Ga[M]er

Playing a major character in fairy tales and mythology throughout the ages, the gray wolf (or timber wolf) has been perceived in many different lights, from “Big, Bad Wolf” to spiritual being. In reality, gray wolves may not embody such extreme vices and virtues, but they do play a vital role in maintaining ecological harmony. Although they are called gray wolves, these ancestors of domestic dogs actually range in color from brownish-gray, to all black, to all white. Gray wolves are the largest of all canines. At 60-90 cm (2-3 ft.) at the shoulder and 1.5 m (4.5-6.5 ft.) in length, gray wolves vary in weight from 25-60 kg (55-130 lb.). They are also one of most widespread land mammals, inhabiting various ecosystems throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and a small portion of Africa. In general, gray wolves’ size and weight increase the further north they reside. Gray wolves are social animals, living and hunting in packs of 2-12. A typical pack is composed of an alpha male and an alpha female (the pack leaders), their pups, and several subordinate or juvenile wolves. The pack members exhibit close relationships and communicate with each other with a range of sounds including barks, whines, growls, and howls. In general, only the dominant male and female breed to prevent the pack from becoming too large. The alpha couple will begin the bonding process early in the year and will mate in January or February. The alpha female then chooses a den site and gives birth to a litter of about six pups, who will reach maturity at 2-3 years old. If a subordinate wolf feels a strong inclination to breed, and his/her attempts to mate are denied by the alpha pair, the subordinate wolf may leave the pack. However, leaving the safety of the group can prove to be a dangerous choice for the lone wolf, who may have to travel hundreds of miles to find a new territory and mate. Gray wolves are known as keystone predators because they help maintain a balanced ecosystem. Their diet consists of ungulates (large hoofed mammals) such as elk, deer, moose, and caribou, as well as smaller mammals like beavers and rabbits. Because gray wolves eliminate only weak animals, herds become stronger and healthier as a whole. In fact, studies have shown that gray wolves have helped prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease, a contagious neurological disease, in deer. Furthermore, in Yellowstone Park, researchers found that the presence of wolves forced herds of elk to move around more frequently, thereby allowing aspen and willow trees to flourish in areas where they had previously been overgrazed. This, in turn, resulted in the return of beavers and riparian birds to the region. Conservation Status According to IUCN’s Red List, gray wolf po[CENSORED]tions have been determined to be stable in many parts of the world, including Asia, Europe, and northern North America. So on a global level, the gray wolf is considered a species of least concern. However, the gray wolf is considered very vulnerable of extinction on a regional level, due to loss of habitat, trapping, shooting, and poisoning. What You Can Do to Help If you would like to help gray wolves, there are several things you can do. You can “adopt” a wolf through organizations like Defenders of Wildlife or the National Wildlife Federation. These organizations support several initiatives that help gray wolves, such as banning aerial gunning in Alaska, fighting to preserve federal protections, and helping ranchers find effective ways to protect their livestock so they refrain from killing wolves. https://animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/gray-wolf/

With the Ford F-150 Lightning, Hummer EV, and the all-new Rivian electric pickup trucks launching customer deliveries recently, it's no wonder other automakers are garnering interest in potentially introducing new pickup trucks of their own. Volkswagen has long sold pickup trucks in global markets, but the brand's executives see the U.S. pickup market's current transformation to electric vehicles as a new opportunity to potentially introduce an American truck of its own soon. In an interview with Business Insider, VW's U.S. chief Scott Keogh admitted that the brand currently faces "the chance of a lifetime in this segment because electrification gives you a reset moment." Keogh believes it's a chance to introduce "alternatives and some new ideas into this great segment," and that VW is considering introducing its own BEV truck: "It's something we're actively looking at, but nothing to actually report now," Keogh said. While we think VW is primed to offer a competitor to smaller pickups like the new Ford Maverick, or slightly larger alternatives like the Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado, further comments from the brand chief suggest VW would dream big and go after heavy hitters like the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, and Ram 1500. "I think a buyer would historically say, 'I buy F-150, I buy Ram, I buy Silverado.' Now they might be saying, 'I'm going to buy an electric one,'" he said. "That reset moment gives a competitive chance to come in, whether it's Rivian or whether it's us." VW has flirted with U.S. pickups a few times in the past. The most recent concrete flirtation was with the midsize VW Tanoak pickup concept at the 2018 New York International Auto Show, that was based on the then-new Atlas SUV and powered by a V-6 engine. However, in 2020, the brand confirmed that concept would never make production. VW also currently sells the Amarok pickup in other global markets, and the next-generation of that truck will be based on the global-market Ford Ranger, though it's not likely going to be offered in the U.S., either. There's more hope for an electric VW pickup, however. VW would likely want to localize production of a North American market pickup on the continent to avoid import penalties that would also raise the price of the model. If a new pickup is based on the ID4 and ID Buzz BEV platform set for assembly in Chattanooga, Tennessee later this year, it's likely a new EV truck could also be assembled in Tennessee and avoid any import penalties. It's also possible VW goes back to its partnership with Ford to work out another alternative. It's unclear how serious VW is about giving a new EV pickup in the U.S. a shot, considering its would-be competitors are already shipping to customers, and it would likely take up to five years to develop and introduce an all-new model (though an ID-based option could come sooner, given the platform is already mostly engineered). Back in February, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess also stated that an EV pickup in the U.S. would be a "good idea" when asked about it in a Reddit thread online. If the brand is going to do it, they need to make the decision soon, or it'll be too late to grab market share away from Ford, Chevy, and Ram anyway. https://www.motortrend.com/news/volkswagen-pickup-truck-vw-ev-keogh/

LONDON: Former England captains say talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes should fill the vacuum left after Joe Root resigned as Test skipper. The 30-year-old Stokes — presently nursing a knee injury — can take the England job with an easy conscience as he had said he would turn it down if his good friend Root was sacked. Root, though, walked of his own accord announcing his resignation on Friday. It followed a dire past year of results reaching its nadir with a 4-0 thrashing by Australia in the Ashes series and then a 1-0 loss to the West Indies. Root, appointed as Alastair Cook’s successor in 2017, holds the record for the most matches (64) and most wins (27) as England skipper, but he also has the unwanted record for most defeats (26). Michael Vaughan — who skippered England in 51 Tests and unlike Root won an Ashes series — told the BBC Stokes is the natural choice. Veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad, England’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, has also been mentioned as a potential captain but his place in the side is seen as being less secure — he was controversially omitted from the West Indies tour. “I don’t see anyone else who could take the position and be guaranteed of their place in the side,” said Vaughan referring to Stokes. “In Ben Stokes you have clearly got someone who has got a smart cricket brain, he’s going to give it everything, he is certainly going to have the respect of the players around him.” Vaughan, though, added Stokes will require help from other experienced players in the team. “Stokes is everything in a person and a player that you would want,” said 47-year-old Vaughan. “But he will need a lot of support around him because when you have got that all-rounder tag and they’ve got that persona that they think they can do everything. “You need to have someone say ‘listen Ben, just concentrate on what you’re really good at’ and that’s out on the field, making decisions and trying to just give us your best performance.” “He has a point to prove after the last couple of months and we know how dangerous he can be in those circumstances.” Nasser Hussain, another former England skipper, said Stokes was “naturally gifted” but England would have to be sure he can cope with the demands of the role. “You have to be in a good place mentally and physically to do the job and Ben has had his problems away from the field,” Hussain wrote in his Daily Mail column. “Whoever the new director of cricket is, the first thing they must do is ... sit down with Stokes, look him in the eye and find out where he is,” Hussain said. He also added that if not Stokes, then “on a short-term basis this summer, the principle of picking your best side leads me to Broad”. “Stuart has a brilliant cricket brain, lots of experience and is a fighter who wants to win every game he plays in,” Hussain said. Michael Atherton — who captained England 54 times — said Stokes could be a stop gap skipper. “That Root stepped down of his own accord makes it easier now for Ben Stokes, the only viable candidate, to take over,” wrote Atherton in The Times. “Loyalty is everything to Stokes and he would not have wanted to take over had he felt that Root had been pushed aside. “Stokes should be given the job, but it does not have to be for the long term. A short, sharp shock is required.” Former England Test bowler and now BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew agreed with Atherton regarding it not needing to be a long-term appointment. However, he took issue with Stokes being a natural fit for the captaincy. “There are so few candidates that it rules out any kind of long-term appointment,” Agnew told the BBC. “Someone like Ben Stokes could be one if he is fit enough, but I do not know if it is good for Stokes or for English cricket if he was saddled with the captaincy. “You look back at the big characters that have captained England like Ian Botham, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff — they have all failed as captains. “We all want Stokes to go out there and express himself.” https://www.dawn.com/news/1685364/ben-stokes-should-be-given-test-mantle-say-ex-england-captains

