Ga[M]er

Legendary video game publisher and developer Bandai Namco announced today that the only recently launched mobile gacha RPG Tales of Luminaria is going to be shut down by the end of the Summer. After launching to middling reviews that mostly held complaints about the camera and some gameplay issues, the five-month-old entry into the po[CENSORED]r Tales series will fully close its doors on July 19th. It’s never good news to see a game shut down, but Tales of Luminaria is an extra large bummer with a side of disappointment. This gacha-based JRPG was marketed with some extremely huge names backing it, including a theme song done by two of the most po[CENSORED]r Japanese indie rock bands in the country and some truly stunning trailers. All of this combined with it being an entry into one of the most recognizable JRPG series of all time seemed like a recipe for success. Unfortunately, upon launch, the title was greeted with heavy complaints from fans and critics alike mostly due to the odd camera angles and the functional but poorly thought out combat system. These systems were so fundamental that a simple patch or two couldn’t save Luminaria from a very sad fate; the full closure and ending of support only five months after release. Regardless of how you feel about Tales of Luminaria, the disappointment is palpable. The fanbase wasn’t huge, but the game did have a ton of spirit and a pretty captivating story along with beautiful graphics. But, as is often the fate of gacha titles that don’t meet a wide audience, the end came sooner than expected. At the very least, all of the features currently within Tales of Luminaria will stay as they are, and the last few episodes of the story will be released as well, so no content is being removed or changed due to the closure. If you’re looking to catch up while you still can and enjoy the storyline especially, you can find Tales of Luminaria for free on Google Play and the App Store. Are you a fan of the Tales series and looking for more JRPG action? Check out our Top 25 best JRPGs available for iOS! https://www.pocketgamer.com/tales-of-luminaria/shutting-down/

We’re one month into a new financial year and it’s earnings call week, with major businesses the world over looking back on the whole of FY22. It’s Ubisoft’s turn today, and in a statement released ahead of its call, the publisher says the past twelve months have been “Far Cry’s best year ever for the brand.” Far Cry 6, the latest game in the series, was released in October 2021 and featured Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito as the main antagonist. The FPS game has since received several content updates, with the latest being a Stranger Things crossover. But it’s not just Far Cry. Ubisoft’s largest three brands – Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six – made over €300m (roughly $315m USD, or £257m GBP) in net earnings. Assassin’s Creed doubled in earnings compared to 2020, the most recent year in which the series had no major release. Rainbow Six also saw growth on the back of Rainbow Six Extraction, as well as a very positive response for Rainbow Six Siege’s year 7 roadmap. Interestingly, Ubisoft’s back catalogue of older titles saw an 11% growth from last year and announced for more than half of overall earnings. But the picture isn’t all rosy. Overall net earnings were €2,129m (roughly $2,241m USD, or £1,828m GBP), which is a 5% reduction from the previous year. You can read Ubisoft’s earnings statement here. The publisher also confirmed its release plans for the next financial year, based on “exciting premium and F2P titles across all platforms,” most notably Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and the long-delayed Skull & Bones. https://www.pcgamesn.com/far-cry-6/sales-ubisoft-earnings-2022

Name of the Game : Northgard Price : 2.62$ https://store.steampowered.com/app/466560/Northgard/ Offer ends up after Xhours: 15 May Requirements: MINIMUM: OS: Windows Vista or better Processor: Intel 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo or equivalent Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia 450 GTS / Radeon HD 5750 or better DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 1 GB available space Additional Notes: Minimum display resolution: 1366x768 RECOMMENDED: OS: Windows 7 or better Processor: Intel i5 3.1 Ghz Quad core Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GTX 660 / Radeon HD 7800 or better DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 1 GB available space Additional Notes: Recommended display resolution: 1440x900

Electronic Arts will stop making its hugely successful FIFA video game in its current name, marking a split in one of soccer's most successful and lucrative partnerships after the sides failed to strike a new licensing deal. Instead, the California company said Tuesday that EA Sports FC will be introduced from 2023 after it creates the final game in partnership with FIFA later this year. Licensing rights for the game earn FIFA about $150 million annually—the single biggest commercial earner in its expected $7 billion total revenue from 2019-2022—though FIFA struck a defiant tone in a statement published hours after the announcement of losing that income. FIFA promised a "number of new non-simulation games (that) are already under production" and will launch ahead of the 2022 World Cup that kicks off in Qatar in November. FIFA said it plans to create a "new gaming model" and cited the recent launch of its streaming service FIFA+. "I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans," FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in the statement. EA has been producing a FIFA game for nearly 30 years and its fond association with tens of millions of gamers worldwide helped the Zurich-based organization's brand when it was tarnished amid a wave of arrests of soccer officials in 2015. For generations of young people, FIFA has means a video game rather than a sports institution. Though EA Sports FC will be unable to include FIFA content including the World Cup, it retains licensing deals with prime soccer competitions including the English Premier League and the UEFA-organized Champions League. The EA announcement showed the strength of those partnerships with warm comments from executives from the Premier League, UEFA and Spain's La Liga while a coordinated release of tweets posted by dozens of soccer clubs used the slogan "We're In The Club" to align with the EA Sports FC brand. "We're thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA," EA CEO Andrew Wilson said. "The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger." Wilson promised "even more innovative and authentic experiences to the growing football audience" while its soon-to-be rival FIFA spoke of creating "new, interactive experiences to fans across the globe." "The interactive gaming and e-sports sector is on a path of unrivaled growth and diversification," Infantino said. "FIFA's strategy is to ensure we can make the most of all future options and ensure a wide range of products and opportunities for gamers, fans, member associations and partners." https://techxplore.com/news/2022-05-fifa-video-game-ea-sports.html

