Ga[M]er

Apple Store employees attempting to form a union at the company’s flagship Grand Central Terminal location in New York City want the tech giant to pay workers at least $30 per hour. According to CNBC, the group leading the effort, Fruit Stand Workers United, made the request on Monday in an update posted to its website. “For pay, we seek a minimum $30 for all workers, built up on a matrix based on role, tenure and performance,” the group said. “For benefits, we seek more robust changes, like increased tuition reimbursement, faster accrued and more vacation time, and better retirement options, including higher match rates for 401(k) and enrollment into pension plans.” According to The Washington Post, the first outlet to report on the Grand Central Terminal unionization effort, Apple pays retail employees between $17 and up to $30 per hour, depending on their role, experience and location. “We are fortunate to have incredible retail team members and we deeply value everything they bring to Apple,” the company said. “We are pleased to offer very strong compensation and benefits for full time and part time employees, including health care, tuition reimbursement, new parental leave, paid family leave, annual stock grants and many other benefits.” Organizers with Fruit Stand Workers United recently began collecting signatures from their co-workers. If at least 30 percent of the approximately 270 eligible employees at the store express interest in forming a union, the group can file with the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election. At least three other stores are attempting to form a union, according to The Post. At the start of the year, Apple announced it would offer additional benefits to all of its US retail employees. As of April 4th, the company’s expanded benefits include increased vacation and sick days, paid parental leave and more. Like many other retailers throughout the pandemic, Apple has had a time tough hiring and retaining frontline workers. Over that same period, the company’s retail employees have complained of difficult working conditions, including issues with low pay, stressful workloads due to staffing shortages and poor morale. https://www.engadget.com/apple-grand-central-terminal-store-wage-request-160656059.html

Eureka Robotics, a tech spin-off from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has developed a technology, called Dynamis, that makes industrial robots nimbler and almost as sensitive as human hands, able to mani[CENSORED]te tiny glass lenses, electronics components, or engine gears that are just millimeters in size without damaging them. This proprietary force feedback technology developed by NTU scientists was previously demonstrated by the Ikea Bot which assembled an Ikea chair in just 20 minutes. The breakthrough was first published in Science in 2018 and went viral on the internet when it could match the dexterity of human hands in assembling furniture. NTU Associate Professor Pham Quang Cuong, Co-founder of Eureka Robotics, said they have since upgraded the software technology, which will be made available for a large number of industrial robots worldwide by Denso Wave, a market leader in industrial robots, which is part of the Toyota Group. Clients purchasing the latest robots sold by Denso Wave will have an option to include this new technology as part of the force controller, which reads the force detected by a force sensor on the robot's wrist and applies force accordingly: Apply too little force and the items may not be assembled correctly while applying too much force could damage the items. Mastering touch sensitivity and dexterity like human hands has always been the holy grail for roboticists, says Assoc Prof Pham, as the programming of the force controller is extremely complicated, requiring long hours to perfect the grip just for a specific task. "Today, Dynamis has made it easy for anyone to program touch-sensitive tasks that are usually done by humans, such as assembly, fine mani[CENSORED]tion, polishing or sanding," explains Assoc Prof Pham, who is also the deputy director of the Robotics Research Centre at NTU's School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. "These tasks all share a common characteristic: the ability to maintain consistent contact with a surface. If our human hands are deprived of our touch sensitivity, such as when wearing a thick glove, we would find it very hard to put tiny Lego blocks together, much less assemble the tiny components of a car engine or of a camera used in our mobile phones." Hiroyasu Baba, FA/Robotics Business Unit Product Planning Department, Manager of Denso Wave, said: "Due to its high basic performance and openness, DENSO robots are the preferred choice by companies and universities with advanced initiatives in the field of robotics. NTU Singapore and Eureka Robotics have also been using DENSO robots for this reason. "Because of this relationship, joint development began naturally, and we were able to launch this product smoothly. The technology, which will be installed in DENSO robots, is a technology for force feedback, which is becoming more and more important in the practical use of robotics. Thanks to the development capabilities of Eureka Robotics, the system is advanced, yet easy to use and light enough to be integrated into our standard robot controllers." How the new software works Known as Force Sensor Robust Compliance Control, the new software powered by Dynamis requires only a single parameter to be set—which is stiffness of the contact, whether it is soft, medium, or hard. Despite its simple set-up, it has been shown to out-perform conventional robotic controllers which required an enormous amount of expertise and time to fine-tune. Dynamis is a complex artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm developed by Assoc Prof Pham and his former Ph.D. student, now Co-founder and CTO of Eureka Robotics, Dr. Hung Pham. This backbone technology was further improved and was first deployed in Eureka's custom-built robots, such as Archimedes, which can handle fragile optical lenses and mirrors with human-like dexterity, now used by multiple companies worldwide. Current robots in the market have either high accuracy but low agility (where robots perform the same movements repeatedly such as in a car factory), or low accuracy but high agility (such as robots handling packages of different sizes in logistics). By deploying this technology, robotics engineers can now imbue robots with both High Accuracy and High Agility (HAHA) on a large scale, paving the way for industrial applications that were previously very difficult or impossible to implement, such as handling and assembly of delicate, fragile objects such as optical lenses, electronics components, or engine gears. To be equipped with the Force Sensor Robust Compliance Control capability, the large number of robots already running on Denso Wave's RC8 controllers will only be required to perform a simple software update from December 2021 onwards, while newly shipped RC8 controllers will come packed with the software available for activation. https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-software-industrial-robots-sensitivity-precision.html

PowerColor's Radeon RX 6650 XT Hellhound graphics card is a custom model that is expected to rock higher clocks & power input than its predecessor. The new information comes straight from Videocardz who has managed to obtain the specs of the custom flavored card. PowerColor Boosts The Clock Speeds For Radeon RX 6650 XT Hellhound Custom Graphics Card But Also Requires Higher Wattage PSU AMD's upcoming RDNA 2 graphics card refresh is expected to feature various custom models from AIBs. While a few of these models have already leaked, we haven't really heard about the clocks or power numbers that these variants will offer. But it looks like Videocardz has details of the Radeon RX 6650 XT Hellhound from PowerColor, a custom graphics card that will aim the mainstream GPU segment. The PowerColor Radeon RX 6650 XT Hellhound is said to feature the Navi 23 XT GPU with a total of 2048 cores packed within 32 Compute Units. Now while the GPU configuration is the same across the two cards (RX 6650 XT and RX 6600 XT), the internal clocks and power limits have been changed a bit. The card will come with a dual BIOS profile, one being silent mode and the other being the OC mode. With the silent profile, the PowerColor Radeon RX 6650 XT will operate at the reference clocks of 2410 MHz Game and 2635 MHz Boost. The OC mode features even higher clock speeds of 2486 MHz Game (vs 2382 MHz on 6600 XT Hellhound) and 2689 MHz Boost (vs 2593 MHz on 6600 XT). That's a 4.4% increase in Game and a 3.7% increase in boost clocks compared to its predecessor. As for memory, the 8 GB and 128-bit bus interface aren't going away but the clock speeds are going to be boosted to 17.5 Gbps to deliver an effective bandwidth of 280 GB/s versus the 256 GB/s of the existing model. This is a 9% increase and both the core and memory clocks combined well end up providing a decent 5-10% performance improvement within games. Also, what's interesting is that the 6650 XT won't be using the full 18 Gbps dies like the other two RDNA 2 refreshed graphics cards. We might see higher clocks and memory pin speeds for the flagship Devil variant but that cannot be confirmed at the moment. PowerColor Radeon RX 6650 XT Hellhound vs RX 6600 XT Hellhound: GPU Game Clock: 2486 MHz vs 2382 MHz GPU Boost Clock: 2689 MHz v 2593 MHz Memory Clocks: 17.5 Gbps vs 16.0 Gbps Total Bandwidth: 280 GB/s vs 256 GB/s The boosted clocks also require more power and it looks like PowerColor is recommended users to a 600W PSU instead of a 500W PSU that's currently recommended for the RX 6600 XT Hellhound. It can be expected that the TBP has gone up a bit from the 160W that the current card features. The custom variant will rock a dual-fan and dual-slot cooler with a custom PCB design & will come with a backplate. The card will rock a single 8-pin connector so the TBP has to remain within a 225W limit. We can also expect a slightly higher price for the Radeon RX 6650 XT Hellhound card. The RDNA 2 refresh graphics cards are expected to launch on the 10th of May so more details are definitely expected to be unveiled during the coming days. https://wccftech.com/powercolor-radeon-rx-6650-xt-hellhound-graphics-cards-features-higher-gpu-memory-clocks-power/

