying activities involving certain critical raw materials. Others As of today EU nationals will be forbidden from holding any posts on the governing bodies of all Russian State-owned or controlled legal persons, entities or bodies located in Russia. Individual listings In addition to economic sanctions, the Council decided to adopt a comprehensive package of individual measures both in number and content with list a very significant number of additional individuals and entities. In the face of Russia's war of aggression, the EU stands resolutely with Ukraine and its people, and is unwavering in its support of Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/12/16/russia-s-war-of-aggression-against-ukraine-eu-adopts-9th-package-of-economic-and-individual-sanctions/

Animal welfare is a lifelong concern for Megha Budruk, an Arizona State University natural resource social scientist who studies human relationships with nature. The associate professor in the School of Community Resources and Development said she is interested in what unwritten rules exist when humans interact with nature, and what guidelines people should follow to make sure animals are not adversely affected by that interaction. “How do perceptions of these rules vary by level of experience, region or socio-demographics such as income, education and gender? These are the kinds of questions that I am interested in,” said Budruk, who is also associate dean for faculty affairs at the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. According to the National Today website, on Dec. 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many organizations and individuals worldwide began advocating for the declaration to apply to animals, National Today said. Exactly 50 years later, on Dec. 10, 1998, an animal rights organization known as Uncaged launched International Animal Rights Day on the premise that humans must “protest, vote or advocate” for animal protection, as animals themselves are unable to do so, according to National Today. Question: How did you become interested in this topic? Answer: I have always been interested in animals and nature. I grew up in West Africa with a neighbor that had a menagerie of animals in their backyard. I could look out of my bedroom window and watch lion cubs playing in their enclosure or the peacock dancing away in the garden. Occasionally, our neighbor would have an African python tucked up against the wall in her living room. These early and up-close experiences with animals, along with an upbringing that valued nature for its own sake, taught me to view animals as sentient beings. People like Joy Adamson and Dian Fossey, who dedicated their lives to animals, have always inspired me. A few years ago, I was back in Africa on an ASU project and was touring a national park when I struck up a conversation with a pair of wildlife photographers from India who led wildlife photography tours to East Africa. They were nature photographers, but they were smoking in a national park! That conversation made me aware that wildlife photography is growing in po[CENSORED]rity in India, and got me interested in what guides people’s behavior in nature during non-extractive activities like photography. Q: Please share one of your most interesting findings. A: I am still in the midst of data collection; however, in the process of background research on my study and in talking with wildlife photographers, I was surprised to learn that India has one of the world’s largest number of wildlife photographers (both amateur and professional) with the result that both Nikon and Canon are holding numerous wildlife photography competitions and heavily marketing their products in India. So while wildlife photography as a hobby and profession is booming in India, there are very few guidelines regarding appropriate behavior when photographing animals. Oftentimes (and not just in India), nests are destroyed, babies and young are disturbed, or sensitive habitats are trampled on in the quest for that perfect photograph. As I study human relationships with nature, I know the importance of having people experience nature firsthand if we are to get people to care for nature. Yet, on the flip side, human experiences with nature need to happen in a way that humans view animals, and by extension nature, as having rights. This is especially important since animals (nature) do not have a voice. https://news.asu.edu/20221208-asu-researcher-examines-what-rules-should-guide-human-interaction-animals

Sharon Osbourne was hospitalized the evening of Friday, Dec. 16, in California due to an "unspecified medical emergency," according to Santa Paula police. On Friday at approximately 6:30 p.m., the British TV host was taken to Ventura County Medical Center. Officials told NBC News that the emergency was considered "non-life threatening." NBC News and TODAY.com reached out to Osbourne's team in a request for comment. A representative for Osbourne told TODAY.com that she fainted. Her son, Jack Osbourne, later posted an Instagram story that said his mom had returned home. "Thank you to everyone who has reached out with love and support," read the post. "As to what happened to my mum — I’m gonna leave it to her to share about when she is ready." In October 2021, the 70-year-old had another medical scare when a face-life procedure went awry, giving her painful and "horrendous" results. Osbourne opened up about the five and a half hour-long plastic surgery operation and its repercussions in an April interview with Britain’s The Sunday Times. “I had a full face-lift done in October and I looked like one of those f- mummies that they wrap (with bandages),” Osbourne told the publication. “It hurt like hell. You have no idea.” Following she procedure, Osbourne said that she told her surgeon, “‘You’ve got to be f- joking.’” “I looked like a f-Cyclops," Osbourne continued, explaining that her eyes didn't look the same. "I’m, like, ‘All I need is a hunchback.’” After her husband, Ozzy Osbourne, vowed that they would have the procedure redone, Osbourne said she was happy with her appearance months later. Osbourne, meanwhile, hosts the prime-time talk show, "The Talk U.K.," every weeknight. Her new role comes after she left CBS' "The Talk" in 2021. At the time, she received backlash for defending Piers Morgan, who called Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, a liar in her emotional interview with Oprah Winfrey. Sheryl Underwood, "The Talk" co-host, and Osbourne got into a heated argument on-air, debating Morgan's comments. After an investigation by CBS and a temporary hiatus of "The Talk," Osbourne left the show. “As part of our review, we concluded that Sharon’s behavior toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace,” NBC News reported the network said in a statement. In March 2021, Osbourne tweeted an apology, saying, "I have always been embraced with so much love & support from the black community & I have deep respect & love for the black community. To anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said, I am truly sorry." She continued: "I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive & allowed my fear and horror of being accused of being racist take over." Osbourne added that she was "still learning" and would continue to "listen and do better." https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.today.com/today/amp/rcna62255

Happy Birthday!