Following yesterday’s launch of AMD’s latest lineup of RX 6000-series graphics cards, a new AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition Preview Driver has also been released, which largely focuses on improvements for Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) and DirectX 11 performance boosts. For those unfamiliar, RSR differs from FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) in that it’s software-based and doesn’t require any special implementation on the part of developers. It should just automatically work on a large chunk of your library, although, of course, the effects aren’t as dramatic as FSR. The AMD Software Preview Driver adds a new RSR “sharpen effect” slider that allow more freedom to fine-tune your experience. In addition to that, the update improves performance for a wide range of DirectX 11 games. AMD provided the following examples… Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – up to 28%, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands – up to 30% Grand Theft Auto V – up to 11% Far Cry 5 – at 4% gains Farming Simulator 22 – at 3% gains Total War Saga: Troy – at 17% gains Total War Hammer 3 – at 5% gains Watch Dogs Legion – at 10% gains The Witcher 3 – at 3% gains Apex Legends – at 5% gains Overwatch – at 3% gains PUBG – at 3% gains Valorant – at 7% gains On average, AMD says you can expect around a 10 percent boost with DirectX 11 games, and the above-listed titles are really just the tip of the iceberg. For instance, independent testers have found significant boosts for games like Crysis Remastered and God of War. The AMD Software May Preview Driver is available to download now. AMD has not specified when the full release will arrive. For those looking for even bigger boosts for the latest games, FSR 2.0 launches tomorrow -- get more details here. https://wccftech.com/amd-software-preview-update-may-2022-rsr-boost-directx-11-30-percent/

Shanghai officials will over the next few days further restrict access to food and hospitals in some parts of the city, the most severe phase of its extended lockdown yet. Commercial food deliveries are not allowed and access to hospitals for all but emergencies must first be approved. Neighbours of Covid-19 cases and others living close by are also being forced into government quarantine facilities. Shanghai is now in its seventh week of city-wide restrictions. Confirmed cases have fallen significantly from their peak, but authorities have not yet been able to hit the target of what they call "societal zero", where no cases are reported outside of quarantine facilities. Despite the tougher measures, Shanghai officials insist that people living in half the city's districts are now free to leave their homes and walk around. State media has shown propaganda videos of departing medical workers visiting city landmarks together and taking photographs. Official notices from local committees of the ruling Communist Party, seen by the BBC, detail several restrictions imposed under what officials call "silent periods" for the next three days. These include only permitting government food deliveries, not allowing residents to "step out" of their front doors and requiring approval from the committee for anyone other than emergency cases to access hospitals. The BBC is already aware of some cases where residents have had difficulties in getting emergency ambulances to come quickly, with some patients forced to use private cars to get to a hospital. Authorities have also stepped up measures aimed at people who live close to positive cases, even if these close contacts test negative. They are now sweeping up large groups of people in apartment buildings who live on the same floor or even just in the same building as those who've tested positive. Footage has also emerged on social media showing extreme disinfection taking place inside homes where people have been removed after testing positive. Widespread use of industrial scale disinfection has been a key tactic used by authorities. State censors have moved quickly to remove questions about the legality of the disinfection and also of the moving large numbers of people from their homes, despite testing negative. In some cases, people who have been removed from their homes and taken into central quarantine have been told to leave a key to their home, usually in the door, so officials can come in and disinfect the space. Some legal figures have questioned if this move is "constitutional". The hard life of a homeless Shanghai deliveryman China's elderly suffer in Covid quarantine centres Why Shanghai has changed its approach to Covid How China’s lockdowns could hit UK prices A constitutional law professor based in Shanghai had earlier posted an open letter online stating that forcing residents into quarantine centres required State Council approval or new laws passed by the legislature. His post was quickly taken down. As concern over food supplies grow, city officials said they would remove anyone living in temporary accommodation on the streets or in vacant buildings, placing them into "closed loop management" - which means that employees have to live as well as work at their offices or factories. This measure is likely to target app-based delivery drivers who are vital for maintaining the supply chain to almost 25 million people living here. Many of these drivers currently live in temporary accommodation as they fear being locked down somewhere permanent and therefore being unable to do their job. The tightened measures come just days after China's president Xi Jinping re-iterated his commitment to the controversial "zero-Covid" strategy. In a paper published in the health journal The Lancet earlier this week, senior Chinese health officials said the lockdown would "buy time to vaccinate more people". Their comments come after the head of the World Health Organisation called China's zero-Covid strategy unsustainable. "When we talk about zero-Covid, we don't think that it's sustainable, considering the behaviour of the virus now and what we anticipate in the future," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday at a news conference. The clip was widely shared on Chinese social media before being blocked by censors. More than two years after Covid-19 first emerged here officials figures show around 90% of the po[CENSORED]tion nationwide has been vaccinated. But only 38% of the more vulnerable - those over 60 - in Shanghai have the full protection of three vaccinations. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-61404082