Name of the Game : Little Nightmares Price : 4.99$ https://store.steampowered.com/app/424840/Little_Nightmares/ Offer ends up after Xhours: 25 April Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7, 64-bit Processor: Intel CPU Core i3 Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GTX 460 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 10 GB available space Additional Notes: SSE4.2 required RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7, 64-bit Processor: Intel CPU Core i7 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 10 GB available space Additional Notes: SSE4.2 required

Medieval Spain takes centre stage in the next add-on pack for Crusader Kings III. The feudal grand strategy game’s next piece of DLC is called Fate of Iberia, and Paradox has revealed that its release date is set for May 31. Seasoned Crusader Kings players will know that the Iberian peninsula is one of medieval Europe’s most dynamic regions, with internal dynastic squabbles and massive cultural upheavals coming fast and furious over the course of a couple centuries. Fate of Iberia focuses on these, adding a new Struggle system, as well as a heap of new events, decisions, clothing and headgear for the cultures of the region. Crusader Kings III covers the period of the Reconquista, which historically saw predominantly Christian states wage wars against the Muslim rulers who had claimed most of the Iberian peninsula in the 8th century. In Fate of Iberia, you’ll have the option to either attempt to unify the realm under one faith, or broker a peace by dividing the land between the warring creeds. It will be interesting to see how this interacts with the recent overhaul to Crusader Kings III’s culture system, introduced in the update that arrived with the Royal Court expansion earlier this year. However, Fate of Iberia is introducing a new system of its own, called Struggles. Paradox hasn’t said much about the Struggles system, but it will apparently create new options for handling regions that have been centres of historic conflict. Screenshots Paradox has shared shows the new pop-up for the Iberian Struggle, and it indicates that each phase of a struggle will have specific effects in terms of war, religion, culture, and other factors. The Iberian Struggle can end in several ways, with one shot displaying options for maintaining status quo, establishing an Argonian dominance, or de-escalating to a détente. Fate of Iberia will also include new events, new music, two new legacy tracks, new cultural traditions, and the ability to ‘duel’ your ruler’s friends and adversaries on the chessboard. Checkmate. https://www.pcgamesn.com/crusader-kings-3/fate-of-iberia-dlc-release-date

Even if you're a god, betrayal is the only truth. Presenting Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte in the Netflix original series, Sacred Games. Premieres July 6 2018.

U.S. homebuilding unexpectedly rose in March, but starts for single-family housing tumbled amid rising mortgage rates. Housing starts increased 0.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.793 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Data for February was revised higher to a rate of 1.788 million units from the previously reported 1.769 million units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast starts slipping to a rate of 1.745 million units. Permits for future homebuilding increased 0.4% to a rate of 1.873 million units last month. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.0% during the week ended April 14, the highest since February 2011, up from 4.72% in the prior week, according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac. Further increases are likely with the Federal Reserve adopting an aggressive monetary policy posture as it battles sky-high inflation. The Fed in March raised its policy interest rate by 25 basis points, the first hike in more than three years. Economists expect the U.S. central bank will hike rates by 50 basis points next month, and soon start trimming its asset portfolio. Rising borrowing costs are combining with higher home prices to reduce housing affordability for first-time buyers. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market index dropped to a seven-month low in April, with builders blaming the “jump in mortgage rates and persistent supply chain disruptions.” Still, record low housing supply should continue to underpin homebuilding this year. There is a record backlog of houses approved for construction that are yet to be started. Goldman Sachs estimates that housing starts will increase 5% to 1.7 million this year, arguing that “when housing markets are tight, like they are today, homebuilders are likely to keep building because they should have little fear that homes will sit vacant after completion.” Single-family housing starts, which account for the biggest share of homebuilding, dropped 1.7% to a rate of 1.200 million units in March. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/19/us-housing-starts-unexpectedly-rise-in-march-building-permits-increase.html

Sometimes called the spiny anteater, the short-beaked echidna (pronounced ih-KID-nuh) measures 30-45 cm (13.5-17.5 in.) long and weighs 2-5 kg (6.5-14.5 lb.). Although it resembles a porcupine or hedgehog, closer inspection of the echidna reveals some of the animal’s more unusual traits. Echidnas are monotremes, or mammals that lay eggs. They have a lower body temperature than other mammals, maintaining temperatures around 31-32° C (87.8-89.6° F). Similar to reptiles, their legs protrude outwards and then downwards, resulting in a waddling effect when they walk. Two types of fur cover their body. A coat of short, coarse hair insulates echidnas from the cold, while longer hairs act as spines, protecting them from predators. Their sharp, creamy-colored spines are 50 mm (2 in.) in length and are composed of keratin, the same material that makes up our fingernails. Consuming ants, termites, grubs, larvae, and worms, the echidna is specially-adapted to hunt its prey. It has a pointy snout that can sense electrical signals from insect bodies. Once it detects its prey, the echidna uses its long, sharp claws and short, sturdy limbs to dig into the soil and expose the invertebrates. It finishes the deed by licking them up with its long, sticky tongue. Echidnas do not have teeth, but they do have horny pads in their mouths and on the back of their tongues which grind the prey. Short-beaked echidnas are found all over Australia and southern New Guinea, in contrast to long-beaked echidnas, which reside only in the highlands of New Guinea. Limited only by an insufficient supply of ants or termites, short-beaked echidnas live in a range of climates and habitats. They are able to find shelter in rocks and fallen trees. When confronted by predators, such as goannas (large Australian monitor lizards), dingoes, foxes, feral cats, dogs, eagles, and Tasmanian devils (which even eat the spines), the echidna employs several tactics for defense. On hard surfaces, they may run away or curl into a ball exposing only the spines. In other cases, they may dig into the soil or wedge themselves into a crevice or log, again only exposing the spines. Echidnas are largely solitary creatures and only convene to mate. Mating season spans from July to August. A few weeks after mating, the female echidna digs a burrow and lays one soft, leathery egg into a temporary ‘pouch’, which she makes by a folding a section of her lower abdomen skin. After 10 days, a blind, hairless baby echidna (known as a puggle) hatches and attaches itself to a milk patch inside the pouch. For the next 8-12 weeks, the puggle nurses inside the pouch until it develops spines. At this point, the puggle must vacate the pouch, but it still stays in the burrow for the next 6 months and continues to nurse. Conservation Status The IUCN Red List lists the short-beaked echidna as a species of least concern. Although short-beaked echidnas are considered common and widespread, they are protected by law in Australia. Threats include road accidents, bush fires, and droughts. What You Can Do to Help If you live in Australia or New Guinea, you can help echidnas by driving carefully, keeping pet dogs under control, and leaving gaps under fences so echidnas can roam freely. https://animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/short-beaked-echidna/