LOS ANGELES, April 17 (Variety.com) - "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore," the third chapter in the "Harry Potter" spinoff series, collected a muted $43 million in its domestic box office debut. In pandemic times, those ticket sales were enough to lead this weekend's box office charts and land one of the biggest North American openings in 2022. But it's also a sign that magic is in short supply for J.K. Rowling's lucrative and ever-expanding Wizarding World. Dinged by mixed reviews and growing apathy for prequel series star Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and company, "The Secrets of Dumbledore" stands as the worst start for a "Harry Potter"-adjacent movie. (Its predecessors 2016's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," launched to $74 million in North America, while the 2018 follow-up "The Crimes of Grindelwald" bowed to $62 million.) The diminishing enthusiasm for "Fantastic Beasts" is problematic because witchcraft and wizardry does not come cheap. Warner Bros. shelled out $200 million to produce "The Secrets of Dumbledore," and the studio spent tens of millions more to promote the film to audiences across the globe. Like its predecessors, "The Secrets of Dumbledore" will be reliant on the international box office to make money in its theatrical run. The first two "Fantastic Beasts" installments -- which ended with $814 million globally and $650 million globally, respectively -- made nearly 75% of revenues from foreign sales. "Fantastic Beasts 3," too, has been a bigger draw to overseas audiences. Since the film touched down in several foreign markets last weekend, "The Secrets of Dumbledore" has grossed $193 million globally to date. But the persistence of COVID-19 has cut into the box office in China, where 50% of movie theaters are closed, while Russia's invasion of Ukraine has meant that country is not granted access to Hollywood's films. Those limitations have been difficult for all blockbusters. Since the pandemic began in 2020, only five Hollywood movies have generated at least $500 million at the global box office. "Harry Potter" veteran David Yates directed the third chapter in the prequel series, which follows the beloved Hogwarts professor Albus Dumbledore (portrayed by Jude Law). But he's only one of a couple Dumbledores with "secrets," as referenced in the movie's title. In "Fantastic Beasts 3," which was co-written by Rowling and another "Potter" alum Steve Kloves, a young(er) Albus and Scamander, a notable magizoologist, team up to thwart the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Madds Mikkelson, replacing Johnny Depp) from igniting a wizarding world war. The cast also includes Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner and Jessica Williams. Variety's Peter Debruge called the film a "vastly improved sequel," which isn't saying much because fans were not particularly receptive to the last entry. The prequel saga, which predates the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione, is intended to be a five-film franchise, but executives at Warner Bros. are waiting to see how "The Secrets of Dumbledore" is received by audiences before giving films four and five the greenlight. "Fantastic Beasts 3" secured a "B+" CinemaScore, the same grade as its predecessor. "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" landed higher marks, an "A-" score, from moviegoers. Off-screen, "Fantastic Beasts" has been a controversy magnet. On top of declining box office ticket sales, the series has been subject to blowback over Rowling's controversial views on sex and gender identity, as well as the domestic abuse allegations that forced Depp out of the franchise. And Miller, who has a key role in the latest film, was recently arrested for disorderly conduct and harassment, though the temporary restraining order against the actor has been newly dropped. Though moviegoers may not be aware of all the scandals plaguing "Fantastic Beasts," internally at Warner Bros. it has become a headache, one that has become less and less pleasant to endure because the series isn't exactly minting money in its theatrical run. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, however, is much more than a film franchise. The fantastical universe has lent itself to profitable theme parks, live events, a Broadway play, as well as consumer products riches and success on home entertainment. This weekend's other major release, Sony's R-rated faith-based drama "Father Stu," flopped in its domestic debut, earning only $5 million from 2,705 North American theaters. The film, which sunk to fifth place, has earned $8 million since opening on Wednesday. Mark Wahlberg, who stars in the film with Mel Gibson, produced "Father Stu" and used his own money when COVID-19 tacked on extra costs to production. Rosalind Ross, Gibson's partner, wrote and directed the film, which tells the story of boxer-turned-priest Father Stuart Long and his inspiring journey from self-destruction to redemption. "Father Stu" is Gibson's first major studio movie since 2017's "Daddy's Home 2" from Paramount Pictures. An Oscar winner for "Braveheart" and Academy Award-nominee for "Hacksaw Ridge," Gibson has largely been working on smaller indies and straight-to-streaming action films with Lionsgate and Saban Films in the decade since making headlines for anti-semitic and racist tirades. In the No. 2 spot, Paramount's family friendly "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" sped to $30 million from 4,258 cinemas, declining 58% in its second weekend of release. As "Sonic 2" continues to charm audiences, the film has generated a strong $119.6 million in North America to date. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum's romantic action-adventure "The Lost City" took third place for the second weekend in a row. The movie, also from Paramount Pictures, collected $6.5 million in its fourth weekend in theaters, bringing its domestic tally to $78.5 million. A24's genre-overload "Everything Everywhere All At Once" enjoyed another impressive run, moving up to fourth place with $6.1 million from 2,220 screens. Directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert and starring Michelle Yeoh in a multiverse action-adventure-comedy-fantasy-sci-fi mashup, has earned $17.6 million so far. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/box-office-fantastic-beasts-3-opens-franchise-low-43-million-2022-04-17/