Nickname: @FazzNoth Video author: Gamer's Little Playground Name of the game: High On Life Link video: Rate this video 1-10: -

When it comes to creating solid mobile titles, simplicity is key. Vampire Survivors, a game that mastered this on PC, brings its mayhem to the phone thanks to Poncle. Players get the chance to play as one of many kinds of vampire hunters in a world overrun with monsters. Each area you visit has different hordes to take on, but since your character attacks automatically, your main goal is to keep your hero alive and navigate safely through the waves. There's a lot to fight and discover, but that only matters if you manage to survive long enough. WHO ARE THE VAMPIRE SURVIVORS? Since this is a port of the PC game, the whole concept is kept mostly intact, meaning the story comes over with it. Vampire Survivors doesn't bog you down with too many details, but there is a basic plot. The armies of darkness have gone unchecked for too long and are starting to consume the world. At the head of the forces resisting them is the Belpaese family, a mix of warriors and magic users trained in fighting monsters. As they come together, they'll recruit other willing fighters to join their cause. You're always making your last stand, but who knows how long it will last? VAMPIRE SURVIVORS ARE MODERN ARCADE HEROES There was never any guarantee in arcade games, but that's what made them so enticing. Vampire Survivors has a very similar feel. As soon as the game is up and running, you're literally several clicks away from being thrown to the wolves… which is exciting, to say the least. The maps are surprisingly large but quickly become swarmed with enemies prompting you to move strategically. You feel encouraged to last as long as you can just so that you can see what other monsters you’ll encounter alongside discovering what lies far across the map.The game is also very empowering in terms of level-ups and upgrades. It paces itself well by starting with fast growth and rising steadily to a point where you're hoping the next level is just around the corner. There's also the sheer number of weapons and accessories to choose from to change your build. Each character has different stats and starting weapons, but you can make them each how you want based on what you choose to improve. Because of the limited choices per level up, seeking out chests becomes a worthy endeavour for the chance to get multiple upgrades at once, with some gold and pleasing fanfare to spare. THE VAMPIRE SURVIVORS SLOW DOWN Whenever a game meant for PC moves to mobile, things need to change and this isn't always good news. Unfortunately, Vampire Survivors is suffering from these changes right out of the gate. The main negative is the game’s overall speed and responsiveness. Although it's not super demanding in terms of controls and HD visuals, its hordes literally flood your phone. The more enemy sprites appear on the screen, the more lag occurs and the less fun it becomes to play. This also highlights another issue in that the touch controls are not the most responsive. Since this is a game where being able to thread the needle through crowds of enemies is a necessity, unreliable controls easily become the main enemy. JOIN THE VAMPIRE SURVIVORS Vampire Survivors is a 2D pixelated endless-wave game about guiding and upgrading a hero against overwhelming forces. It instantly throws you into the action without demanding too much of you, while still challenging you to make the most of every aspect with each boon feeling like a victory. The game still needs to work out some technical issues since moving to mobile; otherwise, it will just annoy players. Knowing this can help prep you to become a vampire survivor. Of course, if you're looking for shortcuts, you can always take a good look at our guide for Vampire Survivors. https://www.pocketgamer.com/vampire-survivors/review/

Futuristic co-op action game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide receives its first significant update today. Dubbed a "content drop", you and your three grimdarkest pals can now take on the new Comms Plex map. Zealots and Ogryns are getting a new weapon each, too, both power mauls. The 1.0.20 patch lands alongside today’s update, bringing a long list of fixes and tweaks aimed at stabilising the game. The update adds a slack handful of new stuff to Darktide, which launched at the end of November. One of the main additions is the Comms-Plex 154/2f map, which tasks you and your not-so-merry band to access the Comms Plex and make it to the roof of the HL-19-24 Archivum. There, you’ll have to send a message out to allies in the Imperium. Zealots can pick up the Indignatus Mk IVe Crusher two-hande power maul, while Ogryns can wield the Achlys Mk I in one of their massive mitts. With the update, Darktide now supports private games for 2 to 4 players. To start private play you just need to choose that when beginning a mission from the mission board. There’s also a new crafting option called Refine, available in the Shrine Of The Omnissiah. Refining a single perk reduces resource costs for it, but choosing to refine any given perk does lock you out of others. The 1.0.20 patch tackles a load of issues with everything from weapons to animations, and character customisation. It also chucks in a 2400 lot of the game’s Aquilas currency for players to buy, which should mean you can get cosmetic bundles without having to stump up for more Aquilas then you want. You can read more about the Darktide community update and the 1.0.20 patch notes here. As Fatshark’s latest is another co-op game, Ed, AliceO, James, and Liam gave it the ol’ four-reviewer shakedown for our Warhammer 40,000: Darktide review. “What if Left 4 Dead was set in the weird future of humanity where we're trapped in eternal war with aliens and demons and barely holding on inside a fascist regime which worships a man who was quite adamant that he was not a god?” AliceO pondered. “Well, you'd have a grand old time creeping through towering Gothic factories and bursting heretics with your pals.” Darktide is on Steam and the Microsoft Store for £33/$40/€40. If you’re a PC Game Pass subscriber then you can download it that way, too. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/todays-warhammer-40k-darktide-update-brings-a-new-map-and-targets-stability