While the first two Audi "Sphere" concepts focused on the sporty (Skysphere) and luxury (Grandsphere) future of electric, fully self-driving capable vehicles, the new Audi Urbansphere focuses on those who live in tight, compact "megacities'' like in East and Southeast Asia. The focus of this "Sphere" is how the layout of an EV helps create a first-class experience that includes a lighted "red carpet" path for passengers to walk along, privacy panels, individual screens, and even fresh water service while riding to and from the office with Level Four Autonomy. From the outside, the Urbansphere looks similar to many new EVs we're seeing: A CUV-like body with short overhangs, a lift gate, a frunk, and four-doors. You'd wouldn't be mistaken to think this is just another standard people mover with an Audi badge and some trick exterior lighting at the front and rear, which we'll get to later. But open the doors, including the suicide rears, and you'll quickly realize this isn't intended to be an average people mover. The first thing you'll see is that there is a red light emanating from the bottom of the Urbansphere. However, instead of leading you to the front two seats of this three-row vehicle, it instead leads you to the middle row seats, which look more at home on a private jet or in first-class on an international jetliner. These middle seats swivel towards you for easy access, made even easier thanks to the vehicle design featuring a pillar-less open door design. These seats nearly surround you as you sit, much like a modern style chair does. Swiveling upward, the center console reveals itself as if it's floating towards you, and underneath are glasses for the integrated water dispenser. Not only do you have a private screen to look at while riding, but you also have a transparent OLED screen that pivots down from the roof and between the two front seats and allows you to share a screen with your fellow passenger. If you want to, you can give yourself some privacy by pressing a button on the door controls. This moves an arching panel located behind the headrest between you and your fellow passenger. You can also lean the seats back into a lounging position, complete with a leg rest for additional riding comfort, much like a real first-class jet seat. Thanks to the all glass roof, you can get some amazing views of the city while you're riding along or have a nighttime sky to doze off to. The only problem is, say, you want to adjust your climate zone and you can't physically touch the control located on the door panel. That's not a problem in the Urbansphere, where a gesture control, voice command, and eye-tracking system makes changing anything from that to the content on your radio a simple swipe, twist, or movement of your hands. The Urbanshpere will also learn about its riders and adjust to their preferences and frequently used functions, giving the rider a truly tailored VIP experience. It even goes so far as to sense if you're stressed out by analyzing your face and voice. If it senses stress, the Urbansphere will offer suggestions for relaxation that you can use on your private screen and sound zone in the headrests. Even if you do need to touch anything on the Urbansphere, the real wood, wool and synthetic fabrics all give the users a feeling of high-quality and are "pleasant to the touch," according to Audi. The key feature of the interior materials is their sustainability. The seat padding is made of recycled polyamide Econyl, which comes from post-consumer waste including abandoned fishing nets, carpets, and rigid textiles. The armrests and rear fabric are made from bamboo viscose, which comes from the cellulose of bamboo that's made into a pulp before being extracted by spinnerets. The use of real wood isn't just because trees can be replanted, but they're also sourced from the area where the Urbansphere is assembled. Confusingly, Audi claims these materials are made without using chemicals during the manufacturing process, but don't refer to what manufacturing chemicals aren't used. For example, our quick research shows bamboo viscose seems to require the use of sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide for pulping of the bamboo, while sulfuric acid is required during the solidification process for the spinnerette extraction. It's unclear what methods Audi used in its processing. The transparent OLED display isn't the only hidden screen in the Urbansphere. Looking at its interior when everything is off, you won't find dark squares on the dashboard. Instead, all of the content and information is projected onto the wooden surfaces. This gives the Urbansphere a unique feeling of unobtrusiveness, ideally making it an area of calm in an otherwise busy city. It allows you to get away from the hectic crowded landscape. Audi even goes so far as to offer virtual reality glasses in the armrests of the doors that work with the infotainment system, if a user chooses to put them on. Like the other Sphere concepts, the Urbansphere is made with Level Four Autonomy in mind. The entire instrument cluster and steering wheel disappear behind the dashboard when in full autonomous mode. This also allows the entire windshield to become a screen for projecting app and content information, which reduces down to just the passenger side when in manual driving mode. As a level four self-driving machine, the Urbansphere will also theoretically drive itself to a parking space when not needed. While four-wheel steering capable, the Urbansphere won't crab walk into a parallel parking space but instead find a space that's normally too tight for people to get in and out of. Why would you need parallel parking when it can drive right up to where you're standing when you're ready for it? The other key feature of the Urbansphere is the use of the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) EV platform. The Urbansphere is 18 feet long, 5.8 feet tall, and 6.6 feet wide with its 24 inch wheels sitting on a 11 feet long wheelbase, making it one of the largest vehicles Audi has produced (concept or otherwise). It doesn't look like it, as the entire vehicle is designed to look smaller by using a wide curved roof arch, large rockers that help conceal the entirely flat 120 kWh battery pack, and the softened shape of the wheel arches. Even driving the Urbansphere should feel smaller, as it utilizes Audi's air ride and semi-active damper control system along with its advanced four-wheel steering system. This large EV hides its heft, as well, thanks to its dual motor setup that produces 396 hp and 509 ft-lbs of torque. The Urbansphere will get up and go to keep within the flow of city traffic without breaking a sweat. The large battery can also be charged in a hurry. The 120 kWh pack uses an 800 volt charging system that allows the battery to charge at a 270 kW rate at DC fast charging stations. This will allow the Urbansphere to charge up to 186 miles of range in just 10 minutes, where infrastructure is available. In less than 25 minutes, you can charge from 5 percent to 80 percent, which equals out to 466 miles of range. Both numbers are claimed by Audi based on the EU WLTP standard. Since it is an EV, the Urbansphere doesn't require traditional radiator openings, like an ICE vehicle does. However, Audi still wanted to retain its iconic "Singleframe" grille shape. Instead of sculpting it out of plastic and metal, Audi chose to use its advanced LED lighting knowledge to create the "Audi Light Canvas." The entire front end is a giant LED matrix light setup that not only recreates the Singleframe, but also works to give people outside the Urbansphere information from traditional turn signals to indicate that it's accelerating to large red Xs to indicate a warning or hazard. It can even be used to give the Urbansphere some character. This light canvas is also recreated in the rear, but with the addition of indicating when the vehicle is coming to a stop. Finally, as a personal touch of lighting for its occupants, the Urbansphere also includes the Audi Light Umbrella. Not only does the umbrella light up to help illuminate the user for their safety while crossing the street, but the inner skin features reflective material to provide glare-free lighting. That's perfect for taking selfies, whenever it strikes the user's fancy. Like most concepts, the Urbansphere—in fact, all the Audi Sphere concepts—aren't always an indication that a vehicle is coming soon. They are just design experiments to show off the company's latest tech, and to help gauge what the public wants. The Urbansphere in particular is made more for Chinese tastes, as Audi pointed out that they worked closely with customers in the Asian country and integrated features they were looking for. There are many features that the US probably wouldn't consider, like the majority focus on the second row of the Urbansphere. Most of the buying public would expect to sit in the front seats here in America. There are also some questionable features like the clear OLED display. While they exist, the reality is that they are very hard to view clearly against bright, similar colors the display is showing. These screens often require the use of an LCD or tinted background to reduce that glare. The same issues persist with projecting anything on a surface; the moment you shine light against it, you can no longer see it. Of course, there's also that promise of level four autonomy, which no manufacturer has fully implemented in public yet. While eye-tracking is being used to ensure a driver is attentive behind the wheel and voice controls already exist on many cars, gesture control is still something that's not completely reliable, though the tech seems to be getting better. These are potentially all features that are years away, if not entirely possible at all. Overall, the Urbansphere is an interesting concept for anyone that wants to be treated like VIP passengers in a private jet. For most everyone else, it's probably just best to look at the more realistic hints that Audi didn't lay its focus on. The Light Canvas is something that we're most likely to see, especially as vehicle lighting laws continue to evolve quickly here in the U.S. We would be surprised if that didn't make it soon, at least as auxiliary lighting for the Audi Singleform grille on their upcoming EVs. LEDs right now are small yet powerful enough to be used in this fashion. There are other design ideas in the shape of the Urbansphere, how its complementing trim is laid out, and potentially the use of Econyl and bamboo viscose fabric on the interior that could see use in the near future, as well. https://www.motortrend.com/news/audi-urbansphere-concept-megacity-car/