Name of the Game : HITMAN 3 Price : 26.99$ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1659040/HITMAN_3/ Offer ends up after Xhours: 16 May Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: OS 64-bit Windows 10 Processor: Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz / AMD CPU Phenom II X4 940 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 / Radeon HD 7870 DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 60 GB available space Additional Notes: VR Minimal Requirements: CPU: Intel 6-core i7-8700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700 GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super / AMD 5700XT RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: OS 64-bit Windows 10 Processor: Intel CPU Core i7 4790 4 GHz Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD GPU Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 60 GB available space Additional Notes: VR Minimal Requirements: CPU: Intel 6-core i7-8700 / AMD Ryzen 7 2700 GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super / AMD 5700XT

Good news for fans of The Lord of the Rings franchise as EA has just partnered with Middle-earth Enterprises, a division of The Saul Zaentz Company to develop a new game based on the LOTR series. Titled Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, the game will function as a free-to-play collectible RPG that will bring everything fans adore about the franchise to their smartphones. Players will be able to dive into J.R.R. Tolkien’s immersive world full of storytelling and adventure, with characters from both the LOTR and The Hobbit franchises making their way into the game. The gameplay will also keep players on their toes at all times with turn-based combat, deep collection systems, and enemies from all around Middle-earth to battle against. It’s bound to be a crazy Lord of the Rings experience for fans. Fredrica Drotos, Chief Brand & Licensing Officer for SZC’s Middle-earth Enterprises, describing working with EA, said: “We are thrilled to be working with EA once again, this time to bring a mobile game solely inspired by Middle-earth as described in the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien to its fans. It’s an honor to work with the talented Capital Games team whose knowledge and love of the lore is palpable throughout.” While we don’t have any concrete details about The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth’s launch, we do know that it will enter the beta testing phase soon. The game will be free-to-play but will include in-app purchases like loot boxes. Keep checking Middle-earth Enterprises' Twitter handle for more information about the game. https://www.pocketgamer.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-heroes-of-middle-earth/upcoming-collectible-rpg-ea-x-middle-earth/

After a long wait, The Division 2 Season 9 release time and date is here, and Ubisoft confirms that the first new content coming to the MMO game in a long time will go live later this week – along with a new eight-player co-op game mode called Countdown. It’s been over a year since the supposed “last Title update” for The Division 2, where Ubisoft finally confirmed that it would release some “fresh content” for the live-service shooter later in 2021. It’s now May 2022, and Ubisoft is finally ready to release Season 9: Hidden Alliance. The new season will include new targets and loot, with the True Sons faction descending into Washington. Ubisoft says that players will see True Sons lieutenants take over missions from the main game, which sounds interesting. The update is also adding the previously announced free co-op mode Countdown, where a team of up to eight players is tasked with clearing out a location of enemies and accomplishing various objectives. THE DIVISION 2 SEASON 9 RELEASE TIME The Division 2 new season start time is this Thursday, May 12 at 8pm BST / 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT, at least according to the schedule for the free weekend for the game, which should coincide with the update. This takes place between May 13-15. Preloads on PC are already available via Ubisoft Connect, if you want to give it a go. Elsewhere in this series, The Division Heartland is on the way, and it may lean into a more Escape From Tarkov style of gameplay. https://www.pcgamesn.com/tom-clancys-the-division-2/season-9-release-time

n some areas of the Southeast, such as Florida, the housing market is booming, but with hurricanes and other natural disasters posing annual threats, the true cost of owning a home in the region may be largely unknown. That's why the University of Central Florida and a team of researchers from across the country have just released a new online tool that can help people determine how ready their home, or future home, is for the next big storm. The tool, called HazardAware, is now live, just ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season. The easy-to-use tool allows users to plug in an address and instantly receive the property's HazardReady score. The score shows just how resilient, or disaster-ready, a home is, and projects how much hazards, such as winds and flooding, could cost a homeowner each year. HazardAware can provide reports for 13.3 million addresses in 196 counties along the Gulf of Mexico—including all of Florida, and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. This is a region that is historically impacted by hurricanes and other large hydrometeorological hazards each year. With continued funding, HazardAware could also be expanded to cover the entire U.S. and other disasters such as wildfires and earthquakes. A property's HazardReady score takes into account 15 potential threats, including hurricane winds and flooding. The score also considers social and environmental vulnerability, community resilience, and home construction factors. Users can choose to receive an emailed custom home report for their address, and they will also receive a renter and homebuyer checklist that can help ensure they ask the right questions next time they are in the market for a home. The tool is part of a larger $3.4 million, multi-institution UCF-led project funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's Gulf Research Program. "When people buy houses, they generally think about location, pricing, crime, walkability and things like that," says Christopher Emrich, principal investigator of the research and a Boardman Endowed Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Public Administration at UCF. "But rarely do people think about how much hazards will cost. By going to HazardAware, people can compare houses and get more information they can use to make crucial decisions and smart choices about where they live." For example, the score includes work by international expert and UCF coastal risk engineer Thomas Wahl. Using his models of changes in future coastal flood risk, the tool produces an estimate of when a property will see coastal flooding or when flooding potential will double for properties already in coastal flood zones. "We want to democratize this very scarce and very difficult to find hazard disaster and impact information," says Emrich, who also co-leads UCF's National Center for Integrated Coastal Research and Sustainable Coastal Systems research cluster. "Some of this data would require a Ph.D. and 40 hours of investment to make sense of, but we want to put it into everyone's hands. HazardAware has built a team capable of pulling together this type of 'fugitive' or hard-to-find information for homeowners and renters in the coastal zone." For next steps, the researchers want to provide customized mitigation information through the tool for each home highlighting what can be done to reduce future hazard loss. They also want to implement an option where users can improve their home's resiliency score by inputting upgrades they've made, such as installing stormproof windows or a certified roof. "I think the impetus for all this is to help people stay in their homes after a disaster by mitigating the threats hazards pose," Emrich says. "If we can protect people's homes, and people don't have to leave, then they don't suffer mental distress as deeply, and they don't lose jobs as frequently. We can avoid a bunch of losses just by keeping people in their homes." https://techxplore.com/news/2022-05-tool-homeowners-renters-true-disasters.html