Repenting historical wrongs is a national pastime in Germany. But even by German standards, the soul-searching over Berlin's Russia policy is remarkable. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, many German politicians have publicly admitted they got Vladimir Putin wrong. Even German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has apologised, saying it was a mistake to use trade and energy to build bridges with Moscow. "It's a bitter acknowledgement that for 30 years we emphasised dialogue and co-operation with Russia," says Nils Schmid, foreign affairs spokesperson for Mr Steinmeier's party, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). "Now we have to recognise this has not worked. That's why we have entered a new era for European security." That new era was dubbed "Zeitenwende" - literally meaning a turning point - by Germany's SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a now-famous speech in the German parliament a few days after the invasion. It means scrapping rules about weapons exports, a huge boost in defence spending and an end to Russian energy imports. A Russian gas pipeline to Germany called Nord Stream 2 has already been suspended. "For the foreseeable future, co-operation with Russia will not occur. It will be more about containment and deterrence and, if needed, defence against Russia," Mr Schmid tells me. Unexpectedly hawkish words for a party that until seven weeks ago believed Germany's historical guilt and moral duty to make up for Nazi crimes meant peace with Russia at all costs. But in Berlin, the war in Ukraine feels very close. The images of shelled Ukrainian buildings look like German cities in World War Two. And the third-of-a-million refugees, mostly women and children, arriving at German train stations remind many here of their parents or grandparents as children fleeing Russian soldiers in 1945. Even Germany's view of its own history is changing. Putin's war prompts dramatic German U-turn Until the invasion mainstream opinion was that German reunification was thanks to dialogue with Moscow by another SPD chancellor, Willy Brandt. But now the debate has shifted, with reminders that Mr Brandt's diplomacy was backed up by strong deterrence, including a West German defence budget of 3% of GDP. The issue of German historical war guilt has also become more nuanced. Before the invasion the government argued against weapon deliveries to Ukraine because of Nazi crimes against Russia. "Under Putin, official Russian policy tried to monopolise the memory of the Second World War for the bilateral German-Russian relationship," explains Mr Schmid. This blinded parts of German society to the suffering of Ukrainians during the war, he adds. Now there is a greater awareness of Ukraine's traumas under the Nazis. Berlin's rhetoric has shifted dramatically. But some ask whether actions are following fast enough. Certainly warm words of support are not enough for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. He has criticised Germany's continued reliance on Russian oil and gas. In a BBC interview last week, Mr Zelensky called payments for Russian energy "blood money". And a planned visit to Kyiv by President Steinmeier was cancelled at the last minute. There are conflicting reports about what happened: some Ukrainian officials say Mr Steinmeier was not "disinvited". But certainly German politicians and commentators interpret the failed visit as a sign of Ukraine's distrust in the German president, who as foreign minister under Angela Merkel spent years trying to achieve peace by engaging with Russia. At the Brandenburg Gate - a symbol of another "Wende", the word used in German for the process of German reunification - I meet Claudia Major, defence specialist at SWP, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. "Our partners look at us, and say: OK, you do a Zeitenwende but what are you practically doing?" she says. "On sanctions we are timid and on weapons delivery, we are reluctant. So, rightly, they wonder what that Zeitenwende is about, and given that Germany is a big economic, military, political power in the middle of Europe, whatever we do makes a difference, in good ways and bad." Germany has committed to sanctioning Russian energy imports, but wants a gradual phase-out, rather than an instant embargo. The government argues this would tip Germany into recession and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. "This is a dilemma that Germany has created itself," argues political scientist Liana Fix, head of the Körber Foundation. "That's obviously difficult to accept for other countries, who are willing to go ahead with an embargo and have done their homework on energy diversification." Ironically, it's a Green Party politician, Economy Minister Robert Habeck, from a party that for years has been calling for energy independence from Russia, who is having to solve this dilemma. On military support for Ukraine, Berlin says it is prepared to send whatever weapons Kyiv needs. But there are allegations that some ministries are getting tied up in bureaucracy. Here, too, it is a Green politician, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is pushing the governing coalition to go faster. She has called for heavy weaponry, such as tanks or fighter jets, for Ukraine. The chancellor, meanwhile, appears to dodge the question when asked - possibly nervous of losing his party's support. Olaf Scholz has to keep his party onside, govern in a three-way coalition and overturn Germany's guilt-laden pacifist identity overnight. But even his allies say the chancellor should at least communicate better what's going on. One speech in parliament and a few TV chat shows are not enough, says Claudia Major. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61118706

The Easter holiday is bringing some unusual — yet welcome — deals into the spotlight this weekend, including a sitewide sale at Satechi that’s knocking a considerable amount off on everything under the Satechi umbrella. The current promotion, which runs through April 17th and requires you to use one of two promo codes, covers a wide variety of peripherals and accessories, ranging from Mac-inspired keyboards to 3-in-1 chargers. Using coupon code EASTER15 at checkout will take 15 percent off your cart total, but if you purchase $100 or more, you can take 20 percent off with the code EASTER20. If you’re not familiar with Satechi, just know that it offers plenty of functional basics, including charging cables and a number of sleek, functional accessories that are likely to appeal to Apple fans. A couple of highlights include the Slim X3 Bluetooth Backlit Keyboard ($89.99), which emulates the look and feel of a full-size Apple Magic Keyboard and is rechargeable via USB-C, as well as its Type-C Pro Hub Adapter ($99.99), a USB hub that features two USB-A ports and a pair of USB-C ports, in addition to an HDMI hookup and an SD card reader. The latter can easily slot into the side of the latest MacBook Pro or Air models, providing anyone that uses a laptop as their primary workstation with a bit more connectivity. Whatever you’re in the market for, this sale is a great way to stock up on all the essentials for working from home. If you’re in need of a proper travel companion, you can pick up the last-gen Samsung Galaxy Book Pro in silver at Amazon right now for $833.04, the lowest price we’ve seen on the laptop to date. This model uses an older processor, but the 13-inch device is still an excellent value for anyone who is in the market for a versatile, ultraportable laptop. This particular configuration comes with an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU, 512GB of storage, 8GB of RAM, and an impressive array of ports, including a single Thunderbolt 4 connection for docking. Weighing in at just under two pounds and sporting all-day battery life, the lightweight Windows machine remains a great choice for a daily driver. Read our review. If you slept on Samsung’s 2021 smartphone lineup, fret not, as you can preorder all three models in the S21 lineup in renewed condition at a deep discount through April 22nd. Samsung’s current promotion applies to the 128GB Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra, which are unlocked and available for their lowest prices to date. As an added bonus, anyone who preorders a renewed S21 device through Samsung will receive an additional $100 credit that’s good toward a future purchase at Samsung. Note that any preorders placed today are slated to arrive by April 22nd. As far as pricing goes, the standard S21 initially retailed for $800, but is now discounted at Samsung to $675. The S21 Plus and Ultra models, meanwhile, are now on sale for $850 ($150 off) and $1,000 ($200 off), respectively. The current promo makes for an excellent collection of discounts, but if you have an eligible device to trade in, you can also knock up to an additional $450 off your purchase. In this instance, “renewed” means each device is considered to be in “like-new” condition and certified by Samsung. The phones may show visible blemishes, but each features a new battery and comes with the same one-year warranty that accompanies all new Galaxy devices. If you’re in the market for a new MacBook, you can currently buy the 13-inch, M1-equipped MacBook Pro in the space gray colorway at Best Buy for $1099.99, a sizable discount on a laptop that usually costs $1,299.99. This particular configuration comes with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and Apple’s M1 processor, which can’t compete with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips found in the larger, 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro but still offers plenty of sustained high-end performance. The 13-inch display of the 2020 model of the MacBook Pro is remarkably vivid, too, with a native resolution of 2560 x 1600 and support for Apple’s True Tone technology, which dynamically adjusts the color temperature of your display based on the environment. However, keep in mind that the 13-inch MacBook Pro is relatively light on port selection and the only model in Apple’s current lineup that still features the divisive Touch Bar, which, for better or worse, does away with the classic function keys. Read our review. AMD recently announced its Zen 3 CPUs, and they’ve been incredibly difficult to find in-stock. But today, a pair of the most powerful models from this generation of gaming CPUs are currently on sale at multiple retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, and B&H Photo. The Ryzen 9 5950X, which initially sold for $799.99 upon its release, is currently discounted to $559.99 at Amazon and B&H Photo, a substantial discount on the 16-core CPU. It’s outfitted with 32 threads and a maximum boost speed of 4.9GHz, and just like the previous generation of AMD CPUs, it’s compatible with motherboards equipped with an AM4 socket. If you’re looking for a cheaper model with a slightly lower performance ceiling, the Ryzen 9 5900X is also on sale at Amazon and Walmart for $384.99 ($185 off), the lowest price we’ve seen on the CPU to date. The 5900X is equipped with 12 cores and 24 threads of processing power, as well as a maximum clock speed of 4.8Ghz, which ensures it still has more than enough power for modern gaming. Both of these processors are an excellent deal, especially for anyone upgrading from an existing AMD-based desktop. Just note, that unlike AMD’s previous generation of processors, these CPUs don’t come packaged with their own coolers. https://www.theverge.com/good-deals/2022/4/16/23025037/satechi-accessories-samsung-galaxy-book-pro-s21-plus-ultra-macbook-pro-13-amd-ryzen-cpu-deal-sale