IPL 2022, LSG vs RCB: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said Dinesh Karthik is picking up the bowler's lengths better than even some of the best young batters in the new season. Karthik has scored 197 runs in 5 innings at a strike rate of over 200 for Bangalore. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said on Tuesday that the clarity of role that Royal Challengers Bangalore have given Dinesh Karhik has helped the senior wicketkeeper-batter raise the bar and take his game to a whole new level in IPL 2022. Ravi Shastri, who was India's head coach when Dinesh Karthik last played for the senior national team at the 2019 World Cup, said he is impressed with the Tamil Nadu star's hunger while stressing that there are no issues with the 36-year-old's fitness. IPL 2022 FULL COVERAGE Dinesh Karthik, who had ordinary seasons with Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2020 and 2021 managing just 169 and 223 runs, has helped raise quite a few eyebrows with his big-hitting consistency for RCB. After being released by KKR, Karthik was picked for Rs 5.5 crore by RCB in the IPL 2022 mega auction and he has repaid the faith shown in him by the former finalists. Karthik has hit 197 runs in 6 matches at a staggering strike rate of over 200, drawing comparisons to AB de Villiers who played the finisher's role to perfection until he retired from the sport last year. After hitting a stunning 66 off just 34 balls against Delhi Capitals on Saturday, Karthik had revealed that he was told by head coach Sanjay Bangar that he would be taking up the finisher's role in the absence of de Villiers and Shastri feels role clarity is a big difference to a senior player like Karthik. "I think clarity of thought. His mind is very clear on exactly what he wants to do. The positions he is getting in are brilliant. If you see the way he is batting, he is literally picking his spot the way before the bowlers deliver. He is moving early, he is anticipating what the bowler is going to do. What he is doing extremely well this year is his anticipation is dead right on most occasions and that makes a huge difference. He is outsmarting the bowler. The thought process is very positive, that's making a massive difference," Ravi Shastri told Star Sports. HE IS HUNGRY Furthermore, Shastri marveled at Karthik's improved ability to pick up lengths, saying he is doing so better some of the best young batters on display in the IPL. Karthik has effortless played a 360 degree game so far for RCB, toying with the field even in tense situations. "He had all the experience in the world, he has been around for a long time, he is fit. What's great to see is the hunger, the hunger is still there. He is playing for a new franchise now, the responsibility has been given to him by the support staff. He mentioned what Sanjay told him initially. So he knows his job. "With his experience, his power. At this age, he picks up length better than most players younger than him. It's not easy. He is having a ball, a real ball at the moment," Shastri added. https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/ipl-2022/story/lsg-vs-rcb-dinesh-karthik-hunger-is-still-there-he-is-having-a-ball-in-ipl-2022-ravi-shastri-1939415-2022-04-19