Today AMD launched their latest lineup of RX 6000-series graphics cards, but that isn’t all they had to announce – they also provided a release date and list of games that will support their new FidelityFX Super Resolution 2.0 tech. As we’ve heard, FSR 2.0 promises high-quality temporal upscaling without the need for machine learning. That means the tech will work on a wider range of GPUs, although you will need a fairly powerful graphics card to run FSR 2.0 at higher resolutions. Here’s AMD’s official description of the new upscaling tech… The next-generation of the widely adopted AMD open-source, cross-platform upscaling technology, FSR 2.0 helps boost framerates in supported games by using previous frame data to provide similar or better than native image quality at all resolutions. It supports a wide range of graphics products and platforms, including AMD and select competitor solutions, without requiring dedicated machine learning hardware. The first game to add support for AMD FSR 2.0 is Deathloop by Arkane Studios and Bethesda, which is expected to be available via an update this week. In addition to Deathloop, here are the other games that have pledged to use FSR 2.0: Asterigos Delysium EVE Online Farming Simulator 22 Forspoken Grounded Microsoft Flight Simulator NiShuiHan Perfect World Remake Swordsman Remake Unknown 9: Awakening This is likely only the beginning. In addition to coming to other PC titles, FSR 2.0 will also be included in the Xbox Series X/S development kit, making it easy to implement in games on those consoles. Sony has not pledged official support for the PS5, but there’s no reason devs won't be able to implement it with a little extra elbow grease. AMD FSR 2.0 officially launches on May 12. Excited to see the results of the new tech? https://wccftech.com/amd-fsr-2-0-launch-date-deathloop-flight-sim-support-list/

I n a country like Pakistan where politics is often an art form for an elite and it is very often dynastic, it’s hard to explain to people why I don’t think it is a birth right. - Fatima Bhutto When Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was put a question about dynastic politics by the CNN, he appeared flummoxed. Dynastic politics is a necessary part of South Asian politics. It is almost inevitable in societies where family structure is strong, kinship bonds underpin the social ethos and feudalism persists. But in Pakistan and some other South Asian countries, dynastic politics is being challenged. This challenge is against politicians who are seen as having a significant advantage over their rivals from the start of their political career. They have a higher probability of electoral success when pitted against politicians lacking similar political networks. Marium Shah, commented quite pertinently in a recent op-ed, “Democracy is unfortunately not very democratic. First, a lack of democracy within political parties is a major obstruction in improving the way electoral politics works in Pakistan.” The rank and file of all dynastic parties know who is destined to inhere the party leadership. This hobbles evolutionary growth in democratic institutions and does not allow equal representation of those who don’t share the ‘dynastic blood’. Two political dynasties have dominated South Asia. According to Andrew Whitehead, “A Gandhi has been at the helm in India for 16 of those 50 years, the same length of time that the Bhutto-Zardari family has been in power in Pakistan. Both have suffered assassinations, tragedies, corruption scandals and public fallouts sufficient, an outsider might imagine, to persuade any of the coming generation to keep clear of politics. Yet both families are still sticking at it, if with different degrees of diligence and success.” The Bhutto family has been one of the most ambitious and powerful in Pakistan. The Bhuttos were, and still are, land-owners in a way that the Gandhis have never been. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir have been among the most intelligent, visionary and liberal of Pakistan’s rulers. A third member of the dynasty, Asif Ali Zardari, has served as an MNA, a federal minister and a president. The Pakistan Peoples Party has changed significantly under his leadership, which critics says, lacks the idealism that defined Zulfikar and Benazir. Owen Bennet Jones writes that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was born in Larkana when Sindh was still part of the Bombay presidency. He grew up in the city of Bombay. He led a life of privilege before becoming a minister at 31, foreign minister at 35 and Pakistan’s president at 43. Despite his sharp wit, eloquence, and charisma, he failed to build democratic institutions and could not win the confidence of the army. Whitehead says, “He was also not the best judge of people. It was his own pick as army chief, Zia ul Haq, who first overthrew him and then executed him.” Between his execution and Benazir taking over the reins of the PPP, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was in charge of the party. He was ineffective. Benazir was compelled to enter politics out of reverence for her father. She endured imprisonment, including ten months in solitary confinement, before rallying the country to her political standard. Both the generals and Islamists scorned her because of her gender. That scorn followed her until she was assassinated in December 2007, adding yet another Bhutto to those who died an unnatural death. Subsequent to her tragic death, the PPP has lost some of its po[CENSORED]r appeal. In 1919, Motilal Nehru became the president of India’s oldest political party, the Indian National Congress. In 2019, another Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, quit the post after accepting responsibility for the party’s disastrous election results. Rahul Gandhi is Motilal Nehru’s great-great-grandson. The Nehru-Gandhi family has dominated Indian politics since independence when Jawaharlal Nehru became the country’s first prime minister. The dynasty has produced three prime ministers and a member of the family has overseen the country for nearly 50 of the 75 years since 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru’s personal charisma was a significant factor in the establishment and sustenance of the family dynasty. The Gandhi surname was derived from Feroze Gandhi, who married Nehru’s daughter Indira in 1942. In 1984, Indira Gandhi, then prime minister, was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards following a deadly confrontation between Indian security forces and Sikh separatist militants at the Golden Temple in the Punjab. She was seen to have groomed her younger son, Sanjay, to be her political heir but he was killed in a plane crash in 1980. Her elder son Rajiv reluctantly took over her political mantle and served as prime minister from 1984 to 1989. He, too, was assassinated in 1991. The Nehru-Gandhi family’s dominance of Indian politics began to diminish in the late 1990s, along with the fortunes of the Congress. With Sita Ram Kesri as head of Congress, the party became a shadow of its previous self. Critics blamed the decline on a failure to identify with a new class of aspirational young voters. After Rajiv’s death, the party was not led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family for several years. In 1998, Rajiv Gandhi’s Italian-born widow, Sonia Gandhi agreed to take over. She propelled Congress back to power in 2004 and for 10 years ruled from behind the scenes. In 2014, the party was routed by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party following a string of corruption scandals. Despite a series of electoral setbacks, few in the party have questioned the leadership of Sonia and Rahul https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/955902-dynastic-politics-in-south-asia-i