You are standing in an apartment when you hear on the news that an earthquake has struck. Soon you feel your body sway and the ground starts to shake, the intensity increasing until the shelves on the walls and items on the table fall off. For 10 seconds it stays that way, loud rumbling filling your ears, and you feel an immense urge to crouch down and hide. Then, as quickly as they came, the tremors gradually die out. Upon taking off your headset, your turbulent surroundings dissipate and you find yourself back on safe and stable ground at NUS—thankfully. Through the use of virtual reality (VR) technology and a vibrating platform, also known as a shake board, students will soon not only learn about earthquakes through slideshows but get to experience them too. This is particularly eye-opening for students in Singapore where earthquakes are non-existent, said Associate Professor Feng Chen-Chieh from the Department of Geography. While the city-state sits outside of the Pacific Rim of Fire and is hence spared natural hazards like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, NUS undergraduates can now experience the tremors first-hand through the project supported by the Learning Innovation Fund—Technology (LIF-T). The VR-based learning environment not only plugs a gap in earthquake education, where fieldwork is limited, but also simulates the earth processes that lead to earthquakes, such as plate tectonic movements. "Fieldwork involves visiting specific sites, but the best thing you could see is a crack in the land surface, a fault line, or a volcano. So, there is some indication of an earthquake, but it is static because, of course, you don't want to be there when the ground is shaking," said Prof Feng. But getting to this point has not been easy, he shared, with COVID-19 delaying the project by close to a year due to supply chain disruptions. The team also had to surmount another obstacle—creating virtual scenarios that they, and in some cases, all humanity, have not witnessed personally. How to shake: Re-creating unseen events As a Taiwanese, Prof Feng has encountered several earthquakes, the most recent being just last December when he was on vacation back home, which had him grabbing onto the desk for 10 seconds during a Zoom meeting with colleagues. While he knows how earthquakes occur, he has not seen the many earth processes that either happened millions of years ago or take place at areas inaccessible to humans. Take the formation of mid-ocean ridges as an example. They occur along divergent plate boundaries deep underwater, where tectonic plates spread apart, creating new ocean floor. As the plates separate, molten rock from within the earth rises to the seafloor, producing volcanic eruptions and in turn, earthquakes. Representing a divergent plate boundary in deep water in VR is challenging, as "no one has actually seen this in reality, so we had to imagine how they look based on published materials," he said, adding that the team had many discussions on how the phenomenon could be portrayed to facilitate learning earthquake concepts. Eventually, they settled on mimicking the experience of diving to the ocean floor. There was also the issue of ensuring the domain knowledge experts—the NUS team—and the graphic designers understood each other. This required various refinements along the way to make sure that the depictions were accurate yet engaging. Technology-enhanced learning: The future of education The project was Prof Feng's first involving VR, but he learned the ropes quickly. Through the LIF-T grant, he was connected to John Yap, a senior manager of NUS IT department who not only helped him with the technicalities of VR, but also advised him about potential pitfalls. These included the risk of students losing concentration, feeling uncomfortable, or experiencing vertigo if the program exceeds three minutes. He was also connected to Prof Marcelo and Dr. Lee of Mechanical Engineering, who assisted on system integration, especially the synchronization of VR, which provides perceptual feedback, and the vibration board, which provides physical feedback. Now, with these hurdles crossed and the system built, the team will soon be testing the system on students to evaluate the effectiveness of the VR environment in improving learning. While there are no concrete plans to expand the project yet, the team has some preliminary ideas to create new scenarios. They include simulating cascading natural hazards such as an earthquake followed by a tsunami, or how natural hazards affect the built environment.` Although such VR environments will not completely replace slideshows, they will certainly make learning more immersive. "Our ultimate goal is to enhance our students' experiences in the classroom, adding a touch of realism to earth science concepts that can sometimes be hard to visualize especially when they happen over millions of years. We compress that into a matter of seconds," he said. https://techxplore.com/news/2022-03-tremors-feet-ocean-bed-vr.html

AMD Ryzen 7000 and Intel Raptor Lake CPUs will be going head to head in the second half of this year on brand new platforms. Both Intel and AMD have confirmed a 2H 2022 launch for their respective platforms and also provided details regarding what to expect but there's new information coming in from Enthusiast Citizen regarding both platforms. AMD Ryzen 7000 on X670 & Intel Raptor Lake on Z790 Platforms All Set For Battle In Q3 2022 The AMD Ryzen 7000 family will be powered by the latest Zen 4 core architecture and will be supported on the X670 platform. Meanwhile, Intel's Raptor Lake family will be powered by the new Raptor Cove cores and will be supported on the Z790 platform on launch. Each family has its own interesting information that has been leaked and you can see the rest of the details in the article below. AMD Ryzen 7000 & X670 CPU Platform - Announcement Expected at Computex, Launch in Mid-Q3 2022 The rumor states that AMD can announce its Zen 4 powered 5nm Ryzen 7000 CPU family as early as Computex 2022 which is by the end of May. The 600-series AM5 platform will also be accompanying the processors though the actual launch isn't planned until mid of Q3 so it will be a similar launch cycle as Ryzen 5000 with an announcement happening much earlier but retail availability in 2-3 months' time. Based on this, the launch can be expected within August and that aligns with the rumors that indicated that mass production commences this quarter. Brand New Zen 4 CPU Cores (IPC / Architectural Improvements) Brand New TSMC 5nm process node with 6nm IOD Support on AM5 Platform With LGA1718 Socket Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Support 28 PCIe Lanes (CPU Exclusive) 105-120W TDPs (Upper Bound Range ~170W) The initial AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs won't feature 3D V-Cache and will be supported on the AM5 platform which supports DDR5 memory. The X670 motherboards will be introduced first but the B650 lineup is expected to appear in either late Q3 or mid of Q4 2022. Do note that a B650 motherboard had leaked out yesterday which means that board makers are already evaluating their next-gen mainstream designs. Intel Raptor Lake & Z790 CPU Platform - Launching In Late Q3 2022 To Tackle AMD's Latest Zen 4 Family The Intel response would come in the form of 13th Gen Raptor Lake core CPUs. The lineup is said to deliver a huge increase in gaming performance thanks to increases in both L2 and L3 cache sizes. Up To 24 Cores & 32 Threads Brand New Raptor Cove CPU Cores (Higher P-Core IPC) Based on 10nm ESF 'Intel 7' process node Supported on existing LGA 1700 motherboards Dual-Channel DDR5-5600 Memory Support 20 PCIe Gen 5 Lanes Enhanced Overclocking Features 125W PL1 TDP (Flagship SKUs) The multi-core performance is also said to reach in the high double-digit since the CPUs will be packing twice as many E-Cores. While the multi-threaded performance will be on par with AMD's Zen 4, it may lack in certain workloads since the single-ring bus interconnect will be pushed to its limit. The issue is said to be similar to Intel's Alder Lake implementation where when the E-Cores are enabled, the ring frequency cannot exceed the maximum clocks of the Atom cores. Just how much effect this will have on Raptor Lake is yet to be seen. As for the platform, Intel will have support for both DDR5 and DDR4 memory and Raptor Lake CPUs will be compatible on both 600 and 700-series motherboards. The platform is pitted to launch by late Q3 or early Q4 2022. The launch will first feature the unlocked K-series lineup & the flagship Z790 motherboards followed by the more mainstream non-K and 700-series boards in the first quarter of 2023. https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7000-x670-cpu-platform-launches-in-mid-q3-intel-raptor-lake-z790-platform-in-late-q3-alleges-rumor/

