-Sn!PeR-

Maybe he’s a bad texter — or maybe he’s just not that into you. That’s the question on Adrianna Guerrero’s mind when the single 42-year-old texts eligible bachelors, only to be burdened with a lackluster conversation akin to pulling teeth. Instead, the Big Apple project manager expects “responsiveness and actual engagement” when texting — otherwise, she thinks they’re just not interested in her. “I mean, everybody’s really busy,” she told The Post. “There’s moments where I’m really busy and I just don’t want to text someone, but if I do really want to text someone, I will.” Being a “bad texter,” then, is a poor excuse. Most women have been victims of the self-proclaimed “bad texter” — a boyfriend, lover or husband who barely replies to messages, and, if he does, the conversation is plagued with dry responses. Despite the unanimous agreement that the behavior is a glaring red flag, the aforementioned “bad texter” — a phenomenon that recently drummed up debate on TikTok, while women lament their dating woes online — still haunts single women, especially in NYC where it is notoriously difficult to date. “The opportunity to communicate or connect with someone becomes slim to none when you can’t even get a text back,” NYC-based single Tahirah Jarrett, 33, told The Post. She lamented the feeling of being “disposable” by bachelors who “have a tendency to get really distracted very easy” and are likely texting multiple women at once, hence the bone-dry texts and indifference. And it’s not just single ladies. When The Post hit the streets, women in relationships also said their boyfriends and husbands were guilty of bad texting, too, though none would provide their names for fear of causing a relationship rift. Ariana, a 29-year-old nursing student who declined to give her last name, described men’s texting habits as “short,” lamenting that they tend to cherry-pick the parts of long texts they want to answer while ignoring the parts they don’t. It’s something, she admitted with a laugh, that her boyfriend is guilty of. “I know he doesn’t mean anything bad by it, but he is just such a short texter, like one-word texts,” she told The Post, adding that she is now “used to it” after three years of dating. After all, “a lot of men text like that,” she added. But unresponsiveness doesn’t always equal disinterest, although it can, NYC dating coach Connell Barrett told The Post. Sometimes, guys just “don’t know how to flirt.” “A big reason why men struggle with this is because many men are just by nature very analytical and logical,” he explained. “They speak and communicate in a logical, informational way, and information and logic is the opposite of romance.” Barrett’s clients often become so “stuck” on what to say — unable to conjure up something engaging or witty — and they simply “give up,” which backfires and makes a potential flame fizzle out. Miranda Felix, 18, and Carolina Martinez, 21, both digital marketing interns, believe that the inability to hold an engaging conversation means men are afraid to be emotionally vulnerable, lamenting that the “hard to get” behavior is causing them to “lose hope” when dating. “If you’re not really engaging in what I’m saying it’s kind of annoying,” said Guerrero, who also complained it’s often “touch and go,” sometimes as long as 12 hours without a reply. Playing the waiting game — whether it’s hours, or even days, to text after a first date, or pacing replies to not seem too eager — is “so annoying,” bemoaned 27-year-old entrepreneur Morgane Rondot, who prefers someone who texts back quickly. “Maybe when you’re a teenager it works, but when you’re 27 years old, you don’t want that anymore,” France-based Rondot, who previously lived in NYC, told The Post. Barrett is convinced that failing to wait an arbitrary yet socially acceptable amount of time before sending a post-date text is nonsense. “The perfect cadence is whenever you want,” he said, adding that earlier and sooner is better. “I like men to give women the gift of clarity and certainty.” In short, if you like her, “don’t play a game.” He added: “You’re not going to come across as needy or eager as long as you are not a needy, eager person.” For guys who might need to fine-tune their flirting — lest they send dry and lifeless texts — Barrett, otherwise known as “the real-life Hitch,” has digital dating down to an exact science. He recommends three components to master the treacherous art of texting: personalize messages, add some G-rated playfulness and keep it short and sweet, with messages ranging between 20 to 25 words. But the goal is not a permanent pen pal, he warned. As a general rule of thumb, he advises bachelors to ask their love interest on a date after discussing two topics, instead of scrambling to find a fifth, sixth or seventh talking point to keep the conversation alive. If all else fails, frustrated women sick of text tag and lackluster conversation can also make the first move, from a subtle hint to a blatant ask-out. “I wish women didn’t have to do this, but hey, it’s okay to drop a handkerchief or give an assist,” Barrett said, adding that some men fear rejection. “She could say, ‘Is there any place you would like to take me?’ That’s a that’s a really good way to phrase it.” https://nypost.com/2024/06/07/lifestyle/men-are-bad-texters-nyc-women-are-tired-of-their-excuses/