Squid, octopus and cuttlefish have scrambled-up genomes that may help explain how these cephalopods evolved the most complicated nervous systems of any invertebrate. New genetic sequencing reveals that these animals' genes are mixed up, arranged in strange orders not seen in other, non-cephalopod species. This DNA mixing and matching may have given evolution a new sandbox to play in, study co-author Caroline Albertin, a biologist at the University of Chicago Marine Biological Laboratory, told Live Science. "A hypothesis is that these new gene arrangements resulted in new expression patterns and that means these genes could be used in a new place or in a new way," Albertin said, referring to the process of a gene being "expressed" or activated to create proteins that do some type of work in the body. Reading the cephalopod genome Scientists have long suspected that strange things are going on in the cephalopod genome. In 2015, when Albertin and her colleagues sequenced the first octopus genome, they expected to see a pattern of genetic evolution similar to many vertebrates: duplication. During the long history of life on Earth, all vertebrates with jaws have copied their genomes twice, meaning that mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and sharks have all accumulated four copies of the original genome. Some of those copied genes have since been lost, but many have been borrowed by evolution to take on new roles. "It opens up a whole genomic playground for evolution to act on," Albertin said. "[M]aybe one of those four genes can go off and start to do something else." It stood to reason that cephalopod evolution involved the same duplication process. But when they started to dig into the octopus genome,, Albertin and her colleagues found no evidence that cephalopods had done this genetic copy-paste. Now, the team has gone deeper, using next-generation sequencing technologies to piece together chromosome-level readouts of two squids — the Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) and the longfin inshore squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) — and one octopus — the California two-spot octopus (Octopus biamaculoides). In papers published in the journal Nature Communications on April 21 and May 4, the researchers used three different genome sequencing methods to decode the genomes, including state-of-the-art long-read sequencing that can read out thousands of DNA base-pairs at one time. (The rungs of the ladder-like molecule of DNA are made up of pairs of nitrogen bases.) If the genome were a book, or, more accurately, a very long series of books — the Hawaiian bobtail squid has 5.5 billion base-pairs in its genome — long-read sequencing lets scientists read pages instead of paragraphs, Albertin said. Mixed up genes, complex brains? The results showed that cephalopods' genomes have been churned and scrambled. Albertin's study co-authors Hannah Schmidbaur and Oleg Simakov of the University of Vienna and their colleagues compared the cephalopod genes to thousands of similar genes found across a wide array of animal species. They found 505 blocks of three or more genes that co-occurred in the squids and octopus but were not found together in other animals. If genes A, B and C are typically found close together on Chromosome 5 in snails and fish and fruit flies, for example, they'll often be scattered across three separate chromosomes in cephalopods. The finding is "mind-boggling," Albertin said, because gene order usually stays the same, even among species that are far apart on the evolutionary tree. "That, to evolutionary biologists, suggests there is a reason you keep that gene order," she said. "And cephalopods seem to be breaking these rules." It's not clear how the cephalopods pulled off this genetic disobedience. The gene-scrambling took place over many generations of cephalopods and hundreds of millions of years, Albertin said, and it may have relied on "jumping genes," also known as transposable elements, which are DNA sequences that can hop around the genome. The researchers examined which genes were active in cephalopod tissues and found that many of the unique cephalopod gene groupings were busy in the nervous tissue, hinting that these special sequences could have played a role in the evolution of cephalopod smarts. "This is really pointing to an exciting new perspective on how novel features arise in evolution," Albertin said. https://www.livescience.com/squid-octopus-genome-brains