Name of the Game : No Man's Sky Price : 29.99$ https://store.steampowered.com/app/275850/No_Mans_Sky/ Offer ends up after Xhours: 21 April Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions) Processor: Intel Core i3 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: nVidia GTX 480, AMD Radeon 7870 Storage: 10 GB available space RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system

Every year, April 22nd is celebrated as Earth Day. The movement that originated in 1970 takes place yearly and aims to raise awareness about how important it is to save our planet for a healthy future. This year’s theme is to “Invest in Our Planet” and to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement (equitably). What’s a better platform to raise awareness than an extremely po[CENSORED]r game? Niantic wishes to do exactly that by celebrating Sustainability Week 2022 on Pokémon Go. Between April 20th and 25th, Pokémon Go will spread the message of creating a sustainable future with lots of challenges and rewards for players. Celebrations kick off with the debut of two new Pokémon – Oranguru, the Sage Pokémon and Cherubi, alongside its Shiny variant for lucky trainers. It’s going to be green all around as other Pokémon like Oddish, Turtwig, Grotle, Venasur, and others will appear in the wild more frequently. A few Shiny Pokémon can be found hidden in the grass as well so keep an eye out! Additionally, the seven km eggs will hatch into Alolan Diglett, Larvitar, Cherubi, and Oranguru. Most of these Pokémon and a bunch of others like Chikorita and Sewaddle will be attracted to Mossy Lure Modules and will be available through Field Research task encounters. The Field Research tasks include Mega Energy for Abomasow and Venasaur. The Timed Research on April 23rd will task players with travelling one km to earn an encounter with Cherubi and for every five km travelled, Niantic will plant 100,000 trees. In addition, a new Collection Challenge will add to the Elite Collector Medals and a Mossy Lure Module which will aid in capturing Gloom and Weepinbell. To top it all off, everyone will also receive a 2x bonus XP for spinning PokéStops for the first time. Celebrate sustainability by downloading Pokémon Go for free on the App Store and Google Play. https://www.pocketgamer.com/pokemon-go/sustainability-week-2022-oranguru-cherubi/

The new Halo Infinite Season 2 maps are finally set to arrive in May, offering a bit of hope for fans who’ve felt that the game has been suffering a content drought. The rollout will include “new maps, modes, themed limited-time events, and an all-new battle pass” – and 343 has now revealed what the new maps look like, along with a few details. According to 343, the smaller “symmetrical arena map” is called Catalyst, which is influenced by Halo 4’s Haven and Halo 3’s Epitaph and is built for Capture the Flag and the new Land Grab mode. The larger “pseudo symmetric” Big Team Battle arena is called Breaker, and that includes “environmental hazards” such as a giant laser that cuts across the map. The Season 2 trailer also revealed players in an apparent free-for-all battle inside a walled circle. A mode called Last Spartan Standing was leaked a few days ago, and this seems to be it. It’s said to be a Big Team Battle variation that sounds a lot like a battle royale game – you’ll be improving your loadout by adding points to your personal score throughout the match. Most – but not all – of the cosmetic items featured in the trailer will be part of the battle pass or an event pass, rather than a part of the real-money store. The devs have already noted some major changes to Season 2 in response to feedback, but the FPS game will have a tough road to win back players. The PC version quickly rocket into Steam’s top ten at launch, but has steadily lost players until reaching its current position outside of the top 100. (Those numbers don’t account for players on Xbox or the Microsoft Store.) https://www.pcgamesn.com/halo-infinite/new-maps

From the makers of Insidious, Get Out and Udta Punjab - Ghoul is a chilling series about a prisoner who arrives at a remote military interrogation centre and turns the tables on his interrogators, exposing their most shameful secrets. You can fight the demons of this world but what about the ones that aren't?

The Federal Reserve needs to raise interest rates substantially to control inflation but may not be as “behind the curve” as it appears, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Thursday. One of the Federal Open Market Committee’s most “hawkish” members in favor of tighter policy, Bullard said a rules-based approach suggests the central bank needs to hike its benchmark short-term borrowing rate to about 3.5%. However, he said bond market adjustments to the Fed’s more aggressive policy, in which yields have surged higher, suggest rates are not that far askew. “If you take account of [forward guidance], we don’t look so bad. Not all hope is lost. That is the basic gist of this story,” Bullard said in a speech at the University of Missouri. “You’re still behind the curve, but not as much as it looks like,” he added. Markets are pricing in rates hitting the 3.5% rate in the summer of 2023, a bit slower than Bullard anticipates, according to CME Group data. The comments come the day after minutes from the March FOMC meeting indicated officials were close to approving a 50-basis-point rate hike but settled on 25 points due to uncertainty around the war in Ukraine. A basis point equals 0.01% In addition, members said they foresee the Fed starting to shed some assets on its nearly $9 trillion balance sheet, with the likely pace evolving to a maximum $95 billion a month. Both moves are an effort to control inflation running at its fastest pace in more than 40 years. Bullard, a voting member on the FOMC this year, said Thursday that “inflation is too high” and the Fed needs to act. In projections released in March, Bullard called for the highest rates among his committee peers. He has said he wants to see 100 basis points’ worth of hikes by June. The benchmark fed funds rate now is in a range targeted between 0.25%-0.5%. “U.S. inflation is exceptionally high, and that doesn’t mean 2.1% or 2.2% or something. This means comparable to what we saw in the high inflation era in the 1970s and early 1980s,” he said. “Even if you’re very generous to the Fed in interpreting what the inflation rate really is today … you’d have to raise the policy rate a lot.” The Fed uses “forward guidance,” such as its quarterly dot plot of individual members’ interest and economic expectations, in directing the market to where it thinks policy is going. Judging by moves in Treasury yields, the market already has priced in aggressive Fed tightening. That makes the central bank not so far behind the curve in the inflation fight as it might appear, Bullard said. “The difference between today and the 1970s is central bankers have a lot more credibility,” he said. “In the ’70s, no one believed the Fed would do anything about inflation. It was kind of a chaotic era. You really needed (former Fed Chair Paul) Volcker to come in … . He slayed the inflation dragon and established credibility. After that, people believed the central bank would bring inflation under control.” Volcker’s rate hikes did bring down inflation in the early 1980s, but not without triggering a double-dip recession. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/07/feds-bullard-says-interest-rate-policy-is-behind-the-curve-but-all-is-not-lost.html