When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, Duncan knew he had to protect himself. Two weeks before the rest of the country was asked to stay at home, he received a call from his team of nurses recommending that he shield. “I’d completed treatment for lymphoma a year earlier and it left me with a compromised immune system,” he says. “I was living with my parents in Cumbria, so we stayed in together.” By October, he had started a university course online and was venturing out for long walks in his spare time, but still being cautious. “I love bird-watching. I took lots of pictures and sometimes sent them to friends,” he says. One of his friends was sharing a student flat in Lancaster with a girl named Molly. “She suggested I send the pictures to Molly as she might like them. I jokingly asked if she was single and discovered she was.” Around a week later, Duncan and Molly connected on Instagram. “I’d been told about him by my flatmate. I think she was secretly trying to set us up,” says Molly. They bonded over a shared love of David Attenborough documentaries and nature. A week later, they set up a short phone call and instantly hit it off. “I found him really interesting and easy to talk to,” she says. Meeting up was difficult as they lived so far apart, and there was no Covid testing available at the time. Eventually, in November, they were able to go for a socially distanced walk. “We couldn’t hold hands or have any intimacy, which was hard, but I knew I wanted to be with her,” says Duncan. “I asked her to be my girlfriend within the first 100 metres of our walk.” Molly was nervous but “really happy … It was hard because I couldn’t even hug him, we had to be so careful.” They continued their long-distance relationship online. “He would put on a suit and I’d wear a nice dress and we’d sit in our living rooms having dinner,” says Molly, laughing. In December, Molly received a negative Covid test and they were finally able to hug. “It was still outdoors but it was so great to be close,” says Duncan. Soon after they met in person, the UK went into its third lockdown. Molly went home to live with her parents in Yorkshire and continued her studies online. Around that time, Duncan’s cancer symptoms returned. “I had some pressure in my neck and at first I thought I might have Covid,” he says. But tests revealed the lymphoma was back and he would need a new course of treatment. In March 2021, before he was due to begin chemotherapy, Molly went to stay with him and his family in Cumbria. “I told her I loved her there and then,” he says. “I also told her it was a lot to deal with, and I would understand if it was all too much.” The next few months were a huge struggle for them both. Duncan’s treatment wasn’t successful, which meant another round of chemotherapy, alongside immunotherapy. “There were lots of ups and downs,” says Molly. “He had anaphylactic shock after one of the treatments and I didn’t hear from him for hours. The chemo became normal but at the same time it really wasn’t. I couldn’t go out much as it meant I couldn’t see him.” As well as struggling with the side-effects of treatment, Duncan also found it difficult to be trapped indoors. “I was so jealous of other people my age going out. We wanted to be a normal 20-year-old couple,” he says. Duncan got the all clear in the summer, but had to have a stem cell transplant and a final round of intense chemotherapy. Now that he’s in remission, Duncan will start university again in September, while Molly continues her studies. “We’re looking forward to doing normal things,” she says. “We have been to the cinema together for the first time and we want to go on holiday. It’s exciting to be able to make plans.” Duncan describes his girlfriend as “a ray of sunshine … She’s been really strong. During the worst of what life could throw at me, Molly was there to make it bearable. She’s also passionate about nature, like me, and gorgeous.” Molly loves that Duncan appreciates her for who she is. “He’s no nonsense and always stands up for himself,” says Molly. “We have been each other’s support system through this trauma and it has made us stronger. He never stops enjoying life.” Want to share your story? Tell us a little about yourself, your partner and how you got together by filling in the form here … we have a small favour to ask. Millions are turning to the Guardian for open, independent, quality news every day, and readers in 180 countries around the world now support us financially. We believe everyone deserves access to information that’s grounded in science and truth, and analysis rooted in authority and integrity. That’s why we made a different choice: to keep our reporting open for all readers, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay. This means more people can be better informed, united, and inspired to take meaningful action. In these perilous times, a truth-seeking global news organisation like the Guardian is essential. We have no shareholders or billionaire owner, meaning our journalism is free from commercial and political influence – this makes us different. When it’s never been more important, our independence allows us to fearlessly investigate, challenge and expose those in power. Support the Guardian from as little as $1 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/18/how-we-met-i-couldnt-even-hug-him-we-had-to-be-so-careful

In a picturesque resort town on the northern edge of Ukraine's Donbas region, people can hear the shelling coming closer. The Russians are just five miles to the north. Sviatohirsk was once a staple of the tourist trail but now it is just another place in the Donbas where people flee the fighting. Most of its permanent residents have themselves fled, fearing the war will not stop its ruthless advance here. It was famed for its historic Russian Orthodox church and monastery, set amid the wooded Holy Mountains of the Donbas. That monastery has been damaged by shrapnel from a Russian air strike that hit a target nearby. There is now a gaping hole in the church spire. Just to the north is the city of Izyum where there is already fierce fighting. The residents who had fled Izyum told us they had been bombed day and night, been without running water and electricity for weeks. They also said there were bodies on the streets. "Everyone is worried," the town's mayor, Vladimir, tells me. He says those who have remained regularly call to check he's not leaving. He is not. He is staying put and organising food parcels for the town's dwindling po[CENSORED]tion. These are people who are tired, hungry and scared, too scared sometimes to apportion any blame on Russia. "I will not talk about it," one woman tells me, "because we still have to go home." Russia is open about the fact that its renewed focus in the war will be in Ukraine's east, the Donbas. The Russian offensive here is coming from three directions - from the north, south and the east. But the landscape of the town that so charms its visitors also offers some kind of protection to its terrified residents. Unlike most of the Donbas region, which is largely flat open landscape, Sviatohirsk is set among hills and forests - providing some natural defences - making it harder for an army to manoeuvre with artillery and tanks. The residents who have stayed behind now rub shoulders with soldiers getting a brief respite from the fighting. They grab a coffee from one of the few shops left open. The military's not allowed to speak to us without permission. One man proudly tells us he was trained by British troops before the latest war started. He's confident that Ukraine can win this war. But I meet another soldier who sounds less assured. The unrelenting Russian bombardment is taking its toll. Another soldier tells us that the Russians have been targeting their positions with white phosphorous shells - which burn into the flesh. There is now a real danger that Russia may soon try to encircle Ukrainian forces in the region who have been fighting Russian-backed separatist in the region since 2014. Ukrainian troops there are among the most battle hardened in the Ukrainian Army. But they, too, are worried that their supply lines could be cut off as Russian forces push in from three different directions. The unit we saw look well trained and well equipped. Their automatic weapons were fitted with suppressors, which are silencers. An officer who agreed to be interviewed says his son, too, was trained - by US and British forces. Volodomyr told us that the Ukrainian Army is now much better prepared than the one of 2014 - when Russian backed separatists took over part of the Donbas. "If this war had happened then, I don't know how it would end, but now we know the Russian aggressors will get what they deserve." Volodomyr says the Russians are using similar tactics they have used elsewhere in Ukraine - "creating panic among the local po[CENSORED]tion". He says "it's inhuman". It is now happening right across the Donbas. From the distance we could see and hear the city of Severodonetsk being pounded. We tried to enter but had to turn back when we heard the whistle of a shell landing nearby. It was a similar scene further south in the city of Avdiivka - where the remnants of a once bustling industrial city were now hiding in bunkers. Even a nearby village hadn't been spared. Sixty-year-old Gallina showed us the crater which had landed in her garden - blowing out the windows of her small home the night before. Inside, her granddaughter, Anastasia, was cowering under a table - still too frightened to come out. Gallina told me "there's nothing funny about this situation". "We live here like cannon fodder," she added. Ukrainian forces are trying to slow any Russian advance - as they did in Kyiv. One soldier shows us drone footage of a bridge they recently blew up - to the north of Izyum. It brings a column of military trucks to a standstill. But more will be coming. What is happening in the Donbas now - the incessant, unrelenting shelling - is the prelude to the long expected offensive. Russia is trying to weaken Ukraine's defences and its people's resolve. There have been also Russian probing attacks across the frontline. Most have been so far repelled by Ukraine forces. But they know more will be coming. Russia is still massing and reconstituting its battered units. There are still questions as to whether Russian forces will perform any better in the east than they did outside the capital Kyiv - where they were forced to retreat. The UK's Ministry of Defence believes Russian commanders will also be concerned by the time it is taking them to subdue the port city of Mariupol - which has diverted men and materiel - slowing the Russian advance elsewhere. Ukraine still fears worse is to come. That's why President Volodymyr Zelensky has once again been calling for more weapons. Until recently Western support has been limited to "defensive weapons" - such as anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. But some countries are now sending heavier weapons. We have seen some of it - such as armoured vehicles - arrive on the frontline. The Czech Republic is providing Ukraine with a dozen T-72 tanks. The latest batch of US military aid will include 18 howitzers. But that will probably not be enough to tip to balance overwhelmingly in favour of Ukraine. Back in Sviatohirsk, Mayor Vladimir says he is still holding out hope that this conflict can be resolved through diplomacy. "All this is terrible," he says. "This destruction has no future." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61139415