How will Bentley become an electric-only luxury brand, what models will we see during the transition, and what pains are being taken to appease North American buyers? We posed these questions to Christophe Georges, president and CEO of Bentley Motors in the Americas. Yes, Bentley's first pure EV is coming in late 2025 and there will be a new one every year after for four years, bringing the portfolio to five models. In announcing the Beyond 100 plan in January, Bentley Chairman and CEO Adrian Hallmark said that first vehicle will be a large sporty car. "We will have a new full lineup of electric cars," Georges says in his interview with MotorTrend. The first pure EV will be a new nameplate, but subsequent launches will include electric versions of existing nameplates. The cautious Georges won't provide confirmation or details on the body style but is forthright on how the brand will evolve and what it means for U.S. buyers. Before internal combustion engines are abolished from Bentley showrooms in 2030, there will be a full lineup of plug-in hybrids on sale by 2024. Bentley started down this road with the Bentley Bentayga Hybrid in 2019, followed by the second-gen hybrid two years later with a redesigned interior. Bentley recently launched a second model, the 2022 Bentley Flying Spur hybrid. Both plug-in hybrids use a turbocharged V-6. Next up is a hybrid version of the Bentley Continental GT coupe and convertible which we will see soon, Georges says, without giving a launch date. Spy shots have caught the Continental GT out testing. In all three cases, engineers electrified the existing vehicles. The five battery-electric vehicles to come will use new electric vehicle platforms from the Volkswagen Group, specifically the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) developed by Audi for use by a number of brands including Bentley and Lamborghini. Bentley won't have its own bespoke platform, but PPE is a highly digital platform for today's software-defined vehicles that are connected and able to receive over-the-air updates. It also provides many features such as air suspension, all-wheel steering, torque vectoring, and offers an 800-volt power system for fast-charging capability. Derivatives Include Extended-Wheelbase Bentley Bentayga To keep the lineup fresh in the interim, Bentley will introduce more derivatives of existing models. The Bentayga family grows with the addition of a long-wheelbase version that begins deliveries in the fourth quarter. The Bentley Bentayga Extended Wheelbase or EWB is the spiritual successor to the Mulsanne, available with a four- or five-passenger layout. The Bentayga EWB adds almost 7.1 inches to the wheelbase and rear cabin space with executive rear seats with footrests that recline to 40 degrees for sleeping. The addition of rear-wheel steering—a first for Bentayga—makes it easier to turn the longer SUV. The Bentayga EWB launches with Bentley's 550-hp, 4.0-liter V-8. The original Bentayga was unveiled in 2015 and quickly became the brand's best-selling model. Bentley expects the EWB will account for 45 percent of Bentayga sales. Bentley sold almost 15,000 vehicles worldwide in 2021, up 31 percent. A third of the sales were Bentaygas. Bentley DNA Will Apply To Electric Vehicles All future Bentleys will be designed and developed in Crewe, U.K., and it is essential they remain true Bentleys when they transition to an electric fleet, Georges says. Electric vehicles elicit different emotions; the challenge is to ensure they continue to elicit the same experience customers have come to expect from Bentley. "Electrification fits quite well because it offers effortless performance with a high level of torque." The electrified models will be better than the ones they replace, he says, with benchmark 0-60 mph times while providing an emotional experience during normal driving conditions. North American feedback to the design process and engineering specifications are essential. Georges travels to Crewe monthly to review the progress and provide feedback on how it will be received by American customers. The main difference: American preference for larger vehicles. The desire for a high degree of craftsmanship, luxury, attention to detail, refinement, comfort, innovation, and an engaging drive experience are the same in all regions. Georges thinks customers will make the transition to electric vehicles because they trust Bentley to get it right. They will become convinced once they get behind the wheel of a vehicle that is still luxurious and offers more space, innovation, and driving pleasure. Watching the new vehicles shape up, Georges say the EV does not need a Bentley logo to be recognizable as a Bentley, even if it is more progressive. The proportions, elegance, and the emotions it creates are what make it a Bentley, he says. Bentley Has Faced Down Skeptics Before Before the introduction of the Bentley Continental GT in 2003, the first Bentley under the Volkswagen Group, people were skeptical that a two-door, four-passenger, luxury car could be successful. The Continental became the toast of Hollywood, sales skyrocketed, and Bentley was back on firm footing. More than a decade later, many were skeptical when Bentley announced the addition of an SUV, denouncing the idea as heresy. "We demonstrated luxury is not a question of body shape," Georges says. Customers embraced it, the Bentayga quickly became the best-selling vehicle in the lineup, and other luxury car brands have added SUVs as well, including Porsche, Lamborghini, and soon Ferrari with the 2023 Purosangue. "We know what our customers want," Georges says, noting Bentley has disrupted the luxury sector twice, defined it, and now dominates it. While Bentley is not the first to put luxury electric vehicles on the market, the brand is moving fast and expects to, once again, reshape the sector. In the U.S., Bentley sold 4,212 vehicles in 2021, of which about 1,500 were SUVs, the two Continental models combined for about 1,900, and Flying Spur added about 900, a well-balanced mix Georges is proud of, showing all lines are successful. When Bentley expands to a five-model lineup, he expects even better results in the U.S., which is the brand's largest market. The CEO says Bentley's dealer body is also the right size and located strategically to cover 84.4 percent of the market. The North American CEO does not think EVs will change the vehicles U.S. customers want in terms of body shape or drive quality given that Americans still want SUVs and the U.S. is the largest convertible market. Mulliner To Grow In Po[CENSORED]rity Bentley's specialist Mulliner division provides limitless options to customers who want bespoke vehicles. "We will see more Mulliner from Bentley in the future," Georges says. "It is growing today, with more cars being created by customers and dealers, limited editions are exponentially increasing. We sell more cars that are individually made and co-created. Mulliner is a symbol of bespoke individualization and customers love it." Limited-volume, coachbuilt cars will also continue to be part of Bentley's product strategy as the brand pivots to EVs. https://www.motortrend.com/news/bentley-ev-future-electrification-ceo-interview/