Found only in the southern part of Madagascar in the dry forest and bush, the ring-tailed lemur is a large, vocal primate with brownish-gray fur and a distinctive tail with alternating black and white rings. Male and female ring-tailed lemurs are similar physically. They are roughly the same size, measuring about 42.5 cm (1.4 ft.) from head to rump and weighing roughly 2.25 kg (5 lb.). Highly social creatures, ring-tailed lemurs live in groups averaging 17 members. Their society is female-dominant, and a group will often contain multiple breeding females. Females reproduce starting at 3 years of age, generally giving birth to one baby a year. When born, a ring-tailed lemur baby weighs less than 100 g (3 oz.). The newborn is carried on its mother’s chest for 1-2 weeks and then is carried on her back. At 2 weeks, the baby starts eating solid food and begins venturing out on its own. But the juvenile is not fully weaned until 5 months of age. Although they are capable climbers, ring-tailed lemurs spend a third of their time on the ground foraging for food. They range far to find leaves, flowers, bark, sap, and small invertebrates to eat. When the lemurs travel over ground, they keep their tails in the air to ensure everyone in the group is in sight and stays together. Aside from using visual cues, ring-tailed lemurs also communicate via scent and vocalizations. They mark their territory by scent. A male lemur will also engage in stink fights during mating seasons, wiping his tail with the scent glands on his wrists and waving it at another male while staring menacingly. Eventually one male will back down and run away. Vocally, ring-tailed lemurs have several different alarms calls that alert members to danger. They have several predators, including fossas (mammals related to the mongoose), Madagascar Harrier-hawks, Madagascar buzzards, Madagascar ground boas, civets, and domestic cats and dogs. Conservation Status Ring-tailed lemurs are considered endangered by the IUCN Red List. The main threat to their po[CENSORED]tion is habitat destruction. Much of their habitat is being converted to farmland or burned for the production of charcoal. However, the ring-tailed lemur is po[CENSORED]r in zoos, and they do comparatively well in captivity and reproduce regularly. In captivity, ring-tailed lemurs can live for nearly 30 years, compared to up to 20 in the wild. What You Can Do to Help You can help ring-tailed lemurs by contributing to the Lemur Conservation Foundation through volunteer work or donations. The WWF also provides the opportunity to adopt a lemur. The money donated goes to help establish and manage parks and protected areas in Madagascar. https://animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/ring-tailed-lemur/

How quickly can you get your kids to school? Come this fall, probably not as quickly as Freddy Hernandez, known to YouTubers as Tavarish. Hernandez has found one of the few current Chrysler products not to get a Hellcat engine—the humble Chrysler Pacifica—and plans to correct Chrysler's FCA's Stellantis' obvious oversight in time for this year's SEMA show. Ladies and gentleman, meet the future (hopefully) Pacifica Hellcat. We'd love to go into great technical detail about this build, but really, "He's putting a Hellcat in a Chrysler Pacifica" pretty tells you all that you need to know. Hernandez is working from a concept drawing by Abimelec Arellano, starting with a front-drive Pacifica (currently wrapped in Chrysler's Frostbite blue) that seems a bit tired from 200,000 miles' worth of family chores. It'll be awake soon. Hiding behind a garage door is a Hellcat engine which, for those unfamiliar, is Chrysler's monster 6.2 liter supercharged V-8. It produces between 707 and 807 hp in its various stock iterations, and while we don't know what the final figures will be for Hernandez's build—800 is the figure he's bandying about—it's bound to be an improvement over the car's current 287-hp 3.6 liter V-6. Hernandez doesn't expect too many headaches for the installation. The fit will be snug, for sure, but Hernandez is confident that a bit of adjustment to the firewall is all he'll need to accommodate the V-8—well, that and a bulged hood with a (single) scoop. There's no need for a new tunnel, as the Pacifica's Stow-n-Go storage wells should provide plenty of empty space for driveline bits. Pacificas already have space for a propshaft, and Hernandez figures that using the rear subframe from an all-wheel-drive Pacifica will save him a lot of fabrication time. Once the engine is in, the plan is to finish the car with Redeye-spec Brembo brakes and OEM Redeye wheels painted matte bronze (and, we assume, affordable tires, since he'll be going through a lot of those). Whether the car will keep its Frostbite color is up for debate; he's also considering Hellraisin Purple. We caught up with the Pacifica Hellcat-To-Be at eBay's New York Auto Parts Show, a display of project builds using bits and pieces that builders picked up on the well-known auction site, which also has a blog where you can read more about the Hellcat Pacifica project. Hopefully Hernandez keeps that PayPal account warmed up, because we can't wait to see how this tire-smoking mommymobile turns out. https://www.motortrend.com/events/chrysler-pacifica-hellcat-tavarish-ebay-nyias/

It’s a sad day for the nation. Bilquis Edhi, known to be the mother of orphans, is no more amongst us. The right-hand woman and other half of the late Abdul Sattar Edhi, has joined her partner after decades of philanthropic work in heaven. The Edhis did not only assume to be the caretakers of hundreds of abandoned babies but also gave them a home full of love and care during their lifetime. As she breathed her last in Karachi on Friday evening, singer and actor Hadiqa Kiani took to her social media handles to grieve the painful demise of the mother who bestowed her with a son. The Raqeeb Se actor, directly impacted by Edhis' contributions, penned a heartfelt note to remember the "vessel '' that brought her to her son, Naaday Ali. The 49-year-old actor, who thought of the late humanitarian as her own mother, shared pictures with Bilquis and her then, baby son on Instagram. “Mrs Bilquis Edihi was a woman unlike any other,” read the caption. She further added, “She took the world's burden on her back and stood up to simply help the world become a better place. I believe that Allah (SWT) made her vessel of aid to people in need. He also made her the vessel, my source, to bring me to my son, Naaday Ali. She trusted me with being a mother and I, like so many others touched by Mrs Edhi's grace, will forever be grateful. I pray for her peace and I pray her legacy carries on." Model turned event planner Frieha Altaf commented on Kiani’s post to share a memory from the time when she introduced baby Naaday Ali to the entertainment fraternity, a celebration that was attended by Bilquis as well. “I remember the day at PC when I came to your celebration to introduce your son to the world. I was so proud of you. She was there. She gave you and many others the best gift in the world. She gave hope & life to many families. May she rest in peace & inspire many!” wrote Altaf as she sent prayers for the departed soul. Bilquis, a recipient of the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice and Hilal-i-Imtiaz, died on Friday in Karachi from a cardiovascular disease she was under treatment for since the last few days. was reported to be in a stable condition on Thursday after she was rushed to the hospital earlier this week when her blood pressure suddenly dropped. She was 74. on. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2352870/hadiqa-kiani-opens-up-on-how-bilquis-edhi-helped-her-adopt-her-son

Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul made batting look like a walk in the park with a 56-ball century in his 100th Indian Premier League (IPL) game to put five-time champions Mumbai Indians all but out of the league with an 18-run win on Saturday. Rahul's unbeaten 60-ball 103, his third three-figure mark across all editions of IPL, propelled Lucknow to a commanding score of 199 for four and then his bowlers joined the party to restrict MI to 181 for nine in 20 overs. With six consecutive defeats, the tournament is as good as over for the league's most successful team, even before it has reached the halfway stage. Rohit Sharma's (6) nightmare of a tournament continued while Ishan Kishan (13 off 17 balls) is certainly feeling the pressure of the Rs 15.25 crore price tag as he played on a Marcus Stoinis delivery and displayed his frustration by smashing the foam-based boundary rope. In between, Dewald Brevis (31 off 13 balls) hit some breathtaking shots before another find of the season, NT Tilak Varma (26 off 26 balls), and the ever dependable Suryakumar Yadav (37 off 27 balls) added 64 runs to resurrect the innings. Once Jason Holder yorked Tilak, the match as a contest was over with Surya not getting the required support from other batters, although Kieron Pollard (25 off 14 balls) threw his bat around in a losing cause. Surya's dismissal, after he failed to dispatch a Ravi Bishnoi long-hop, was the final nail in the MI coffin. Lucknow's fast bowlers Avesh Khan (3/30 in 4 overs) and Dushmantha Chameera (1/48 in 4 overs) got good support from medium pacers Holder (1/34 in 4 overs) and Stoinis (1/13 in 2 overs). Lucknow have four wins from six games while MI have lost half a dozen games on the trot for the first time in 15 editions of IPL. With the kind of team they have assembled, it will only get worse from hereon as there is no plan B, and more importantly, the players to execute the plan. For Rahul, both as a batter and skipper, the IPL is proving to be the platform which he desperately needed to enhance his captaincy credentials as far as the national team is concerned. On way to his hundred, he added 52 for the opening stand with Quinton de Kock (24 off 13 balls), 72 with Manish Pandey (38 off 29 balls), and another brisk 43 runs with Deepak Hooda (15 off 8 balls) for the fourth wicket. MI's fielding was perhaps their worst in the past four to five seasons and it didn't help matters that Rahul was in imperious form to make full use of it. Bereft of credible options in the dug-out, it was only natural that the tournament's most successful skipper, Rohit Sharma looked clearly out of ideas and his ploy of playing an extra spinner in left-arm orthodox Fabian Allen (1/46 in 4 overs) didn't quite work out. Jasprit Bumrah (0/24 in 4 overs) is manfully carrying the burden but one man can't save the team from the disaster that this season has turned out to be. Otherwise why would the MI skipper start with part-time off-spinner Tilak Varma, knowing that the Lucknow captain is a master player of slow bowlers. The six powerplay overs saw six different bowlers being used and de Kock should blame himself for wasting an opportunity to score a big one on a track that resembled a shirtfront. There were too many short balls for Rahul to play the cuts and pulls at will and also the slog sweep, and not to forget some delectable drives when anything was pitched up. Twenty fours and seven sixes were testimony to MI's plight and the likes of Tymal Mills (0/54 in 3 overs), Jaydev Unadkat (2/32 in 4 overs) and Murugan Ashwin (1/33 in 4 overs) tried their best but could not succeed. Sample this: Ashwin bowled a decent googly and Stoinis hit him for the biggest sixes. Allen bowled a wicket-to-wicket delivery and was swept behind square for a six by Rahul. Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com Between overs 13 to 16, Rahul and company added 60 runs and it didn't help their cause that MI have had one of the worst days in the outfield, not being able to cut the boundaries even after getting hold of the ball. Not having a Trent Boult, Krunal Pandya or a Rahul Chahar is hurting MI badly and getting as many as 16 middle-of-the-road players for just 18 crore hasn't proved to be a wise business decision so far. https://sports.ndtv.com/ipl-2022/mi-vs-lsg-kl-rahul-ton-powers-lucknow-super-giants-to-victory-mumbai-indians-slip-to-6th-straight-loss-2893846

At the base of a block of flats in Bucha, the sound of sawing echoes around the deserted communal garden. In one of the doorways a blackened kettle boils on an open fire, blowing clouds of steam into the bitter air. This place should be buzzing with life and sound, with the chatter of children playing and clambering over the climbing frame that dominates the square. But since the Russians came, everything has changed here. Most people fled, and they're yet to return. There's just one small, hardy group who are trying to pave the way for others to come back. Sergei and his wife arrived at their flat five days ago. Now they and their neighbours are trying to rebuild their damaged homes, and clearing away the debris of countless Russian shells. "You always want to come back home", he tells me. "So we used our first chance to return as well. And we used our chance to make sure that all the property is safe, even from locals that might come and steal something." Sergei takes me to an open grave in the shadow of his building. It's just a few steps away, and we walk in the deep grooves the Russian tanks carved into the mud as they rolled in. Sergei's neighbour - killed as he tried to take a photo of them - lay here. His name and the date he died are written of a piece of wooden pallet, a rough and temporary gravestone. When Sergei returned home, one of the first things he wanted to do was finally give him a dignified burial. Not safe yet In just a few weeks, Bucha locals have become accustomed to death. Denys Davidoff stayed in the town throughout the occupation. When the Russians left he ventured back onto the streets, and was confronted with a vision of horror. Many people around the world saw photos and videos of bodies lying scattered on the ground in Bucha, some with hands bound behind their backs. But Denys witnessed them himself. "When I arrived I saw the street with the dead bodies. I just walked around them, and they were everywhere. I wasn't scared, but it was intense. You got used to it during the month of the occupation." As the world condemned what it saw, Russia claimed the news was fake, and the bodies were planted after its forces left. But Denys lived through it, and that was not what he saw. "Some corpses were lying for such a long time that you could see their bodies were covered with the sand and the earth after it rained. At some point I realised I knew some of the people who were killed." The people of Bucha are still processing the devastation they've lived through. But they aren't entirely safe just yet. More than 3,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance have been found around the Kyiv region so far. In a nearby village we pass a ditch at the side of the road, with around 20 unexploded shells neatly placed in it, lying side by side. A single thin ribbon of plastic tape runs around the perimeter to protect the unaware from stumbling in. Making these towns safe again for people to return to will be a huge job. No silence here On the road to Bucha, there's an unconventional graveyard. The burned and twisted hulks of Russian military vehicles lie idly by the roadside. This was a camp, a defensive position, and among the wreckage are signs of the soldiers who once lived here. There are small gold foil pots of food rations, vodka bottles, underwear and socks. Mis-matching camouflage, and a civilian brightly-patterned sleeping bag that someone brought along to keep warm. By the remains of a campfire there's a discarded bottle of shower gel, and someone's toothbrush. I find pieces of paper with burned edges and Russian script on them. Our local producer Illya scans them and tells me they're from a rulebook for Russian soldiers, a tome of instructions on how to fight and survive. But they didn't here. There's no silence in this place. Cars and lorries roll by, slowing down for a better look at the wreckage. Locals arrive in a constant stream, then clamber over the destroyed vehicles and pose for selfies. Even the single Russian forearm lying in the grass nearby, its flesh and skin charred black, doesn't deter them. A closer inspection reveals that one of the tanks still has a badly burnt body inside - barely recognisable as human. A small group gathers and one man films it on his mobile phone. In time, this will all be cleared away, and the road will look like it always did. The bodies will be buried, the shattered windows will be mended, and the buildings will be repaired. Eventually the physical reminders of the cruelty that was inflicted will be gone from sight. But for the people of Bucha, the memories will long remain. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61117532

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V2 - Text & Effects.

If you wanted a quality Nintendo Switch docking station you could actually slip into a pocket, the $70 Genki Covert Dock was your best bet — 30W of USB-C power, 1080p60 HDMI output, and a USB 3.1 port for peripherals all stuffed into a tiny folding prong charger thanks to the power of GaN. But now, its makers are making the choice a bit more difficult — with a new $49 Genki Covert Dock Mini (via Gizmodo) that’s way smaller, adds 4K30 output, and unfortunately makes a couple of sacrifices along the way. At 1.7 x 1.3 x 1.3 inches, the Covert Dock Mini is only slightly bigger than the tiny 5W chargers that Apple used to ship with iPhones (which admittedly didn’t have folding prongs or GaN), and it’s just half the length of the original Covert Dock and barely over a third of its volume. And, it newly supports 4K output at 30Hz, which — while obviously not being anywhere near as useful as 4K output at 60Hz — does seem like a nice perk considering you’re paying $20 less. As Genki points out, it might come in handy for the Steam Deck or similar handhelds, which may not have the power to play all games at 4K60 anyways. Or for movies and TV, which aren’t generally shot at 60fps and so don’t require the higher framerate. Unfortunately, it also outputs only 20W of USB-C power — not 30W anymore — and while that’s fine for today’s Switch, I highly doubt you’ll be playing and charging a Steam Deck at the same time with any remotely intensive game that way. I used a 20W USB-C PD battery in my own Deck testing and found it didn’t charge particularly well unless the Deck was turned off. There’s a reason Valve ships it with a 45W PD power adapter. Also, the Mini sadly doesn’t ship with a USB-A port, meaning you’re not going to be plugging in a GameCube controller adapter for your Smash Bros. sessions on Switch, or an Ethernet adapter, or a wireless headphone dongle, or external storage for the Deck, or... you get the picture. But if this sounds like exactly the docking station you need, Genki’s currently taking “limited” preorders at this Kickstarter page with an estimated delivery of August 2022. https://www.theverge.com/23026929/genki-covert-dock-mini-nintendo-switch-tv-gan-steam-deck