V2 -Effect ❤️

WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature for iOS users. The messaging platform is adding a new privacy option, which will allow people to hide the “Last Seen” status from specific contacts. The same feature is already available for Android beta users. The feature has now been spotted in the latest iOS beta version, according to WaBetaInfo. Those who have signed up for the beta program will be able to use this feature. This could be a useful feature for those who just want to hide their “Last Seen” from a few people. There are times when you don’t want someone to know when you were last online. Currently, WhatsApp is offering only three options to hide Last Seen from your contacts. All the options are self-explanatory. The first one is Everyone, which basically means that your last seen will be visible to everyone. The second one is My Contacts. If you opt for this, then WhatsApp will show your last seen to only those whose number you have saved in your phone’s address book. There is also a third option, which is ”Nobody.” This basically means that if you don’t want anyone to know when you went online the last time on WhatsApp, then you can choose this option. WhatsApp is now testing another option, My Contacts except. This one will allow users to disable last seen for certain people. This one is still in the testing phase and only beta users can try it. It is currently unknown as to when this feature will be released to the stable version of the app. The company has been testing this feature for a long time now, so this isn’t expected to take a lot of time. Besides, WhatsApp recently confirmed that it will soon increase the file-sharing size to offer users more convenience. In a blog post, WhatsApp revealed that users will be able to share up to 2GB of files. Currently, the maximum file sharing size for videos, voice messages, and photos is not more than 16MB. For documents, WhatsApp allows you to exchange up to 100MB files in size. Comparatively, other po[CENSORED]r messaging apps like Telegram let you share files of up to 2GB in size. https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/whatsapp-is-rolling-out-a-new-privacy-option-for-last-seen-feature-1939017-2022-04-18

Maria Macumi fled Burundi when her husband was brutally murdered. Like all refugees at Oruchinga refugee settlement, in Uganda, she now has a form of identification that gives her access to the correct supply of food from the World Food Program to feed herself and her children. Part of the identification process relies on iris recognition technology invented by John Daugman, Professor of Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition at the University of Cambridge. "The striking thing about an iris pattern is that it contains a great deal of randomness, making each one very unique," says Daugman. The idea that the iris might be used like a fingerprint goes back to 1949 when a British ophthalmologist named J. H. Doggart noted what an incredibly rich and complex pattern the iris reveals. "I would describe it in terms of entropy which is a fundamental concept from information theory that measures the amount of randomness in a set of patterns," says Daugman. "I realized that iris patterns have a massive amount of entropy, which enables a globally unique signature to be encoded from each one." An 'impossible problem' "To recognize someone just by looking at their eyes sounds like an impossible problem, despite the long tradition asserting that 'the eye is the window to the soul,'" says Daugman. "Computer vision initially focused on predictable objects with simple geometries, like manufactured parts," Daugman explains. "But natural objects are not always like that, and now the field is much more focused on probabilistic reasoning and learning. The key breakthrough in my iris recognition algorithms was to regard randomness not as noise, but rather as the key to the solution." Building on this idea, Daugman went on to develop a set of algorithms called IrisCode which provided an automatic and rapid method for determining a person's identity. "When the codes for two different iris patterns are compared, the likelihood that they might agree by chance in, say, more than a third of their bits (that is binary digits, which are the basic units of data in computing) is less than one in a million," explains Daugman. "Such comparisons are like tossing a fair coin about 250 times in a row—the chances of getting fewer than one third 'heads' are less than one in a million." Astonishingly, because of the simplicity of parallel bit comparisons, the IrisCode algorithm can carry out millions of iris pattern comparisons per second. This proved crucial for the commercialization of the technology. Patents and commercialization Daugman's patents began to be granted in 1994 and were licensed to companies that started to make special iris cameras, such as Panasonic, Oki and Sensar. Such cameras acquire images in the near-infrared band (700–900nm) in which even dark brown eyes, as possessed by most of the world's people, reveal rich iris texture. Other licensees included systems integrators like Sagem and Morpho, data centers like Google, banks, and designers of airport security gates and systems, such as the UK Home Office project IRIS (Iris Recognition Immigration System) for passport-free international border crossing. Using information theory, Daugman demonstrated that IrisCode was highly resistant to generating false matches even within datasets topping billions. Such a robust biometric technology had not been seen prior to IrisCode and no such technology has been developed since. Today, all iris recognition systems across the world are based on the algorithms created by Daugman. "In India," said Daugman, "if you don't have the means of confirming your identity, you don't exist." Without documentation individuals are unable to access State benefits and services. This is a major problem in a country in which only 5.15% of Indians hold a passport, and only a minority of the po[CENSORED]tion hold a bank account. In 2011 the Unique IDentification Authority of India (UIDAI) launched a biometric national identity program called Aadhaar which used IrisCode technology. Now almost the full po[CENSORED]tion of 1.3 billion have been enrolled. "People queued up eagerly to get themselves enrolled biometrically and to get the Aadhaar," says Daugman. "To quote Srikanth Nadhamuni, who was the director of UIDAI, it was perceived to be a 'door opener.'" Tackling corruption The Aadhaar program means that aid is also more likely to reach the people who need it rather than being lost to corruption. Previously more than half of the $60 billion India annually spent on social programs, subsidies and welfare benefits didn't reach its intended recipients. But Aadhaar seeks to address this by preventing benefits from being "siphoned off by corrupt officials and middlemen," to quote Nadhamuni. Empowering women Before the roll-out of the Aadhaar program, a ration card under the name of the male head of a household was often used for access to services. But now women are being given an official individual identity, which is the first step towards improving access to the services they need. For refugees who have lost everything, the benefit of being able to prove who they are cannot be overestimated. It means they can quickly and safely access the humanitarian aid they are entitled to. Humanitarian organizations have adopted the use of IrisCode technology. For example, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) used it to successfully register nearly 110,000 Myanmar refugees in Thailand's border camps between January and June 2015. Saving bank fees IrisCode technology can also make aid donations go further. In 2017, the WFP (World Food Program) combined IrisCode technology with blockchain as a means of making regular cash transfers simpler, more efficient, and more resistant to fraud. It was used at the King Abdullah Park, Azraq and Zaatari Refugee Camps in Jordan. More than $23.5 million worth of entitlements have been transferred to refugees through 1.1 million blockchain transactions. This saved 98% of bank transaction fees, achieving better value for money. The gift of identification In March 2018 the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) of Uganda, in collaboration with UNHCR and the WFP, launched an ambitious initiative to collect the biometric data—fingerprints and iris scans—of everyone living in refugee settlements across the country. The aim of the project was to ensure that food distribution was fair and not subject to fraud. Registration began in Oruchinga refugee settlement and incredibly, just seven months later, the exercise was complete, with 1.15 million refugees enrolled. Central to the project's success was the support of those living in the settlements who spread the message and encouraged sign-up. Today, thanks to Daugman's technology, millions of people, just like Maria, are being treated with the dignity they deserve. https://techxplore.com/news/2022-04-gift-identity-iris-recognition-technology.html