Latin America’s largest crude supplier says it does not want to ‘go woke, go broke’ as President-elect Lula pushes for change Brazilian oil and gas producer Petrobras has defended its level of spending on decarbonisation initiatives, even as the country’s incoming government pushes for it to play a bigger role in the clean energy transition. Leftwing president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticised the state-controlled company’s generous dividend payments on the campaign trail, calling for it to boost investments in areas such as refineries and renewables. Petrobras is Latin America’s largest crude supplier, with daily output of 2.6mn barrels of oil equivalent, but advisers to Lula argue that the publicly listed $56bn group is not preparing enough for a low-carbon future. “The company needs a more active and innovative strategy aimed at energy transition, both in areas where it has already demonstrated its vocation, such as biofuels, and breaking new ground in innovation, such as wind, solar, hydrogen,” said William Nozaki, a member of the Lula transition team and researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies on Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels. Unlike some other oil majors, Petrobras currently operates no major renewable electricity assets, having pulled out of wind power as part of a wider exit from non-core activities in order to focus on deepwater drilling. However, the company’s director of sustainability insisted it was on the right track towards reducing emissions and was proceeding cautiously to ensure investments had a financial rationale. Rafael Chaves pointed to a recent increase in the Petrobras budget for low-carbon projects, to $4.4bn for the 2023-27 period. That amounts to 6 per cent of its overall planned capital expenditure and is up from a previous amount of $2.8bn. “You can expect growth in this [decarbonisation] capex and a greater participation in the total capex of the company,” Chaves told the Financial Times in an interview. “But we have to be careful not to enter into the strategy of ‘go woke, go broke’.” Most of the funds $3.7bn will go towards decarbonising its operations such as through carbon capture and improving refinery energy efficiency while $600mn is earmarked for “biorefining” renewable versions of diesel and aviation kerosene. The company is also studying possible production of hydrogen, considered a fuel of the future, and offshore wind generation, which is yet to take off in Brazil. “Sometimes investors ask, couldn’t you be investing more?” said Chaves. “The restriction on making these types of investment is not having the financial resources, it is making the projects viable.” Lula’s manifesto promise for Petrobras to once again be an “integrated energy company”, returning to areas it had decided to abandon, has rattled many investors. Political interference in the business under past leftwing governments led by his Workers’ party culminated in an enormous corruption scandal, significant financial losses and a huge debt pile. Analysts said greater investment by the company in areas such as refining and renewables could hit profits, as the returns are lower than in oil exploration and production. With the current Petrobras chief executive Caio Mário Paes de Andrade soon to depart after just six months in the job, Lula is expected to name a replacement who shares a similar vision. “There is likely to be a big clear-out of directors,” said a former board member, who asked not to be named. https://www.ft.com/content/3b0f9feb-80c2-4a4d-889e-35126a582a19

Four chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure in a Swedish zoo and roamed freely before being captured on Wednesday, according to Swedish media. Some of the animals had to be euthanised. Annika Troselius, press spokeswoman for the group that operates the Furuvik zoo, told the Expressen daily that the animals had to be euthanised because there was not enough tranquilizer for all of them. She said that the chimpanzees are strong and dangerous animals and the zoo's main focus "is that no human gets hurt." Troselius told Swedish radio that a fifth chimpanzee is believed to have left its enclosure, though there were no other immediate details. It was unclear how the mammals were able to escape from their enclosure. "We had to euthanise three of our seven chimps today and it is extremely painful for us all," the zoo said in a post on Instagram. "These are individuals we have taken care of, known and protected." Why were the chimpanzees euthanised? The zoo further addressed criticism over why it had not used sedatives instead of euthanising the animals in its Instagram post. "To shoot with sedation darts you need to be very close to the animal," they said. "This combined with the fact that it can take up to 10 minutes before the anaesthesia works, would pose a great danger to human safety." The Furuvik zoo is located near Gavle, 165 kilometres north of Stockholm, and had seven chimpanzees. It is part of an amusement park. According to the park's web page, it is also the only primate research station in the Nordic countries. Chimps can plan ahead for the future It isn't the first time the zoo has made headlines. In 2009, a chimp named Santino collected rocks to throw at visitors. It shocked guests keepers at Furuvik and fascinated researchers because the animal was so prepared. A subsequent study of the 31 year old chimp showed that he had started preparing the morning of the attack. Santino collected rocks and knocked out parts of concrete boulders inside of his enclosure. Interviews with caretakers at the zoo and other observations revealed that he had tapped on these boulders to identify weak points and broken up pieces that were too large to throw. The chimp waited until midday when he launched his attack, throwing rocks at visitors. He didn't attack any of the other animals, just visitors viewing them from across the moat of their island enclosure. The study showed that apes can plan ahead just like humans. According to their observations, researcher say that it shows these animals can "consider the future in a very complex way." https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/12/15/swedish-zoo-euthanises-chimps-after-they-escape-from-their-enclosure-and-roam-free