It was a technological feat that made history, wowed audiences and brought a dead rapper back to life. In April 2012 at the Coachella festival in California, Tupac Shakur took to the stage with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. He'd been dead for 16 years, killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.But this was Tupac the hologram, foul-mouthed and lifelike, performing before a "shocked and then amazed" crowd. Since humans first delighted in the sound of music, advancements in technology have managed to make musical expression immortal. Throughout history, innovators have strived to create original, accessible and eternal performances. As engineering knowledge developed, musical instrument design advanced. Many classical composers introduced pioneering instrumentations into their scores, adding depth and color that broadened the listening experience. Accurate systems for notation matured, offering music an essence of immortality through printed manuscript. In 1853 Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville's phonautograph pioneered an audio recording technique. In 1912 WC Handy composed Memphis Blues, a song that took the U.S. by storm and influenced the development of po[CENSORED]r music. Published on paper, it was wildly po[CENSORED]r in the dance halls and soon every band in America was asked to play it. This public demand was recognized by an fledgling recording industry, which soon flourished. Technology = creativity A breakthrough in the quality of music capture came with the advent of hi-fi and stereo introduced by Yamaha. Those who embraced the technology artistically could transport a lifelike performance experience into the homes of the masses. One of the biggest bands of the 1970s and 1980s, Swedish supergroup Abba, embraced this technology pioneering recording techniques, which is still used as standard today. Behind this technology was the creative genius that produced millions of record sales and performances dominating the 1970s and beyond. After the apparent demise of the group, Benny and Björn expanded into the theatrical genre, composing musicals. Along with their interest in emerging technology, this sowed the seeds to recapture and reinvent the Abba machine 40 years later. May 2022 sees the latest technological advances in musical immortality when Abba return to the live stage after a 40-year absence. But this time they return as humanoids—the digital hologram "twins" of the original global phenomenon. George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic has created holographic lookalikes that interact with a live band in a specially designed purpose-built theater in east London. Benny, Björn, Frida and Agnetha have provided the pre-recorded vocals and motion-captured movement which will then be reproduced by the digital avatars. The doppelgängers are more youthful in their appearance—around their 30s, when they were at the peak of their fame—raising an interesting conundrum concerning Abba's human mortality against their new immortality in the metaverse. Abba's music is undoubtedly timeless; the simple tunes with incredibly complicated structures appeal to millions. The "Abbatars" are a reinvention for a new audience, but will they continue beyond the lives of their originals, with new creators pulling the strings? Besides Abba and Tupac, there are other instances where "digital twinning" has been identified as a key money-making strategy. The digital band Gorillaz' 2006 Grammy performance blended flawlessly with Madonna's. And Richard Burton's hologram performed on a global tour of War of the Worlds in another 2006 performance. Music in the metaverse Customizing 3D avatars has become a unique way for artists to create virtual brands across several digital platforms. They can connect virtually with fans and increase loyalty and engagement, while fans can interact, express themselves and experience new things. This is now achievable using AI software to make holograms, as researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrated in an experiment that created holograms fairly instantaneously. Ziva Dynamics a pioneer in simulation and real-time character creation, employs synthetic AI-powered avatars to create autonomous and complex movement simulations based on real muscle, fat, soft tissue and skin contact. In April 2021, in a project called Lost Tapes Of The 27 Club, Google's Magenta AI was even used to compose songs in the styles of musicians who notoriously died at the age of 27, including Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse. These technologies have the potential to create realistic synthetic and AI holographic representations of departed artists, allowing them to continue creating, influencing and performing for future audiences. Epic Games, creators of the phenomenally successful Fortnite, predicts that digital twins will combine with the metaverse, an emerging network of fully immersive digital worlds. Disrupting the music business Whereas live tours are time-intensive and costly for new artists, a low-cost metaverse "tour" might be a new way for music lovers to see live performances. Virtual performances by Justin Bieber, DeadMau5 and The Weeknd have already become po[CENSORED]r recently. In this emerging branch of the music industry, record labels and marketing firms could be replaced by decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). DAOs are online organizations that operate like cooperatives, making all decisions jointly. DAOs are already disrupting the music business—along with NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which are a way of transferring property between people online. In October 2021, PleasrDAO—a collective of decentralized finance (DeFi) leaders, early NFT collectors and digital artists—paid US$4 million (£3 million) for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin an album by New York hip-hop legends Wu-Tang Clan. While the release of the album predates the rise of NFTs, PleasrDAO now owns the rights and has imposed strict restrictions on duplication, distribution or public exhibition. A music-focused DAO like Pleasr may acquire bulk concert tickets, finance and organize events and manage fan-owned record labels and marketing agencies to secure investable commodities like first-edition LPs, artwork and instruments. This has the potential to benefit fans, new music genres and artists alike. This creates a new, decentralized route to the market for artists free of corporate interests or interests of individual producers, developing a fairer landscape for the future. With digital avatars likely to be at the center of this new vanguard, it will be fascinating to see how it develops in the months and years to come—and whether it will be enough for music audiences. https://techxplore.com/news/2022-04-abba-tupac-metaverse-digital-avatars.html

Sapphire Radeon RX 6400 PULSE Is The First Low-Profile DIY Graphics Card Based on AMD's RDNA Architecture Isn't it surprising that neither AMD nor NVIDIA have released low-profile graphics cards based on their latest graphics architecture? Well, that would soon change for the red team at least as their AIB partner, Sapphire, has the perfect custom model for ITX loves coming soon. As leaked by Videocardz, the Sapphire Radeon RX 6400 is going to be a custom model featuring the AMD Navi 24 GPU core. The graphics card is going to rock 768 stream processors with 12 RA units for Raytracing capabilities and 4 GB of GDDR6 memory running across a 64-bit bus interface at 16 Gbps speeds. There's also 16 MB of Infinity Cache on board the GPU. Clocks would be towards the conservative side considering this is a 53W GPU in a small and compact form factor. As for the design of this card, the Sapphire Radeon RX 6400 Pulse will come in a half-height and half-length form factor. Good thing that it also comes with a low-profile bracket out of the box & additionally has a standard ATX bracket included in the package too. The card seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from the Radeon PRO W6400 which features the same AMD Navi 24 GPU. The cooler is a simple heatsink block that attaches over the GPU & VRAM and blows air out through a 7-blade fan. The display outputs on the Sapphire Radeon RX 6400 Pulse include a single HDMI 2.1 and a single DisplayPort 1.4 output. Unlike the Radeon Pro, the card seems to offer a full PCIe x16 trace on its PCIe connector though that could be limited to x4 by the GPU itself. The card doesn't require any external power connector due to its low power design. The card is expected to see a DIY launch on the 20th of April at pricing slightly below the $199 US MSRP of the RX 6500 XT. https://wccftech.com/sapphire-readies-radeon-rx-6400-pulse-low-profile-graphics-card-based-on-amds-entry-level-navi-24-gpu/

Name of the Game : Planet Coaster Price : 11.24$ https://store.steampowered.com/app/493340/Planet_Coaster/ Offer ends up after Xhours: 21 April Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7 (SP1+)/8.1/10 64bit Processor: Intel i5-2300/AMD FX-4300 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: nVidia GTX 560 (2GB)/AMD Radeon 7850 (2GB) DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 8 GB available space. RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 7 (SP1+)/8.1/10 64bit Processor: Intel i7-4770/AMD FX-8350 Memory: 12 GB RAM Graphics: nVidia GTX 980 (4GB)/AMD R9 380 (4GB) DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 8 GB available space