Cricket South Africa announced on Tuesday that all charges against head coach Mark Boucher have been withdrawn, leading to the abandonment of a disciplinary hearing which was due to start on May 16. The 45-year-old former Test wicketkeeper was facing charges of racism, laid by CSA, which could have resulted in his dismissal. The controlling body admitted in a statement that there was “no basis to sustain any of the disciplinary charges”. The allegations against Boucher followed Social Justice and Networking hearings last year into discrimination into cricket. Boucher was accused by former teammate Paul Adams of leading a song with racially derogatory words during fines meetings after matches while they were playing. Adams announced on Sunday that he was not prepared to testify at the hearing, stating his comments to the SJN ombudsman related to the overall culture of the team rather than any particular player. CSA noted in its statement that Boucher had apologised to Adams and the apology had been accepted. It was also alleged that Boucher had sidelined his black assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, leading to Nkwe's resignation, but Nkwe was also unwilling to testify at the planned hearings. A further charge was that Boucher had failed to deal effectively with controversy over “taking the knee” in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Boucher was accused by former teammate Paul Adams of leading a song with racially derogatory words during fines meetings after matches while they were playing. Adams announced on Sunday that he was not prepared to testify at the hearing, stating his comments to the SJN ombudsman related to the overall culture of the team rather than any particular player. CSA noted in its statement that Boucher had apologised to Adams and the apology had been accepted. It was also alleged that Boucher had sidelined his black assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, leading to Nkwe's resignation, but Nkwe was also unwilling to testify at the planned hearings. A further charge was that Boucher had failed to deal effectively with controversy over “taking the knee” in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Also read: Ombudsman finds Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher and AB De Villiers showed racial prejudice CSA said its lawyers had consulted with other potential witnesses and concluded that none of the three charges were sustainable. The recent exoneration of director of cricket Graeme Smith, who like Boucher had been the subject of “tentative findings” by SJN ombudsman, Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza, “fortified the conclusion that the charges against Mr Boucher would be dismissed.” Board chairman Lawson Naidoo said CSA had been committed to treating issues raised at the SJN hearings “with utmost seriousness” with a view to ensuring fairness. “The decision to withdraw the charges brings about finality on these issues for CSA and Mark and allows the focus to return to the cricket field.” Boucher is contracted until the end of the 2023 Cricket World Cup. CSA chief executive Pholetsi Moseki acknowledged that it had been a difficult time for Boucher. “CSA regrets this. CSA is also appreciative of the fact that Mark has at all times conducted himself properly and professionally,” said Moseki. Leading South African businessmen had assembled a high-powered legal team to defend Boucher. The lawyers had made an official request for the disciplinary hearing before Advocate Terry Motau to be held in public. https://www.dawn.com/news/1688973/cricket-south-africa-withdraws-racism-charges-against-coach-mark-boucher