Kristi Goncalves told “TODAY" she learned of the plea for information about the occupants of a Hyundai sedan from her daughter, who had read about it in news articles. The mother of one of four Idaho college students killed last month said Tuesday that authorities didn’t notify her before they asked the public for information about a white sedan, a car police have described as a potentially critical clue. In an interview with NBC’s "TODAY" show, Kristi Goncalves, the mother of Kaylee Goncalves, said she learned of the Dec. 7 plea for information about the occupants of a Hyundai sedan from her daughter, who had read about it in news articles. “My first thought just started being like, how long have they had this information? Where do they get this information? Was it on a camera?” she recalled, adding that an initial burst of happiness gave way to confusion when she realized that she’d learned of the clue along with everyone else. “The United States just found out the same time I did,” she said. The request which a lawyer for Goncalves described as the Moscow Police Department's first plea to the community for help tracking down a specific piece of evidence also made the family hopeful that the quadruple homicide might finally be solved."We thought it was a wrap," Goncalves said. "We really, as a family, we really felt like this is it." In a news release, Moscow police said the car, believed to be a 2011-2013 Elantra, was seen in the area of the three-story, six-bedroom home where the students were found dead on Nov. 13. "Investigators believe the occupant(s) of this vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case," the release said. "Your information, whether you believe it is significant or not, might be the piece of the puzzle that helps investigators solve these murders." Goncalves also criticized Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt, saying TV interviews she had given about the killings were like "salt in the wound." "Every time we turn around, there’s another, there’s a new I don’t know if they’re new or they’re old I’m just coming across them, and I’m just like, oh, my gosh, how many of these did she do?" Goncalves said. Recalling some of Mabbutt's comments, Goncalves said: "I'm sorry, that paints a picture." Goncalves said Mabbutt described Kaylee's injuries in a phone call to the family, answered by her 17-year-old daughter. She said Mabbutt asked her daughter: "Are you sure you want to know this? And my daughter, thinking that she did for whatever reason, said yes." Mabbutt's description, Gray added, was "memorable, and not in a good way." "I think that the coroner thought she was helping out in some way I'm not sure but [she] gave details to the families about the investigation and about the crime scene and things like that " he said. Such details shouldn't have been given to the teenager, he said, adding that they probably shouldn't have been given to her parents, either. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna61835

@[Ty]M@g0k1l3r has been added to our team. Welcome!

Nickname: @FazzNoth Video author: GameSpot Name of the game: Crime Boss: Rockay City Link video: Rate this video 1-10: -

The Days Gone creative director and writer John Garvin seems a little sore about the reception to his game. Whatever you may have thought of Days Gone, it was certainly a video game. It loaded on a video game system and had many of the features most video games share. You pressed buttons when you were supposed to press buttons. There was a gruff man with a gruff past. There were zombies. Sometimes the game asked a question never before asked in any zombie story ever told: Are the humans the real bad guys here? Whoa.But did you know that Days Gone would’ve been Game of the Year across the board if it weren’t for an army of elite woke reviewers giving it 7/10 rather than 9/10? John Garvin, the director of the game, thought so. He said the game received poor reviews from - and I swear to god this is the funniest thing - “woke reviewers who couldn’t handle a gruff white biker looking at his date’s ass.” Of course, Garvin doesn’t work for Bend Studio anymore. The world is too oppressive a place for a victim like him to stay there, making gems to be ignored by pigs with their woke college textbooks. Or something. Fortunately, after Garvin’s brilliant explanation, the game’s developer released a statement to the effect of, “Of course we don’t agree with this stupid idiot’s moronic opinion.” The thing is - woke reviewers aren’t giving your game mediocre scores. Let’s break this down a bit. First of all, complaining that game reviewers don’t like your game because it featured a “gruff white” guy with a girlfriend is so [CENSORED] funny. It’s some real “you hate me because I have a girlfriend in Canada I met at camp” shit. And this isn’t limited to a man so purely and traditionally masculine that his last name is “Garvin.” There’s this idea that a shadowy cabal of media reviewers (whether it be TV, film, comics, games) are deliberately ignoring the greatness in art when the main character is a white man. Nay, they are intentionally sinking that greatness! They are the real racists here - the ones who don’t give perfect scores! more info: https://www.thegamer.com/woke-reviewers-arent-giving-your-game-mediocre-reviews/