Mariupol was doomed. Relentless Russian bombing had turned streets into ruins and courtyards into graveyards. But several metres underground in the south-eastern Ukrainian city, a romance was blooming. Valeria Subotina, 33, had been sheltering in the enormous Azovstal steelworks, the final stronghold in the city, as it was surrounded by Russian forces in spring 2022. She had taken cover in one of dozens of Soviet-era bomb shelters built to withstand nuclear war, deep beneath the industrial plant. “You go down a semi-collapsed staircase, move through passages and tunnels, and go further and further down. Finally, you reach this concrete cube, a room,” Valeria says. In the bunker - alongside soldiers and civilians - Valeria was working with the army's Azov brigade as a press officer, communicating the horrors of Russia's months-long siege to global media. There, too, was her fiancé Andriy Subotin, a 34-year-old Ukrainian army officer, defending the plant. The pair had found each other through work - Mariupol’s Border Guard Agency - around three years before the siege. When Andriy met Valeria, it was love at first sight. "He was special, it felt so warm to be around him," Valeria says. "He was always kind and never refused to help anyone.” Andriy was an optimist, she says. He knew how to be happy and found joy in small things: sunny weather, smiles, friends' company. “On the first day we met, I realised Andriy was very different to others.” Within three months, they had moved in together, renting a small one-storey house in Mariupol with a garden. The couple started building a life together. “We travelled a lot, went to the mountains, met friends,” Valeria says. “We fished together and spent lots of time outdoors. We visited theatres, concerts and exhibitions. Life was full.” They decided to get married and dreamed of a big church wedding with family and friends. They picked wedding rings. Valeria quit her job and began to nurture her creative side, writing and publishing poems about the earlier years of fierce fighting with Russia in Mariupol. "For a couple of years before the full-scale invasion, I was truly happy," she recalls. Everything changed in February 2022. Spring had brought the sun to Valeria and Andriy’s garden, and the first flowers were appearing. "I was starting to enjoy spring,” says Valeria. “We knew about Putin's threats and realised there would be a war, but I didn't want to think about it.“ A few days before 24 February, the day the full-scale invasion began, Andriy urged Valeria to leave the city. She refused. "I knew that no matter what happened, I had to be in Mariupol, I had to defend my city.” Weeks later, they were both underground, in the Azovstal bunkers. They only got to see each other occasionally, but when they did those were moments of “pure happiness”. At this point, Mariupol was nearing a humanitarian catastrophe. Strikes to infrastructure had cut water and power supplies to parts of the city, and there were food shortages. Civilian homes and buildings, too, had been destroyed. On 15 April, a large bomb was dropped on the plant. Valeria narrowly escaped death. “I was found among dead bodies, the only one alive. On the one hand, a miracle, but on the other, a terrible tragedy.” She had to spend eight days in an underground hospital in the plant with severe concussion. “The smell of blood and rot was everywhere,” she says. “It was a very scary place where our wounded comrades, with amputated limbs, were lying everywhere. They couldn't get proper help because there were very few medical supplies.” Andriy was deeply worried for Valeria after her injury and started planning a wedding right there, in the bunker. "It felt like he was in a hurry, like we wouldn't have any more time," says Valeria. “He made a couple of wedding rings out of tin foil with his own hands, and asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes. “He was the love of my life. And our rings made of tin foil - they were perfect.” On 5 May, the couple were married by a commander stationed at the plant. They had a ceremony in the bunker, wearing their uniforms as wedding attire. Andriy promised his wife that they would have a proper wedding when they returned home, with real rings and a white dress. Two days later, on 7 May, he was killed in action at the steel plant, by Russian shelling. Valeria didn’t find out about it straight away. “People often say you feel something inside when a loved one dies. But I, on the contrary, was in a good mood. I was married and in love." One of the hardest things was having to hold in a “lump of grief”, as she was defending her city alongside “her boys” - comrades - at Azovstal. “I was a bride, I was a wife, and now I am a widow. The scariest word,” she says. “I could not react the way I wanted to at that moment. “My boys were always around. They sat next to me, they slept next to me, they brought me food and supported me,” she says. “I could only cry when they weren’t watching.” At one point, it felt like the fear of being in the war zone was blunted by her grief. “I didn’t care any more… You just understand that there are many more people waiting for you in the next world, if it exists, than there are here with you.” The Ukrainian soldiers at Azovstal finally surrendered on 20 May. Valeria found herself among the 900 prisoners of war forcibly taken by the Russian military out of Mariupol. “We stared through the windows of the bus at those buildings we loved, at those streets we knew so well. They destroyed and killed everything I loved – my city, my friends, and my husband.” Valeria survived 11 months of Russian captivity, and has told of torture and abuse. Andriy often appeared in her dreams. In April last year, she was released as part of a prisoner exchange, and is now back in Ukraine. It is difficult to to say how many people were killed as a result of the Russian shelling of Mariupol, but local authorities say the number exceeds 20,000. According to the UN, 90% of residential buildings were damaged or destroyed, and bodies are still in the rubble. As far as Valeria knows, her husband's body remains at the Azovstal steel plant in the now-occupied city. Sometimes, she says, she looks to the sky and speaks to him. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv220gq7p31o

Name of the game: Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Price: $69.99 - $27.99 Link Store: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league Offer ends up after X hours: Sale ends 6/13/2024 at 4:00 PM Requirements:

Voted

The union for senior civil servants has told the High Court its members could be made to break the law, under the government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. Launching an unprecedented challenge, the FDA urged the court to clarify whether ministers could tell staff to ignore a European Court of Human Rights order to stop a flight. The union says Civil Service rules mean they must abide by all laws, including orders from the Strasbourg-based court. The outcome of the case could raise complex questions about the powers of ministers, with significant constitutional implications. Earlier this week, the government confirmed to the High Court there would be no Rwanda flight before 24 July. This case must be settled before then. Labour says it will abolish the scheme if it wins the general election on 4 July. In June 2022, the government’s first planned Rwanda flight was aborted, after a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) interim order said the asylum seekers on board should not be taken to the African nation until British judges had ruled on whether they would be humanely treated. That judgement came last November, when the UK Supreme Court ruled Rwanda was not safe for asylum seekers. And UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak then introduced an alternative plan, which tells judges to ignore those concerns - and says ministers could ignore a future flight-stopping ECtHR order. 'Potentially unlawful' Tom Hickman KC, for the union, told the High Court senior civil servants did not oppose the Rwanda scheme, as their duty was to serve the government of the day. But the new version of the plan had left them in an unclear and potentially unlawful position. The Civil Service code required officials to abide by domestic laws - those passed by Parliament - and international laws the UK had joined, including the European Convention on Human Rights, which the ECtHR oversees. The government could have rewritten the Civil Service code to tell officials to ignore interim ECtHR rulings but had not done so. “International law is no less important than domestic law,” Mr Hickman said. “The UK is a fully subscribed member of the international-law club - and international law is fundamental to the stability of the international community. “They [ministers] want to refuse to implement an interim measure [of the European Court of Human Rights] while wanting to maintain the appearance that international law is being complied with.” 'Constitutionally untenable' But the government says the union is wrong. In written submissions, its top barrister Sir James Eadie KC said if the FDA won the case, it would mean civil servants could override ministers' decisions. “That is constitutionally untenable,” he said. “It would frustrate and undermine the intention of Parliament [in passing the Rwanda plan].” Mr Justice Chamberlain said he would give his decision at a later date. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv22k74m4y7o

West Midlands Safari Park has welcomed the arrival of a baby giraffe, one of four new arrivals in the last two weeks. The park's Rothschild’s giraffe, Arusha, gave birth to the 6ft-tall (2m) baby boy on 29 May, with the special moment being captured on CCTV. After a gestation period of 15 months, keepers were ready for the birth and ensured that the giraffe house floor was covered with sand for a soft landing. Deputy head keeper of ungulates Ian Nock, said: "This is her fourth calf and incredibly important for giraffe conservation." The International Union for Conservation of Nature recognises giraffes as a "vulnerable" species, which is largely down to poaching and habitat loss. Mr Nock added: "Arusha is a very attentive mother, and both are doing perfectly. "Once the calf is ready, we shall start introducing mother and calf to the rest of the herd, including dad, Rufus and brother, Kingsley. "This important birth increases our herd to 11. It has definitely been something of a baby boom." It comes after the birth of two endangered barasingha fawns and just before the birth of a blesbok calf - the first in the park’s history. "We’ve named the blesbok calf Merlin and he is sticking very close to mum, Pebbles, who is proving to be an excellent first-time mother," said Mr Nock. "The barasingha fawns can often be seen playing together which is lovely for us all to see." https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnll9ey2070o