Surprise! AMD Radeon & NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Cards Prices Keeps Recovering, GPU Prices Now Starting at 12% Over MSRP In the latest report by 3DCenter, we can see that the GPU prices for both NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon graphics cards continue to fall which shouldn't be a surprise as that's the trend we have witnessed since the end of 2021. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series prices now average at around 19% over MSRP while AMD's Radeon RX 6000 series averages with a selling price of 12% over MSRP. In addition to that, GPU supply is abundant and currently, there's no retail outlet in the world that doesn't have graphics cards on their store shelves (which wasn't the case a few quarters back). But at the same time, there's a little uncertainty building up in the market, and we will discuss it in a bit. Before that, let's take a look at the respective prices of each graphics card from team red and team green. It looks like AMD's entire Radeon RX 6000 series lineup except the Radeon RX 6800 series cards are within their MSRP range. The Radeon RX 6500 XT and the Radeon RX 6600 can be found below the MSRP while the flagship Radeon RX 6900 XT can be found at MSRP. Now what's interesting is that we recently saw European retailers list AMD's upcoming RX 6X50 XT custom models with over twice the MSRPs of the existing models which may give a sense of scalping going on by the retailer itself but in fact, this price gouging prior to official launch and introduction has been a common practice even before the supply and shortages. Those preliminary prices should be discarded for now and consumers should wait till the updated prices are listed on launch day. NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 30 series lineup is now averaging a 19% surplus over MSRP but the main issue is due to the high street prices of the RTX 3060 Ti which is due to its demand in the gaming PC segment. The same is the case with the RTX 3070 as both of these variants still fall within what should be known as the 'affordable' range. The higher-end RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3090 Ti aren't that much inflated and we can expect NVIDIA's lineup to come down in sub-20% or even single-digit figures by the next month if this trend continues which brings us to the next topic. Currently, the Ethereum 'Proof of Stake' update has been delayed to the second half of 2022 which we reported here. This could trigger an intermediate recovery for the crypto mining segment and this entire streak of prices dropping to normal can potentially be broken. While this will not be as big as a jump as the initial price hike, do note that any hike will once again take several months to come down and we could have the next-gen launches from NVIDIA and AMD be affected by this too. Hopefully, we move towards the recovery of graphics card prices rather than the recovery of the mining slump. https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-amd-radeon-graphics-cards-gpu-prices-now-lower-than-ever-april-2022/

Name of the Game : The Elder Scrolls Online - Blackwood Price : 6.26$ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1400970/The_Elder_Scrolls_Online__Blackwood/ Offer ends up after Xhours: 27 April Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7 64-bit Processor: Intel® Core i3 540 or AMD A6-3620 or higher Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Direct X 11.0 compliant video card with 1GB RAM (NVidia GeForce 460 or AMD Radeon 6850) DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 85 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX compatible sound card RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7 64-bit Processor: Intel® Core i5 2300 or AMD FX4350 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: Direct X 11.0 compliant video card with 2GB RAM (NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 750 or AMD Radeon™ HD 7850) or higher DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 85 GB available space Sound Card: DirectX compatible sound card Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

"How things change, even when we want to hold them forever." It's the little lines like this that really make Sumire shine, both as a game and as a memorable protagonist. In Sumire, you follow the tale of a shy young girl in a Japanese mountain town, slowly discovering what it's like to live a so-called perfect day. While the game is short at just a little over three hours, the whole experience - and all the feels - it made me go through will stay with me for a long, long time. Table of contents Sumire story Sumire gameplay Sumire verdict THE STORY OF SUMIRE The gorgeous visual novel-slash-choose your own adventure game starts off with Sumire waking up from a dream about her beloved grandmother who recently passed. Sumire feels like her grandmother wants to tell her something, so she's left with a sense of longing about seeing her again. As she mulls over these thoughts in the middle of the night, she stumbles upon a magical flower in her house who promises to fulfill one wish for her in exchange for a wonderful day, and so begins Sumire's enchanted and emotional tale. Throughout the game, you'll encounter different townsfolk and magical creatures along the way, and they all remember Sumire's grandmother very fondly. The day seems to be clouded in a surreal mist (or blanketed in a veil of overwhelming sadness, to be honest), almost as if the day is not quite real (but still real enough). The whole story happens in the course of a single day, so you really have to pick the right choices to make each moment count. Written and directed by Michael Ely, Sumire made me cry - the last time this happened was when I finished Uncharted 4, and that's because I knew the characters and journeyed with them from the very beginning of the franchise. But with Sumire, you get to know her and her world only for a few hours, and already you'll feel like she's always been a part of your life - or at least make you wonder where she's been all this time. SUMIRE GAMEPLAY AND GRAPHICS As Sumire goes about her one magical day, you can interact with items and creatures in the background in a point-and-click-esque manner, picking things up and delivering objects to people just to tick things off your list. Sumire has jotted down what constitutes a perfect day for her in her little notebook, but apart from these main objectives, you can also accept a quest or two from a wayward frog or a lovestruck snake here and there - just be sure to remember their favours as the day only passes by once. In particular, I promised a dear scarecrow friend I'd come back for him because he didn't think he'd make it past noon, and when I forgot about my task, I came back to find him dead in my yard - but that's not even the worst blow yet (I'll get to that later). Choices you make aren't all black and white, either - sometimes, what you might think is the right thing to do actually makes things worse. For example, me helping feed a crane's family somehow ended up with his memory being wiped, leaving him an empty shell with no memory of his own family. It just goes to show you that real life is filled with shades of grey, and there's nothing you can do but roll with the punches. Top 10 best narrative adventure games you can play right now At the risk of spoiling the beautiful, beautiful story, Sumire needs to face certain realities in her life in order to have a truly wonderful day. She and her ex-best friend Chie have drifted apart, and the boy she's been crushing on is moving away to the big city the next day. Her father left her and her mom simply because he didn't love them anymore, and she somehow has to struggle with her memories of her grandmother and learn to move on without her. It's this kind of bittersweet setting that we find our lovable protagonist in, and it's a bit too much of a burden for a young girl to have to carry. Still, Sumire keeps her innocence on the inside and her heart on her sleeve, making each line of dialogue deeply earnest, thought-provoking, and all-too-heartbreaking at the same time. WHAT'S THE APPEAL? Sumire made me cry cathartic tears thanks to the brilliant writing and the stirring soundtrack that always seems to be out to get you at every turn (the acoustic background music and the ethereal vocals from the Japanese band TOW are top-notch). The gorgeous painterly visuals aren't helping - they cast everything in an otherworldly and very nostalgic glow, adding to the emotional impact of every scene. Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery review - "A relaxing tribute to art, music, and love" And it's not even the more grandiose things that really got to me - it's the tiny, seemingly insignificant stuff that tugged at my heartstrings and brought on the waterworks. I can't really stress how beautiful this game is inside and out without spoiling the story, but for instance, when one of the townsfolk was talking about his wife, he casually mentioned that they looked at each other across the dinner table one night and realized that there was nothing left to say. It broke my heart into a million little pieces. Lines like this are littered throughout the entire game, and if this were an actual novel, I would have devoured every single line of prose. Characters are all likable and memorable, and each one has a special interaction with Sumire that hides deep, philosophical wisdom with every encounter. The fact that it all happens in a single day with no way to return makes everything even more bittersweet. Sumire will have to learn to live with her choices and her life - both the good and the bad aspects of it - when the sun sets. Of course, it's not all about ninjas chopping onions here - Sumire does have lighthearted moments of childhood innocence, such as mini-games with friends and opportunities to go shopping. There are also dark, almost horror-esque moments in the game, which are all part of Sumire's character development and story arc. If I could give this game more than a perfect score, I would - there's honestly nothing negative about the game I can think of other than me wishing there was more. But even the game's runtime is already perfect as it is - any longer and it might ruin the impact of Sumire's "perfect day". Suffice it to say that it really moved me in more ways than one, and if you're eager to experience the same thing, you'll carry Sumire's little tale - and the lessons learned from it - long after the credits roll. https://www.pocketgamer.com/sumire/review/