It’s easy to define IXION as a blend of management sim, city builder and survival, but dealing with everything related to these aspects is what makes this game truly a challenge. Beyond combining city building, survival elements and exploration, IXION describes itself as a “thrilling space opera” that unfolds as you explore the stars. In IXION, you take the role of the Administrator of the Tiqqun, a bulky space station charged with finding a new home for humanity. Your main job is to make sure that the station is in good standing and that it will continue to fly when the need arises. The game developed by Bulwark Studios draws inspiration from other survival, city-building games like Frostpunk and Anno 1800 but benefits from some great sci-fi storytelling. Despite the fact that you’ll spend 90% of the time managing the different sectors of your space stations and the “too many” type of resources, there’s a pretty compelling tale of humanity’s search for a new home that’ll keep you engaged. The game is split into chapters, each with one or more main goals to achieve, which usually involve adding certain buildings to your space station or gathering a certain number of resources. As you progress, these objectives become more complex and the deadlines much tighter. After restarting the game a few times, I feel like IXION isn’t a hard game, but rather badly balanced. It’s like developers are trying to artificially increase the difficulty by introducing some unfair mechanics that don’t make any sense. For starters, once you complete the tutorial that teaches you to add new buildings to your space station, as well as store and distribute resources to where they are needed, you’re thrown directly into the lion’s den. To succeed in the first few chapters, you need to min-max the layout of your space station, which is split into sectors. There are multiple factors that contribute to the overall performance of your space stations, such as the working conditions (if your people are overworked, efficiency drops), the level of trust, and the state of Tiqqun’s hull. For some reason, the hull of the space station deteriorates even when it’s not moving, so you’ll have to continually spend resources to patch it up. That happens at a higher pace the more sectors you have open on Tiqqun, which puts even more pressure on the economy. Random events are one of the main ways that the game influences the trust of the people on the space station in the Administrator. One wrong choice and you’re in deep trouble, two wrong choices and it’s probably game over. Between ensuring your po[CENSORED]tion is not overworked, trying to build all the structures the game wants you to, exploring and scavenging, as well as trying to keep people happy, all the while making sure that you have enough resources to continually repair Tiqqun’s hull, IXION becomes almost a complete chaos. Not to mention that, right from the first chapter, you’ll begin experiencing random accidents that will damage not just buildings but also the hull of the space station. Although it doesn’t take too long to repair buildings, having multiple “random accidents” usually leads to a huge loss in hull health. I strongly believe that the pace at which these accidents happen is much higher than it should be. Add to that the inherent riots that you’ll most likely have due to what happens in the game story-wise, and you’re suddenly entering an inescapable death spiral. Conclusion IXION does a lot of things right and has a pretty good story to tell, but the way many of the game’s mechanics complete each other feels faulty. Timers are too tight, accidents happen way more frequently than they should, many stability debuffs don’t make sense at all, which clearly points to balancing issues. However, if you manage to get past these balancing problems, there’s some interesting stuff in IXION. Bar the issues I highlighted, this could be the ultimate sci-fi colony builder. I pretty much loved the exploration part and all the mysteries involved, as well as the events that randomly pop up on the space station. It’s like being the captain of Battlestar Galactica trying to manage all the crisis the game throws at you. https://www.autoevolution.com/news/ixion-review-pc-a-dark-grim-take-on-humanitys-search-for-a-new-home-206086.html

Keir Starmer must urgently develop a series of practical policies to address the economic “disaster” of Brexit and prevent it from driving Scotland towards independence, a former Labour Europe minister has warned. Backed by several other Labour peers, Peter Hain, who is also a former Northern Ireland secretary, says the crises caused by climate change, the Ukraine war, the lack of economic growth and rising energy prices can only be tackled through closer cooperation with our EU neighbours than the current Brexit arrangements allow. Writing in today’s Observer, Lord Hain describes Brexit as a “taboo subject” because the Conservatives “won’t admit” the huge damage it has done to the economy, and because Labour remains “understandably reluctant to rekindle old Brexit flames”. But Hain argues that – as the governor of the Bank of England, the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development all now agree – quitting the EU is the main reason why the UK is the only G7 country with an economy still below its pre-pandemic size, and Labour, as the prospective party of government, has a duty to prepare a detailed plan for Brexit damage limitation. Hain says that, across a range of policies, Brexit has failed and the effects – often those that are the reverse of what was promised by lead Brexiters - will only become more evident, with potentially lethal effects on the union of England with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. “Brexit, supposed to control immigration, has in fact delivered both chronic labour shortages and a dramatic jump in net migration in the year to June 2022, to a record 504,000 – deeply ironic given the racist undertone to much of the Brexit campaign. “As these Brexit failings become more evident, support for Scottish independence appears to be edging up. Unless Labour does something about it, we could get independence driven at least in part by Brexit, which Nicola Sturgeon continually stresses in making her case.” Among the measures Hain suggests, in addition to moves to help UK companies restore exports with the EU, is a negotiated removal of post-Brexit travel restrictions including the 90-day limit on UK citizens visiting the EU in any 180 days. He also proposes action to solve the crisis over the Northern Ireland protocol, and cooperation on energy policy and climate change. He writes: “It’s high time we all confronted the Brexit fantasy of a ‘sovereign global Britain’. The writing is on the wall. Our destiny lies, if not within then certainly with Europe – and Labour needs practical policies to deliver that.” Former Labour home secretary David Blunkett backed Hain’s intervention and said the economic cost of Brexit to the government was one factor preventing it from offering more generous pay rises to public sector workers – the cause of current strikes. Lord Blunkett said: “Peter Hain is quite right to highlight the tremendous economic hit that can be identified as a direct result of Brexit. A 15% drop in trade identified by the Office for Budget Responsibility illustrates, graphically, the loss of resource that could be available to meet the challenge of drastic falls in income and therefore the ability of public employers to offer more generous wage increases and reduce the pressure cooker of industrial action.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/politics/2022/dec/11/keir-starmer-economic-disaster-of-brexit-labour-grandees-peter-hain