If you have your eye on a new Lexus RX luxury SUV, but just don't feel like swinging the price tag or cosplaying a real estate agent, has Toyota got the alternative for you: The 2025 Crown Signia. This new crossover is related to the unusual Crown sedan, a premium, high-riding sedan that replaced the Avalon in Toyota's lineup and leverages the iconic, up-market, heretofore mostly Japanese-market-only Crown name. The Crown SUV also happens to be pretty much exactly the same size as Lexus's RX, which plays in the same compact luxury SUV sandbox as the Audi Q5, BMW X3, and Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class. This isn't the first time we've compared the Toyota and Lexus, which even share a platform and essentially use the same three-motor hybrid powertrain. Available only as a hybrid, the Crown Signia is priced thousands less than an equivalent Lexus RX350h hybrid (a cheaper gas-only RX350 bridges the gap somewhat), drives quietly and comfortably, and has a relatively premium interior compared to other mainstream Toyotas. Detailed pricing for the Crown Signia, including options and standard features, is now here. The Crown Signia is offered in XLE and Limited grades, which start at $44,985 and $49,385, including destination charges. You'll pay $52,100 for the least-expensive Lexus RX350h available, and prices on nicer versions can balloon to $61,230 before options if you opt for the top-of-the-line RX350h Luxury; add some options on, and that price tag can swell to nearly $70,000. Keep in mind, there are pricier RXs yet—the plug-in RX450h+ and sporty RX500h F Sport Performance come to mind. Toyota Crown Signia XLE Standard equipment on the Crown Signia XLE (pictured in Oxygen white, above) includes dual-zone automatic climate control; full leather upholstery; a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch central touchscreen; 19-inch wheels; heated outboard rear seats; and heated, ventilated, and power-adjustable front seats. The look inside should be familiar to anyone who's spent time in a Crown sedan, though there are different colorways available here. The hybrid setup delivers 240 hp in total from the combination of a 188-hp, 178-lb-ft 2.5-liter gas four-cylinder engine and a 180-hp electric drive motor (plus a starter/generator) driving the front axle and a 53-hp electric motor that spins the rear axle, giving the Crown Signia on-demand all-wheel drive. If you're wondering why the Toyota gives up 6 hp to the Lexus with the same powertrain, credit the Crown Signia's ability to drink regular gas, while the RX needs premium. Another plus in the Toyota's column? It gets better fuel economy, delivering an EPA-estimated 39 mpg city, 37 mpg highway, and 38 mpg combined to the RX's 37 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, and 36 mpg combined. Toyota Crown Signia Limited For the features that really transform the Crown Signia into a budget Lexus, you'll want to step up to the Limited trim level (Storm Cloud blue, above). This not only trades the XLE's six-speaker audio system for an 11-speaker JBL setup, it also brings auto-leveling to the LED headlights, a (fixed) panoramic glass roof, rain-sensing windshield wipers, 21-inch gray wheels, and Digital Key capability (in which users can operate their smartphone as the Crown Signia's key). The only options are premium paint ($495 for Finish Line Red, Oxygen White, or Bronze Age; Storm Cloud and Black are free) and the Advanced Technology package ($1,865, which adds a 360-degree parking camera, front cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, and puddle lamps). Snagging a Crown Signia for way less than a Lexus RX—and then spending less on gas—seems to make it the perfect option for those who want premium without the premium price tag. Some might even prefer the Toyota's sleek appearance to that of the more angular Lexus. Interestingly, the Crown sedan is offered in nicer (and more powerful) Nightshade and Platinum trim levels in addition to the same XLE and Limited specs, but it doesn't have as close an analogue in the Lexus lineup as the Crown Signia has in the RX, so Toyota probably won't add those versions to the SUV to avoid overlap with its luxury division. If the 2025 Toyota Crown Signia sounds like your cup o' Lexus, it goes on sale later this summer. https://www.motortrend.com/news/2025-toyota-crown-signia-price-msrp-trim-levels/

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire says he is "absolutely gutted" that he will have to miss Euro 2024 through injury. The 31-year-old and Manchester City forward Jack Grealish, both regulars in Gareth Southgate's England squad, have not made the final 26-man list. The central defender Maguire has not recovered sufficiently from a calf injury he sustained in April which kept him out of United’s FA Cup final victory over Manchester City last month. In a post on social media,, external Maguire, who has represented the Three Lions on 63 occasions, confirmed he would not be playing in Germany. He said: "I'm devastated not to have been selected to play for England at the Euros this summer. Despite my best efforts, I've not been able to overcome an injury to my calf. Maybe I pushed myself too hard, to try and make it. Simply, I am absolutely gutted." Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford, Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite, Liverpool's Jarell Quansah and Curtis Jones and Tottenham midfielder James Maddison have all also missed out. "For me, representing England is the highest honour," Maguire, who was in Southgate's initial 33-man selection, added. "It means everything to me. If I can’t help the team as a player, I will support them as a fan – along with the rest of the country. Go and win it boys. "Next, I will return to the supervision of the Manchester United medical team in order to prepare for next season." Earlier on Thursday it was confirmed Tottenham forward Maddison, 27, and Liverpool midfielder Jones, 23, had both left the training camp. In a post on social media, Maddison wrote of his disappointment, saying "devastated doesn't quite cut it". He added: "I still thought there would be a space for me in a 26-man squad as I feel I bring something different and had been a mainstay in this whole qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany. "But the manager has made the decision and I have to respect that. I’ll be back, I have no doubt." England start their Euro 2024 campaign with a Group C game against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on 16 June, before games against Denmark on 20 June and Slovenia on 25 June. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c988179wd30o

The list is served. The world’s 50 best restaurants of 2024 have been revealed, reaching 23 global destinations that were chosen by 1,080 international restaurant industry experts, including food writers and chefs. The list includes several classic favorites and some new entries from Australia, Colombia, India and beyond. Disfrutar in Barcelona took the top spot after being ranked No. 2 last year. It was also named The Best Restaurant in Europe 2024. Disfrutar diners can choose from two 30-course menus highlighting twists of Mediterranean classics, including caviar-filled Panchino doughnut and brilliant frozen gazpacho sandwich. NYC made the list with Michelin-starred Atomix coming in at No. 6 in the world and No. 1 in North America this year. The Korean dining spot in Murray Hill is run by chef Junghyun “JP” Park and his wife, Ellia, who have been specifically noted for their attention to detail, such as serving each acclaimed item in beautiful ceramics. Spain was the biggest winner with six restaurants on the list: Disfrutar, Asador Etxebarri, Diverxo, Quique Dacosta, Reale and Elkano. Meanwhile, Paris and Bangkok each landed four restaurants on the list. Table by Bruno Verjus, Septime, Plénitude and Arpege in Paris were awarded the honor along with Gaggan Anand, Suhring, Sorn and Le Du in Bangkok. The roundup included a whopping 11 entries from South America alone. https://nypost.com/2024/06/06/lifestyle/worlds-best-restaurants-for-2024-revealed-and-one-nyc-spot-made-the-list/