History has come full circle in the Philippines. A ruling family which was driven out of power 36 years ago, accused of spectacular greed and brutality, is all but set to return to Malacañang - the presidential palace. It is a stunning blow to those in the Philippines who have campaigned for accountability for the abuses of the old Marcos era. The Marcos family has never apologised for those abuses, nor given back much of the treasure they are accused of stealing from the national purse. How has Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr done it? And what are the implications for the 110 million people of the Philippines, and for its place in the world? Lies and distortion In 1986, public anger towards the Marcos regime saw Ferdinand Marcos and his family toppled and forced out of the Philippines. But after just five years in exile, the family returned - and immediately began making their way back into political circles. Bongbong has been almost continually in office since the age of 23, aside from his time abroad. Winning the presidency is something he has been preparing for all his life. Other members of his family have also held various political offices since they were allowed to return to the Philippines, including his mother Imelda and his older sister Imee. Imelda even contested the presidency just a year after coming back in 1992. They have also benefitted greatly by aligning themselves with another powerful family, the Dutertes. Rodrigo Duterte is the current president of the Philippines. This brought together the Marcos' fiefdom in the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Leyte in the north and centre, together with the Dutertes' stronghold of Mindanao in the south. "If I'm going to put a number on it that's at least 50% of the reason he has come this far," says political strategist Alan German. "The Duterte machinery is strong, he is a well-loved president." Then there was the social media campaign to rebrand the old Marcos era - not as a period of martial law, with its terrible human rights abuses, corruption and near-economic collapse - but as a golden age of crime-free prosperity. This began at least a decade ago, with hundreds of deceptively-edited videos being uploaded to Youtube, which were then reposted on sympathetic Facebook pages. These persuaded millions of Filipinos that the vilification of the Marcoses after their downfall was unfair, that the stories of unrivalled greed were untrue. "There's a spectrum of lies and distortion in these videos," says Fatima Gaw at the University of the Philippines Department of Communications Research. "There is outright denial of the atrocities of the martial era. There's also a lot of distortion, claims of economic progress during the so-called golden years of the Philippines, by cherry picking particular details." And then there are the myths, widely believed in poorer parts of the Philippines, that the Marcoses do indeed hold vast wealth in offshore accounts or hidden stashes of gold bullion, but that these are being kept to benefit the Filipino people once they are restored to power. The man attempting to revive a corrupt dynasty Why the Marcos family is so infamous Collaborative fact-checking venture Tsek.ph found that up to the end of April, 92% of online disinformation about the Marcos campaign was in its favour, whereas 96% about his main rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, was negative - including some nasty slanders against her. But the pro-Marcos disinformation campaign has also benefited from widespread public disappointment over the failure of the post-1986 administrations to bring significant improvements to the lives of poorer Filipinos. Bongbong has successfully portrayed himself as the candidate for change, promising happiness and unity to a country weary of years of political polarisation and pandemic hardship, and hungry for a better story. By staying away from all the presidential debates and refusing media interviews, he avoided having his family's record challenged, and was able to maintain the illusion of harmony, despite millions remaining opposed to his presidency. The fact that he faced so many rivals was also a significant advantage. The anti-Marcos vote was divided among nine candidates, and the strongest among them, Leni Robredo, declared late, giving her unusually spirited campaign little time to counter the powerful Marcos narrative. The fate of democracy So what can we expect from the Marcos presidency? He spoke little about the details of his policy platform while campaigning, which in any case is an unremarkable list of promises, largely to continue the policies of President Duterte. One obvious concern is what happens to the efforts to recover the money allegedly stolen by the Marcoses when they were last in power. The Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG), established after the 1986 uprising, has recovered about one third of the $10-15bn of so-called "ill-gotten wealth" - including jewellery, valuable paintings and Imelda's famous shoes - but is officially still pursuing the rest. Bongbong has suggested that he would widen the PCGG's remit to include other families, but given the limited progress in holding the Marcoses to account while they were out of power, it is hard to imagine much progress now they are back. There is also the matter of unpaid tax on the Marcos estate - Bongbong was found guilty of failing to file a tax return in 1995. And there's a verdict in the United States that he is in contempt of court for failing to pay reparations to victims of his father's human rights violations, which will make any official visit to the US, a treaty ally of the Philippines, tricky. His partnership with the Dutertes will also be watched closely. Bongbong has promised to continue President Duterte's controversial anti-drug campaign, but hinted that he would support less violent methods. Sara Duterte, the president's daughter, is near-certain to win the vice-presidency, and her own po[CENSORED]rity makes her a likely presidential candidate in 2028. But President Duterte has not formally endorsed Marcos, nor is his relationship with his daughter always smooth. The vice-president is elected separately from the president, and Ms Duterte may wish to use her position to propel her own political career. However the post carries little power compared to that of the president. While formally allied in the campaign, they will need to agree on how to divide the spoils of office. But there are some bigger questions. How much corruption - always a problem in the Philippines - will there be under a family with the reputation of the Marcoses? And perhaps the greatest concern will be over the fate of democracy and civil rights, both of which suffered under President Duterte. How will Bongbong deal with opposition to a Marcos administration? How free will the media be to keep investigating his family's past? The Marcos campaign's open hostility to all but the most friendly media outlets is not an encouraging sign. Voters in the Philippines have long shown a partiality to strongman rule, to roguish characters who promise to dispense with the messy compromises of democracy and get things done. That explains the election of Joseph Estrada in 1998, and more recently in the 2016 of Mr Duterte, who made no secret of his impatience with democratic norms. Bongbong Marcos does not have that kind of charisma, but he has run largely on refashioned memories of the strongman rule of his father. His social media campaign has proved so successful there are fears this will now be the model for future elections in the Philippines, with the mainstream media sidelined, and a blizzard of fact-free narratives competing online. His family's return to power also neatly bookends the optimistic age of globalisation. This arguably began when the US refused to support his autocratic father in the waning years of the Cold War, inspiring pro-democracy movements across the world. It has now come to an end with the war in Ukraine, the breakdown of China-US relations, and the rise of populist leaders riding a tsunami of social media disinformation. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61389684

Deserve a chance try to be more Active!

Name of the Game : Hydroneer Price : 3.84$ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1106840/Hydroneer/ Offer ends up after Xhours: 15 May Requirements: MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 Processor: Quad-Core 64-bit Intel or AMD processor, 2.4 GHZ CPU Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: 1 GB DirectX 11 dedicated video card Storage: 6 GB available space RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating syste

Lunosoft has announced the official release of Love is... in small things, a gorgeous healing game that showcases artist Puuung's lovely artwork and invites players to go on an emotional journey on mobile. The stress relief title features watercolour-themed visuals and a delightful soundtrack that's meant to complement the low-key nature of the game. In Love is... in small things, players can expect to immerse themselves in breathtaking artworks that depict the everyday atmosphere of love. The hidden object game features puzzle pieces players can collect to build illustrations, which can then be set as a lovely wallpaper for players' devices. As for the gameplay, players simply have to tap on the illustrations to smear paint from their fingertips and watch as the colours spread and complete the piece of art. There are over 300 levels to take on across 30 chapters, all with Puuung's original music playing softly in the background. If you're eager to tap all of your stress and worries away, you can download Love is... in small things on the iOS App Store and on the Google Play Store for Android devices to give it a go and see for yourself. It's a free-to-play game with in-app purchases. You can also have a look at the embedded trailer above to get a feel of the game's mechanics, visuals, and beautiful background score. To know more about the artist, you can visit the official website for more info as well, or join the community of followers over on Facebook to stay updated on all the latest developments. Are you on the hunt for more similar titles that will put your skills to the test on your mobile device? Why not take a gander at our list of the. https://www.pocketgamer.com/love-is-in-small-things/emotional-healing-game-from-po[CENSORED]r-artist-puuung/