The cockroach, reviled around the world for its sickness-causing potential and general creepiness, now occupies an important position in the study of amber fossils thanks to research by an Oregon State University scientist. George Poinar Jr., professor emeritus in the OSU College of Science, has identified a new cockroach species. The male specimen, which Poinar named Supella dominicana, is encased in Dominican amber and is the first fossil cockroach to be found with sperm cells. “It is well preserved with a yellow cross bar across the wings and a central, vertical, yellow stripe that appears to divide the body into two parts,” he said. “It has long spines, used for defense, on its legs, especially the hind legs. Also of interest is the sperm bundle containing spermatozoa with dark acrosomes, structures covering the head of the sperm, since fossil sperm are rare.” The specimen, about 30 million years old, is also the only cockroach of its variety, ectobiid, to be discovered in amber from the Dominican Republic, though it has no living descendants in the Dominican or anywhere in the West Indies. As is the case with another Supella cockroach described earlier from Mexican amber, S. dominicana’s closest living relatives are in Africa and Asia. “So what caused these cockroaches to become extinct when it is so difficult to get rid of them today?” wondered Poinar, an international expert in using plant and animal life forms preserved in amber to learn about the biology and ecology of the distant past. There are more than 4,000 species of cockroaches crawling around multiple habitats all over the Earth, but only about 30 types of roaches share habitat with humans, and just a handful of those are regarded as pests. But they are highly regarded as such, Poinar notes. Ancient, primitive and extraordinarily resilient, cockroaches can survive in temperatures well below freezing and can withstand pressures of up to 900 times their body weight, he said – which means if you try to kill one by stepping on it, you probably won’t succeed. Cockroaches are so tough that they can live for a week after being decapitated, he added, and they can scuttle at a lightning pace – their speed to body length ratio is equivalent to a human running at about 200 mph. Since it doesn’t bother cockroaches to walk through sewage or decaying matter, they’ll potentially contaminate whatever surface they touch in your home as they search for food in the form of grease, crumbs, pantry items, even book bindings and cardboard. “They are considered medically important insects since they are carriers of human pathogens, including bacteria that cause salmonella, staphylococcus and streptococcus,” Poinar said. “They also harbor viruses. And in addition to spreading pathogens and causing allergic reactions, just their presence is very unsettling.” Prodigiously reproductive, able to squeeze into tiny hiding places and equipped with enzymes that protect them from toxic substances, cockroaches are not easily evicted once they show up somewhere, he said. There’s also growing evidence that they’re developing resistance to many insecticides. “The difficulty in eliminating them from homes once they’ve taken up residence can cause a lot of stress,” Poinar said. “Many might say that the best place for a cockroach is entombed in amber.” Poinar’s identification of the new species was published in the journal Biologia. https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/oregon-state-amber-researcher-finds-new-species-cockroach-first-fossilized-roach-sperm

Bharti Airtel gets board approval for allotment of Rs 61.94 crore shares to FCCBs holders. After receipt of notice for conversion of FCCBs of principal value of $8.6 million from certain holders of FCCBs, the board members have approved the allotment of 11.88 lakh equity shares at a conversion price of Rs 521 per share to such FCCBs. Kalpataru Power Transmission raises Rs 99 crore via NCDs. The company has raised Rs 99 crore by allotment of 990 NCDs of the face value of Rs 10 lakh each on private placement basis. The said NCDs will be listed on wholesale debt market segment of BSE. Apar Industries: HDFC Mutual Fund lowers shareholding in Apar Industries to 6.78%. HDFC Mutual Fund sold 1 lakh shares in the company via open market transactions on December 7. With this, the fund house shareholding in the company reduced to 6.78%, from 7.04% earlier.Uniparts India to make debut on bourses on December 12. The company will make its debut on bourses on December 12. The issue price is fixed at Rs 577 per share.Ashish Kacholia picks Rs 14.65 crore stake in Aditya Vision, promoter offloads 1.7% shares. Ashish Rameshchandra Kacholia acquired 1 lakh shares in the company via open market transactions, at an average price of Rs 1,465.90 per share, which were worth Rs 14.65 crore. Himalaya Finance & Investment Company also bought 1 lakh shares in the company at an average price of Rs 1,466 per share, however, promoter Sunita Sinha sold 2.1 lakh shares at an average price of Rs 1,465.95 per share.PTC India Financial Services sanctions additional loans of Rs 800 crore. The company said the board of directors has sanctioned additional loans of Rs 800 crore to various borrowers. The company is committed to perform better in coming quarters to achieve sustainable growth.Affordable Robotic & Automation arm plans to raise multiple round of funds in next one year. Affordable Robotic and Automation subsidiary ARAPL RaaS is planning to raise multiple round of funds in next one year. For the same it has appointed globally known financial advisory firm as financial advisor. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.moneycontrol.com/news/photos/business/stocks/buzzing-stocks-bharti-airtel-uniparts-india-himatsingka-seide-and-others-in-news-today-9687411.html/amp

Voted.

Nickname: @FazzNoth Video author: Gamer's Little Playground Name of the game: Mirror Forge Link video: Rate this video 1-10:-