A US federal judge has ordered Donald Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon to report to prison by 1 July to serve a four-month sentence. The order on Thursday comes after years of legal wrangling, with an appeals court last month upholding Bannon's 2022 criminal conviction for contempt of Congress. The right-wing podcaster was found to have illegally refused to testify before the committee investigating the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot. Bannon, 70, has denied any criminal wrongdoing and his lawyer called the ruling a "horrible decision". After Thursday's decision, Bannon said he and his lawyers would "go all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to". "There's not a prison built or a jail built that will ever shut me up," he defiantly told reporters outside the courthouse in Washington DC. He called the legal challenges against him a plan for "shutting down the Maga movement" - a reference to former President Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. Bannon has said he was following legal advice in refusing to testify before the House committee investigating 6 January, when rioters ransacked the US Capitol with the goal of stopping the certification of Joe Biden's election win. Bannon's lawyer David Schoen, who has called the case against his client politically motivated, also vowed to appeal to a higher court. Mr Schoen said his client would have been violating Trump's invocation of executive privilege - a legal concept that allows presidents to keep some communications private - had he testified before Congress. But a three-member panel from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected that argument when it upheld his conviction in May, saying his claim "runs headlong into settled law". "This exact 'advice of counsel' defense is no defense at all," Justice Bradley Garcia wrote in that decision. A full appeals court could delay Thursday's sentencing order if it took up the case and issued its own ruling stopping its enforcement. Bannon was a key player in Trump's 2016 rise to the Oval Office and later became chief strategist at the White House. He left the administration after a violent far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, but remains a top ally of the former president. Another senior Trump aide, Peter Navarro, reported to prison in March after his own contempt of Congress conviction. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cxee7gyrmnzo

The Victrix Pro BFG's stylish Call of Duty-themed PS5 controller is on sale for a limited time at Amazon. You can grab the high-end modular controller for $170, down from $200. The Victrix Pro BFG is rarely discounted, and this particular edition released late last year. It's unclear how long this deal will last, so Call of Duty fans who game on PS5, PS4, or PC should scoop it up for its lowest price yet while they can. It sports an exclusive blue camo design based on the Midnight Mask skin from Call of Duty. Outside of the aesthetic change, this model has all the features of the original black controller, like modular buttons and thumbsticks, Sony 3D audio support for headsets, customizable trigger stops, and four programmable back triggers. This is the second Call of Duty-themed Victrix Pro BFG Wireless controller PDP has released. In early 2023, PDP released a version of the controller themed on the Las Almas Golden Cartel skin from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. That particular model is no longer available, so we'd expect this edition to disappear at some point, too. If these Call of Duty editions are too expensive or aren't your thing, the standard black Victrix Pro BFG with purple accents is also available for $174 at Amazon. The only difference between these controllers is their aesthetics; they all utilize the modular design that secured it as one of our picks (alongside the DualSense Edge) for the best Pro-style gamepad on our list of the best PS5 controllers. Each controller ships with four thumbsticks, three D-pad styles, and a module for fighting games with six microswitch buttons that can be slotted into the controller in place of the right stick and normal face buttons. You can rearrange the sticks to be parallel like a traditional PlayStation controller, but the form factor is closer to Xbox controllers than PlayStation. The Pro BFG comes with a 2.4GHz wireless dongle and a 10-foot braided charging cable that can also be used as a wired connection. Everything is neatly stored inside a hardshell case. If you want to read more about the controller before grabbing this deal, check out our full Victric Pro BFG review. Earlier this year, an Xbox version of the Victrix Pro BFG joined the lineup. Unfortunately, the Call of Duty-themed model is only available on PlayStation. Xbox users can choose between black and white models for $180 each. PC players have the luxury of using either the PlayStation or Xbox variants in both wireless and wired modes. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/officially-licensed-call-of-duty-ps5-controller-gets-big-discount-at-amazon/1100-6518213/