If there’s one feature the Solasta community has been clamouring for since the Dungeon Creator DLC dropped last year, it’s multiplayer. The ability to take this DnD RPG on with a group of friends to get as close to the tabletop experience as a game has ever gotten is finally here, thanks to the Lost Valley DLC. After several hours with the multiplayer, as well as the new campaign, I can confidently say that this is Solasta at its best. My multiplayer Lost Valley session with developers at Tactical Adventures focuses on two encounters, one of which features a new enemy type, the spritely dryads. There’s nothing functionally different about the combat in co-op compared to single-player, outside of the fact that you can’t make decisions for other characters. You can, however, see what they’re thinking about doing, thanks to a tooltip that reveals what they’re hovering over or which menu they’re digging through, but the decision is always theirs. The communication between our party was solid since we were in a voice call, but without native voice or text chat, this mystery can be far more consequential. TA are hoping to add a ping system so you can signal your intentions to other players, but without a robust in-game way to communicate, you’re really just relying on trust or a third-party program like Discord. This decision was made out of necessity, community lead Emile Zhang tells us – there are so many restrictions tied to console certification that the studio had to omit the feature altogether. There’s also no matchmaking in co-op Solasta, meaning you’ll need to come to a lobby with your own premade party, open a lobby up for randoms (which is mayhem), or venture into Discords or Reddit to find members for pick-up games. As Zhang put it, it’s a very “Warcraft 3 custom servers” approach. The benefit of all this is that it’s very reminiscent of old-school DnD, where your gaming group either consisted of tight-knit friends or an ever-changing table of relative strangers united by a common interest. You’ll be able to play co-op in any of the new and original campaigns, like the base Crown of the Magister story, from start to finish. Custom campaigns, which are adventures made up of several custom maps put together in the Dungeon Creator, can also be played in co-op, so despite there being no real GM role it’s still possible for one person to create a tabletop style funhouse to trap their friends in. Speaking of being a good pal, DLC goodies sync with the host player of a game. So if the host has all the DLC, then players who play with them in their sessions have access to all of that content for as long as they’re playing together. The Lost Valley campaign itself boasts roughly 20 hours of fresh adventuring for your favourite characters to sink their teeth into from level one, especially with the addition of nine new subclasses, which add plenty of extra layers when it comes to honing your character builds. For instance, the new Swift Blade subclass makes my ranger stronger when fighting with a weapon in each hand, giving them added protection in close-quarters brawls and letting them slip in and out of combat without getting walloped. Beyond the new subclasses, locations, and enemies, Lost Valley is also a very different type of adventure. The story sees your party getting trapped in an isolated valley ruled by a charismatic tyrant, with the ultimate goal being to find a way home. After an exposition-filled opening hour, the rest of the campaign is as nonlinear and sprawling as the best RPGs, especially as you start interacting with the various factions of the valley, who are each vying for control and require your help to secure it. Each faction, like The Rebellion, can help you meet your goals in different ways, so long as you don’t mind doing their dirty work, and many of them are in direct opposition, so you have to choose your allegiances carefully. There are many more opportunities to wander away from the critical paths and into spontaneous adventures. Oftentimes, I find myself just choosing a direction and seeing what stones I can turn over. By open-world game standards, this might seem rudimentary, but it’s a massive change compared to the subterranean confines that make up most Solasta adventures. It’s also designed to make the most out of some of the RPG’s underutilised mechanics, like interpreting foreign languages – I’ve already cast the Comprehend Languages spell twice in a few hours of play, whereas I hadn’t used it all during my 20-hour run of Crown of the Magister. If you’ve been waiting to drop into Solasta, then now is the perfect time to make the jump. Multiplayer makes the prospect of tackling the tricky main campaign a lot less intimidating, and getting groups together to play around in community created adventures is a great game night activity. For those already invested and looking for more, the open-ended structure of the Lost Valley campaign lets you plumb the depths of your spellbook to find solutions that feel truly unique, imbuing the dungeon crawling experience of the main game with the creativity encouraged by its tabletop inspiration. https://www.pcgamesn.com/solasta-crown-of-the-magister/lost-valley-dlc-dnd-rpg

Woah, it's almost like the dream team of Indian Cinema have assembled! Four unique individuals go on to achieve great things in their respective fields. But will their success be their own undoing? Did their success come at a cost? Watch these four timeless stories unfold, Ray, premieres 25th June.

Sharply rising mortgage rates are taking their toll on the nation’s homebuilders, as already pricey new construction becomes even less affordable. Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes fell 2 points to 77 in April, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Any reading above 50 is considered positive sentiment, but the reading marks the fourth straight month of declines for the index, which stood at 83 in April 2021. Of the index’s three components, current sales conditions fell 2 points to 85. Buyer traffic dropped 6 points to 60, and sales expectations in the next six months increased 3 points to 73 following a 10-point drop in March. “Despite low existing inventory, builders report sales traffic and current sales conditions have declined to their lowest points since last summer as a sharp jump in mortgage rates and persistent supply chain disruptions continue to unsettle the housing market,” said NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter, a builder and developer from Savannah, Georgia. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage stood at around 3.90% at the beginning of March, and is now up to 5.15%, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is the highest rate in more than a decade. The rate loosely follows the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury, which has been on the rise, but is also being impacted as the Federal Reserve pulls out of the mortgage-backed bond market. Elevated mortgage rates are only exacerbating high prices for both new and existing homes. The median price of a newly built home in February was up over 10% from the year prior. “The housing market faces an inflection point as an unexpectedly quick rise in interest rates, rising home prices and escalating material costs have significantly decreased housing affordability conditions, particularly in the crucial entry-level market,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. Regionally, on a three-month moving average, builder sentiment in the Northeast rose 1 point to a reading of 72. In the Midwest it fell 3 points to 69, in the South it fell 2 points to 82 and in the West it fell 1 point to 89. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/18/homebuilder-sentiment-drops-for-fourth-straight-month.html