The new Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion was overhauled in graphics and gameplay, making it much better than the original. One of the most anticipated video games of the year isn’t really new. It’s 15 years old. And it’s a prequel to a game that’s even older. The new game is Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, set for release next week. It’s a reboot of a hand-held game with almost the same name from 2007, except with nicer graphics and sped-up battles so it can be resold for modern systems, including new PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo consoles. It’s also a prequel to yet another game reboot, 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake. If that sounds confusing, that’s because it is. Video game reboots are nothing new, and, boy, there have been a lot of them lately. This year, game studios have released refreshed versions of po[CENSORED]r titles including The Last of Us, Marvel’s Spider-Man and Tactics Ogre, among others. With Reunion, the maker of Final Fantasy, Square Enix, is capitalizing on the enterprise of nostalgia. Final Fantasy, originally released in 1987, became a blockbuster when the game’s seventh installment debuted in 1997. In that game, players took on the role of Cloud, an angsty mercenary working with a group of misfits to prevent the apocalypse. Since then, Final Fantasy VII has become one of the most influential games in history, spawning spinoffs, animated movies and fan fiction. The game has been rereleased at least half a dozen times on every major gaming platform, including PCs, tablets and smartphones. It’s a juggernaut and Reunion is playing its part in keeping that franchise going. Most video game reboots don’t do much more than bump up the resolution of the graphics to look better on new TVs, but Reunion is different. With completely overhauled visuals and smoother gameplay, it is much better than the original. It’s a strong example of how to do a reboot with justice and to keep a well-established title going with a very safe bet. “We can see the audience for these characters and the Final Fantasy VII franchise better than if we were to do something that didn’t already have a certain amount of recognition,” said Yoshinori Kitase, Square Enix’s executive producer of Reunion, through a translator.I finished Reunion last week after playing part of the original Crisis Core. The changes in the battles and visuals transformed the game from a so-so installment into a must-play episode of Final Fantasy, whose cachet in the gaming world rivals that of “Star Wars” in pop culture. (To put it another way, Reunion is Final Fantasy’s “Rogue One” the prequel we deserve.) Reunion is also an extreme approach to a “remaster,” which is video game parlance for an old game whose graphics have been scaled up to look better on new TVs. Since Square Enix originally released Crisis Core for a hand-held gaming device, the obsolete PlayStation Portable, the graphics had to be redone for modern systems. Now the pixelated, expressionless faces of characters in the original have been replaced with detailed, lifelike mugs; the drab backgrounds of city streets and dungeons have become rich with color and texture. The game’s producers also took an extra step to fix the most annoying aspect of the original the battle system to make progressing through the game more fast-paced and fun. That’s a smart fix in an era when people have unlimited options for other stuff to do if they get bored with a video game. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/technology/personaltech/final-fantasy-vii-review.amp.html

A dedicated renewal for an already-legendary game. Seven dwarves set out from the Mountainhomes to establish a new colony in world rife with gods, monsters, and ancient legends. Though small, these dwarves are the heroes of our tale: Short, sturdy creatures fond of drink and industry. In their ingenuity they will craft incredible artifacts, face great evils, and establish a citadel to stand the test of ages... or they'll dig a little too close to a volcano and flood the whole thing with lava. Then you'll generate another world, with brand new gods, monsters, and ancient legends, and do it all again.All that and more is par for the course in Dwarf Fortress, perhaps the most cult in the pantheon of cult-classic video games, has been generating stories of triumph and tragedy for nearly 20 years already. Its incredible depth has long been locked behind an accessibility barrier of text-based ASCII graphics, arcane keyboard controls, and an inscrutable maze of fan-created mods and tilesets to make it more approachable. And while that admittedly high wall was already worth climbing over, its premium release on Steam brings new graphics and a slew of quality-of-life improvements that fundamentally enhance this amazing game for the next generation of storytellers. Even if you never dared these intimidating tunnels yourself, you’ve almost certainly felt Dwarf Fortress’ impact elsewhere. Developer Bay 12 Games effectively founded the genre we now call the Colony Sim with its initial release in 2006, paving the way for games like RimWorld while influencing countless others, and it's still a reminder of how this combination of procedural generation and rules-based, reality-driven simulation can create unparalleled stories on the fly. Even today, among its many successors, nothing creates a world and fills it with interesting characters so reliably as Dwarf Fortress, and it is a sublime experience to watch this simulation of a world at work as you play your part in it. Doing so is far easier now. The refreshed graphics use a system of sprites, dynamically assembled, to show the dwarven world in all its glory. There are graphics for hundreds of different animals and animal-men, not to mention for dragons, hydras, unicorns, and the like. Even the special Forgotten Beasts, Titans, and Demons, randomized and unique as they are, have generated appearances to match. Beyond improving on ASCII symbols, the sprites and tiles – both static and dynamic – are a superb example of the pixel artist's craft. https://www.ign.com/articles/dwarf-fortress-review

The president of Peru was ousted by Congress and arrested on a charge of rebellion Wednesday after he sought to dissolve the legislative body and take unilateral control of the government, triggering a grave constitutional crisis. Vice President Dina Boluarte replaced Pedro Castillo and became the first female leader in the history of the republic after hours of wrangling between the legislature and the departing president, who had tried to prevent an impeachment vote. Boluarte, a 60--year-old lawyer, called for a political truce and the installation of a national unity government. “What I ask for is a space, a time to rescue the country,” she said. Lawmakers voted 101-6 with 10 abstentions to remove Castillo from office for reasons of “permanent moral incapacity.” He left the presidential palace in an automobile that carried him through Lima’s historic downtown. He entered a police station and hours later federal prosecutors announced that Castillo had been arrested on the rebellion charge for allegedly violating constitutional order. Witnesses saw some small-scale clashing between police and some protesters who had gathered near the station. “We condemn the violation of constitutional order,” federal prosecutors said in a statement. “Peru’s political constitution enshrines the separation of powers and establishes that Peru is a democratic and sovereign Republic ... No authority can put itself above the Constitution and must comply with constitutional mandates.” Fluent in Spanish and Quechua, Boluarte was elected as vice president on the presidential ticket that brought the center-left Castillo to power July 28, 2021. During Castillo’s brief administration, Boluarte was minister of development and social inclusion. Shortly before the impeachment vote, Castillo announced that he was installing a new emergency government and would rule by decree. He ordered a nightly curfew starting Wednesday night. The head of Peru’s army then resigned, along with four ministers, including those over foreign affairs and the economy. The Ombudsman’s Office, an autonomous government institution, said before the congressional vote that Castillo should turn himself in to judicial authorities. After years of democracy, Peru is in the midst of a constitutional collapse “that can’t be called anything but a coup,” the statement said. International reaction was at times outpaced by events. United States Amb. Lisa Kenna called on Castillo via Twitter to reverse his decree to dissolve Congress, saying the U.S. government rejected any “extra-constitutional” actions by the president to interfere with Congress. A short time later the Congress voted to remove Castillo. Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said via Twitter that given recent events in Peru, Mexico had decided to postpone the Pacific Alliance summit scheduled for Dec. 14 in Lima. He said he regretted the recent developments and called for democracy and human rights to be respected. The administration of Chilean President Gabriel Boric lamented the political situation in Peru and trusted that the crisis would be resolved through democratic mechanisms. Spain’s government strongly condemned the break in constitutional order and congratulated the country on righting itself democratically. https://apnews.com/article/peru-caribbean-government-pedro-castillo-62923886f7c53b1dcceb0db84cb09888

The idea of animating the carbon cycle (ACC) is relatively new. The concept champions the role that healthy po[CENSORED]tions of wild animals, both terrestrial and marine, can play in boosting the ability of ecosystems to store carbon, helping the planet stay within 1.5°C (2.7°F) of temperature rise over pre-industrial levels. But for ACC to be fully effective, humanity needs to preserve and protect intact nature. We also need to rebuild po[CENSORED]tions of wild animals, including apex predators such as wolves, large herds of herbivores, and invertebrates such as pollinators. By doing so we can help rebalance the functions of natural systems. ACC puts the spotlight on oceans too, and the role animals there can play in sequestering carbon. It calls for greater protection of the seas and marine life, allowing whale po[CENSORED]tions to grow, and protecting mesopelagic fish the largest group of vertebrates on the planet from overfishing. By looking at the bigger picture of animal-plant-ecosystem relationships, and based on the growing po[CENSORED]rity of nature-based climate solutions, scientists believe that now is the time for the wider conservation and rewilding movements to embrace ACC to help animals fulfill their vital roles in the carbon cycle. Animating the carbon cycle, or ACC, is a nature-based climate solution whose time in the limelight appears to have arrived. The concept focuses on the critical role wild animals can play in controlling carbon exchange between ecosystems and the atmosphere. Some scientists even believe that bringing wildlife back to near-historical levels, in a whole range of terrestrial and marine habitats, could supercharge climate change mitigation, in what is seen as a radical departure from the scientific theories that previously held sway. “Historically in ecosystem ecology, people said animals didn’t matter,” explains Oswald Schmitz, professor of po[CENSORED]tion and community ecology at the Yale School of the Environment, who developed the ACC concept in 2010. The thinking was, he continues, that “plants make habitats for animals, but animals aren’t abundant enough to impact the plants in any significant way … But it’s becoming obvious that that’s not true,” with creatures great and small, from wildebeests to wolves, spiders and whales to mesopelagic fish all important to the carbon cycle. https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.mongabay.com/2022/12/animating-the-carbon-cycle-earths-animals-vital-allies-in-co2-storage/amp/

The New York Times building is shown on Oct. 21, 2009, in New York. The New York Times is bracing for a 24-hour walkout Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022, by hundreds of journalists and other employees, in what would be the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years.Writers for The New York Times are asking loyal readers to find their news somewhere else today. Amanda Hess, a critic-at-large for the paper, tweeted “We’re asking readers to not engage in any @nytimes platforms tomorrow.” The reason is a walk-out. The union that represents writers for the Grey Lady say the owners are not negotiating in good faith. “Stand with us on the digital picket line,” Hess continued. “Read local news. Listen to public radio. Make something from a cookbook. Break your Wordle streak." New York Times correspondent Dana Goldstein shared some of her reasons for walking out via Twitter. “Today I walked off a job I love,” Goldstein wrote. “I want NYT to be successful, & it is! With operating profit over $300 million, we’re asking for an additional $30-40 million in wage increases during a housing crisis in the world’s most expensive city. We have members who earn less than $50,000.” New bill would cap apartment security deposits The New York Times Guild, which represents over 1,300 media workers, stated in a letter to readers that they are asking people to hold off on reading the times from midnight Thursday to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time “while New York Times workers have walked off their jobs.” “This is not a decision we take lightly,” the letter stated. “We know you count on us for vital news and information. Our fight to ensure a living wage for the most vulnerable of us and fair pay for everyone, for evaluations free of racial bias and to protect our health care is really about the future of journalism at The New York Times.” The letter takes issues with the fact the company approved $150 million in stock buybacks to investors while workers are asking for more. Joe Kahn, the Times’ executive editor, stated in the paper that he’s disappointed in the walk-out. “Strikes typically happen when talks deadlock. That is not where we are today,” Kahn stated. “While the company and the NewsGuild remain apart on a number of issues, we continue to trade proposals and make progress toward an agreement. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kron4.com/news/national/new-york-times-writers-ask-you-not-to-read-it-today/amp/