Vrombr is a newly released AR racing game where you control real-life remote-controlled toy cars using your phone. Thanks to a camera embedded within the car itself you can watch the action from a driver's point of view and play a variety of game modes against other players, while your phone tallies up the points and any other variables. Sound familiar? Well, although Vrombr is rightfully proud of what is an intriguing mixture of game and toy, they're not quite the first to do it. Just recently toy manufacturer Hot Wheels debuted Rift Rally, which did a similar thing while overlaying AAA-quality graphics on real-life locations. Now Vrombr may just have an advantage, after all, if they can make their toys cheaper than Hot Wheels (this is after all, the Nerf effect of the big-name brand being super-expensive) then they could undercut the competition. But the first dev to think this? Eh, we're not so sure. Vroom vroom Overall, Vrombr does offer a pretty good lineup of modes and other neat additions to make this game well worth picking up. Although again, we feel that whether or not this game is going to be successful will depend on how cheap the physical cars are, it's all well and good having multiplayer but how many people can you think of that'd shell out fifty-quid for a toy car nowadays? Well in the meantime if you can't find anybody who'd want that, why not take a look at the latest entry in our regular feature of the top 5 new mobile games to play this week? Better yet you can always dig into our constantly-growing, comprehensive list of the best mobile games of 2024 (so far), featuring major releases, indie hits and more! Each of these lists is sure to have something for everyone. https://www.pocketgamer.com/vrombr/out-now/

When he started chatting with Terry Brash, indie game developer kindanice thought he was just swapping tips with a fellow dev. He didn't know that his new acquaintance was going to take his whole game, too. Kindanice related this story to PC Gamer over DMs this week, and shared screenshots of his conversations with Brash, who did not respond to a request for comment. The two developers first chatted a little over a year ago: kindanice was a fan of Brash's game Gunrun, and Brash was a fan of kindanice's game Dire Decks, a deckbuilding shooter combo published on itch.io. The developers swapped some coding knowledge and Brash invited kindanice to his game dev Discord server. A year passed, and then this week, Brash sent kindanice a Discord DM to share some cool news: He'd cloned Dire Decks in a new engine, added some new features, renamed it Wildcard, and put it on Steam under his own name. This isn't one of those gray area situations where one game derives its basic design from another, but brings its own look and spirit to the table (the dozens of Vampire Survivor-alikes come to mind). The games are visually almost identical, and Brash himself called Wildcard a "rewrite" and "clone" of Dire Decks when he introduced it to kindanice. Kindanice was taken aback: flattered, perhaps, but confused. He asked Brash if he really thought it was OK to take the art and concept of Dire Decks and put it on Steam under his own name without permission. Now Brash seemed taken aback: He pointed out that the code was original and that he'd redrawn the artwork, and asked if kindanice wanted an "inspiration" credit. "Bro... there's 'inspiration' and then there's blatantly copying an entire game," kindanice replied. The question of whether copyright law protected Dire Decks came up. Brash wasn't sure it did, but admitted he wasn't a lawyer. Kindanice felt he had a case, but changed tack, telling Brash that, regardless of what the law says, copying his game just wasn't a cool thing to do and that his other developer friends were shocked and weirded out by it. "I'm confused, what's weird here?" Brash replied. "I liked the game, so I made a clone with extra stuff. Happens every day homie." Kindanice asked Brash to remove Wildcard from Steam, and Brash refused. Kindanice then suggested that Brash's reputation would be harmed when the public found out what he'd done, but Brash didn't budge. "The decision's been made," said Brash. "I accept my fate." That was the last direct communication between the two developers. On June 3, kindanice posted publicly about the situation on X. "@terrybrash copied my game 'dire decks' and is releasing it on steam under a different name without my permission," said the developer. "I have tried to get him to take the game down but he is unwilling to do so. not sure what to do in this situation…" Brash continued to promote Wildcard on X after being called out by kindanice. He also posted an edited clip of the "Bold and Brash" SpongeBob episode in which his profile picture is dropped in the trash—I'm not sure precisely what he meant by that. Wildcard remains listed on Steam with a demo, and Brash has said that it will be free when it releases. Kindanice is currently working on his own expanded Steam version of Dire Decks. He's considered making a copyright claim against Wildcard, but says he'd still prefer it if Brash would remove the game from Steam voluntarily. You can find the current version of Dire Decks and kindanice's other games on his itch.io page. https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/dire-decks-wildcard-clone/

Name of the game: Marvel's Midnight Suns Price: $59.99 - FREE Link Store: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/marvels-midnight-suns Offer ends up after X hours: Sale ends 6/13/2024 at 4:00 PM Requirements:

Vivo has indeed come a long way in the Indian market. What started off with the Vivo X1 in 2012 has now finally moved past the premium segment into the ultra-premium segment with the launch of its first foldable device, the X Fold 3 Pro. The latter, being the company's latest offering, packs in pretty much what one would expect from a foldable that's meant to compete with the OnePlus Open and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 (and soon Galaxy Z Fold 6). Just like its BBK sibling, OnePlus, Vivo has skipped launching a smaller clamshell foldable and directly gone with a book-style foldable instead. Has Vivo done anything differently? Let's find out. The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is priced at Rs. 1,59,999 in India, which makes it the brand's most premium offering ever after its Vivo X100 Pro (a regular bar-shaped smartphone), which was launched earlier this year. With a price tag this high, buyers will certainly expect nothing but the best. The phone appears not too thick when folded but super slim when open. This is mainly down to the new hinge which supports the display with a minimal crease and lets both halves lay flat against each other. The phone measures just 5.2mm when unfolded, which is basically as thin as its USB-C port at the bottom. When folded, this doubles up to 11.2mm, which, despite appearing a bit chunky, does not feel too uncomfortable to hold. This is mainly down to its weight, which feels almost like a regular premium flagship at 236 grams. For reference, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5 weighs 253 grams (which is a bit over a quarter of a kilo), while Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max (a regular bar-shaped smartphone) weighs 221 grams. While not as unique as the camera-focussed OnePlus Open (with its faux leather rear panel), it's still not as basic as Samsung's Galaxy Fold 5. You have a curved edge cover display which bends very little over the right edge of the phone, and the same goes for the rear panel (which is made of a plastic fibre) and bends over its left edge. When opened, the larger-than-usual foldable, with its massive 8.03-inch folding AMOLED panel, despite its size, feels comfortable to hold. Like many other features of this foldable, it too get's the “biggest on the block” bragging rights. The inner display has a 4:3.55 aspect ratio, which makes it better than the OnePlus Open's nearly square form factor, which, as pointed out in my [review], was not good for media consumption. The slightly rectangular inner folding display does make the 6.53-inch AMOLED cover display a bit narrower (21.1:9 aspect ratio) than the OnePlus', but it's not as narrow as the Galaxy Z Fold 5's remote-control-like (23.1:9) panel which felt a bit squished while typing. The foldable also has two fingerprint readers for convenience. There's one embedded into the cover display, while the second sensor is available upon unfolding the main display in the bottom area of the right half of the panel. The phone's design also focuses on durability. Vivo offers an IPX8 water resistance rating, which is the same as that of Samsung's phone. For its core hardware, Vivo has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. There's 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The phone also has space for two nano SIM cards. There's a massive 5,700mAh battery which is the biggest we have seen on any foldable to date in India. And it charges up using a 120W charger at 100W. Vivo's also thrown in the kitchen sink and offers 50W wireless charging as well, which happens via its special charging dock (sold separately). Vivo was never shy about camera performance with its premium devices, with every new generation attempting to outdo the other in our reviews of its X series smartphones. Its first foldable in India also gets the Zeiss branding along with its T-star coated lenses. There's a 50-megapixel primary camera with OIS accompanied by a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 3X 64-megapixel telephoto camera (OIS) as well. Selfies are handled by two 32-megapixel fixed focus cameras, one located in the cover display and the second in the main display. As with every Zeiss-branded device from Vivo, this one also comes with numerous Zeiss lenses and styles in the various camera modes. Vivo has done things a bit differently from OnePlus when it comes to software. Apart from offering the latest Android 14-based Funtouch OS 14 out of the box, there are also several new generative AI integrations in the notes and recording apps, along with language translation. Vivo has also used AI for the phone's folding abilities to make them smarter. Indeed, Vivo has a solid contender for Samsung in the foldables space this year, packing in a few segment-leading hardware features. While Samsung has already taken a hit on a global level thanks to Huawei's reemergence, there's a lot banking on this year's new foldables from Samsung, which is also expected to arrive in a new ‘Ultra' flavour as well. For now, Vivo clearly seems to have enough when it comes to bragging rights, given its hardware specifications. But we will have to put the phone through its paces to see how it all comes together when used as a daily driver and is subjected to the wear and tear of daily usage. So, stay tuned to our detailed review of the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro, which will be out soon. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/reviews/vivo-x-fold-3-pro-first-impressions-5823963#pfrom=indepth

You rarely forget your first time, and even though it’s been a year since my first exhilarating experience with Apple Vision Pro, I haven’t forgotten it. Now, though, I look back with a fresh perspective and new eyes and wonder: when I put on that mixed reality headset, did I also step inside Apple’s reality distortion field? I want to be clear; I stand by everything I wrote about my first hands-on demo, but it’s been 12 months of brief samplings of different aspects and eventually a review unit that I all but lived in while writing my exhaustive review. Vision Pro was Apple’s biggest swing in years. Meta all but owned the VR space with its VR headsets, but no one was buying the idea of the Metaverse, and the Meta Quest line (like other VR headsets) is still most po[CENSORED]r with gamers. With Vision Pro, Apple didn’t just intend to redefine VR and Mixed Reality; it wanted to redefine computing with Spatial Computing. And it was obvious from day one with Vision Pro that Apple poured everything it had into the headset. It looked nothing like the competition and the experience immediately outstripped anything you could find on Meta Quest and HTC Vice headgear. Even after those first few exciting Vision Pro encounters, the freedom of a review revealed unanticipated depths. Vision Pro felt like the most thought-through V1 piece of hardware ever. It was just as ready to game as it was to connect to your laptop and let you work. Apple even tried to account for the expected isolation of VR with unusual and possibly questionable ideas like EyeSight and Personas. The former puts a version of your eyes on a pair of displays on the outside of the headset, while the latter scans your face and creates an eerily accurate avatar that can appear in FaceTime calls and other interactions. Even if some ideas seemed ill-advised, I couldn’t shake the impression that this was a revolutionary step in mixed reality, VR, and computing. I felt that way for months, right up until after I finished my Vision Pro review. Waking up After finishing my review, I continued using Vision Pro, working, watching movies, watching incredible VR videos, playing games, messaging, making FaceTime calls, and installing the occasional update to fix things like my terrifying persona. But then, a week or more would pass, and I realized I hadn’t picked up the headset. https://www.techradar.com/computing/virtual-reality-augmented-reality/vision-pro-at-one-i-love-apple-revolutionary-headset-so-why-do-i-hardly-ever-use-it

Adata unveiled many new products at Computex this year, including an innovative new CPU cooler, an SFX power supply, and SSDs. This assortment played second fiddle to Adata's XPG Nia handheld gaming PC, which also appeared at its booth. First on deck was the Levante II, an AIO CPU cooler from its XPG gaming line. A much-needed refresh of the Levante X 360, the Levante II offers a few changes to address our concerns with the first model. Chiefly, the Levante II moves the AIO pump from the radiator down to the cooler head, creating a slightly thicker CPU block. This new design is patented by Adata, which is a big change for the vendor that traditionally uses Asetek-patented designs for its AIOs. The Levante II promises to keep the X 360's low noise and drop its price to $179 from $199. It will arrive sometime in Q3 2024. The XPG Hydro CPU cooler is perhaps more interesting due to its hybrid nature. The product is both a water cooler and an air cooler. The dual 120mm fans push air across the central radiator, which rests directly atop the CPU. The Hydro promises to be worth the novelty. Reading only 28 dB at max performance, the cooler approaches pure-AIO sound levels and promises to keep up that low noise performance at max loads when cooling up to 280W TDP. And because XPG is marketed towards gamers, we have a thin RGB line across the top of the cooler. The XPG Hydro will cost $109 when it arrives in September. Adata is not the most well-known name in power supplies, but it will seek to enter the market through the Pymcore SFX power supply. Likely named after Ant-Man from Marvel Comics (because one PSU referencing Marvel at Computex wasn't enough), the Pymcore was first spotted at CES in January, bringing the new 600W cable to small form factor builds. The power supply will be available from 850W to 1000W, ranging in price from $219 to $249, making it one of the most expensive SFX power supplies on the market. Adata is jumping into the interlocking fans market with its Hurricane Mag fans. Hurricane Mag is a series of 120mm fans that can magnetically lock together, joining the recent trend of bucking daisy-chaining PWM cables in favor of just daisy-chaining fans. Snapping together easily and quickly, the fans promise to make PC building much less painful. The fans will also come equipped with a forward/reverse flow switch, which is a welcome addition. The Hurricane Mag will be slightly above average pricing for its field, selling four fans in one package for $109 starting in August. https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cooling/adata-shows-off-hybrid-airwater-cooling-tower-at-computex-new-psus-and-pcie-50-ssds-also-on-deck

Hello there, In this topic, I will introduce the sources I recommend to get the latest news for every sub-forum of our project. Game Platform: PC Games: For News: https://www.pcgamer.com/news/ For Reviews: https://www.pcgamer.com/reviews/ Mobile Games: For News: https://www.pocketgamer.com/news/ For Reviews: https://minireview.io/ Console Games: For News: https://www.gamespot.com/news/ For Reviews: https://www.gamespot.com/games/reviews/ Technology Era: Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/news Software: https://www.techradar.com/computing/software Gadgets: https://www.gadgets360.com/ Social Media: Gaming Videos: No sources, look for gaming videos on YouTube and post them. Tutorials & Tips: No sources, you can look for tutorials (related to gaming in general) in YouTube and post them. Offers, recommendations & giveaways: Game Over: No sources, you post the games you are not playing anymore. Games store (Buy, Sell, Trade): A specified section for those interested in selling/buying/trading their games/skins/accounts. Giveaways: A specified section for giveaways, you can post freely if you have a giveaway to make. You can post giveaways that are not related to gaming world such as Free Premium Accounts. Discounts: For EpicGames Store: https://gg.deals/deals/epic-games-store-deals/ For Steam Store: https://steamdb.info/sales/ Resources, Science and Technology: CS Resources: https://gamebanana.com/mods/cats/3517? Addons: COMING SOON Plugins: COMING SOON Skins: https://gamebanana.com/mods/cats/8310? Maps: https://gamebanana.com/mods/cats/5474? Requests: Specified for requests, no sources. AMXX Scripting/Tutorials: https://gamebanana.com/scripts/games/4254?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6GrWH8O8h4

Name of the game: Chivalry 2 Price: $9.99 - FREE Link Store: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/chivalry-2 Offer ends up after X hours: Sale ends 6/6/2024 at 4:00 PM Requirements: