EVIL BABY.

Acting US Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor spoke to Congress behind closed doors for more than nine hours on Tuesday, providing testimony alternatively described as explosive or inconclusive, depending who was doing the talking. Although Taylor didn't appear in front of television cameras, his 15-page opening statement was quickly leaked to the Washington Post, providing the veteran diplomat's unfiltered take on his connection to the rapidly unfolding story of the Trump administration's Ukraine policy machinations. The picture Taylor paints isn't a positive one for the White House, bolstering Democratic claims that his testimony was more bombshell than dud. Here are five takeaways from Taylor's opening statement, which reportedly took more than an hour to deliver and elicited sighs and gasps from those in attendance. 1. Trump the 'businessman' At this point there's little question that Donald Trump, whose background is in real estate and reality television, has made for an unconventional president. Supporters have touted this as a strength - something US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland leaned into during an 8 September phone conversation detailed by Taylor. Sondland - who was part of what Taylor described as an "irregular, informal channel of US policy-making" that included Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani - was explaining how Trump wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to make a public statement about opening investigations that could potentially be damaging to Democrats. According to Taylor, Sondland said Trump was a businessman, and "when a businessman is about to sign a cheque to someone who owes him something… the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the cheque". Taylor balked at this, insisting that Ukraine didn't "owe" the US anything. Much of the controversy around Trump's back-channel US-Ukraine policy has centred around whether there was a "quid pro quo" - a promise of Ukrainian action that could be politically beneficial to the president in exchange for releasing US military assistance and giving Zelensky a coveted White House visit. It doesn't take a working knowledge of Latin to figure that the "businessman deal" Taylor describes is exactly such an arrangement. 2. The mystery budget woman There have been multiple reports that the order to suspend US military aid to Ukraine came directly from the president. Taylor's statement corroborates this, in a somewhat unusual fashion. He describes an 18 July National Security Council video-conference in which the topic of the delayed military aid came up. A woman who said she was from the White House budget office (OMB) - Taylor could not tell who because she was off-screen - said that "her boss" had instructed her not to approve any additional security money to Ukraine "until further notice". That boss would be Mick Mulvaney, head of the budget office and the president's acting chief-of-staff. The unidentified woman went on to say that "the directive had come from the president to the chief-of-staff to the OMB". "In an instant," Taylor testified, "I realised that one of the key pillars of our strong support for Ukraine was threatened." Democrats are probably already scouring the OMB staff list to determine the identity of the mystery woman - although they may have little luck getting her to testify. Other officials in the agency have already refused Democratic subpoenas to appear before the impeachment inquiry. 3. Ukraine under siege Taylor detailed the strategic significance of Ukraine, underlining that he viewed Trump's decision to delay military aid as one that put lives at risk. In one of the most dramatic passages of Taylor's opening statement, he describes a visit to the eastern front of Ukraine's civil war, where he stared across a river at Russian-led military forces. He relayed his unease as the Ukrainian military commander thanked him for military support Taylor knew was being delayed. "Over 13,000 Ukrainians had been killed in the war, one or two a week," Taylor testified. "More Ukrainians would undoubtedly die without the US assistance." Taylor bookended his opening statement by emphasising the importance of US support for Ukraine and the heroism of the Ukrainian people, who he said were standing up to Russian aggression and yearning for a "more secure and prosperous life". "If we believe in the principle of sovereignty of nations on which our security and the security of our friends and allies depends, we must support Ukraine in its fight against its bullying neighbour," he said. In Taylor's opinion, the stakes were too high for what he saw as the administration's back-channel efforts to use Ukraine as a pawn in an US political game; it was more than a political controversy, for Ukrainians it was a matter of life or death. 4. Tim Morrison, check your messages A key figure emerging from Taylor's opening statement has yet to appear before Congress - Tim Morrison, Eurasia expert on the National Security Council staff. Some of the most damaging details about White House efforts to pressure Ukraine were relayed to Taylor from Morrison. For instance, on 1 September, Taylor says Morrison attended a meeting in Warsaw between Sondland and a Ukrainian official, Andrey Yermak, in which the EU ambassador directly tied security assistance to opening an investigation into the Ukrainian energy company with ties to the Bidens. Morrison also attended a meeting in Warsaw between Zelensky and Vice-President Mike Pence, and reportedly listened in on the fateful 25 July phone call between Trump and Zelensky during which the US president asked for investigatory "favours" from his counterpart. House impeachment investigators have already requested that Morrison appear before Congress. That request will take on additional urgency - and may turn into an official subpoena - with Taylor's testimony in the books. 5. An independent voice In a statement released by the White House after Taylor's congressional appearance, press secretary Stephanie Grisham suggested the 72-year-old ambassador was part of a far-left "smear campaign" by Democrats and a group of "radical unelected bureaucrats waging war on the Constitution". Such an assertion is difficult to square with Taylor's long record of public service, however. A West Point military academy graduate and Bronze Star-awarded Vietnam War veteran, Taylor worked as a low-level congressional staffer for New Jersey Democratic Senator Bill Bradely before becoming a diplomat in the Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama administrations. He served as US ambassador to Ukraine from June 2006 to May 2009 and was convinced to return to the job earlier this year by Trump's own secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. Taylor's opening statement was methodical and meticulous, corroborating previous revelations and fleshing out key details. He reportedly has taken extensive notes that could supplement his testimony, as well, if Democrats can get the State Department to hand them over. It is in the White House's interests to undermine Taylor's authority and credibility, particularly if he publicly testifies at some point, but doing so will be no easy task.

A Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson Commemorative Bundle that we created in his honor will be granted to every player on log-in, for free, forever, beginning on October 22, PDT. “iNcontroL: Legend” portrait “iNcontroL: Caster Invitational” portrait “iNcontroLTV” spray “iNcontroL” announcer Home Story Cup XX bundle has been added for purchase. “HomeStory Cup XX” portrait “HomeStory Cup XX: TaKe” portrait “HomeStory Cup” spray “HomeStory Cup XX” race banners for each race and random. WCS 2019 portraits have been added for each of the 16 finalists and a trophy portrait for all “War Chest: BlizzCon 2019” owners. “Classic” worker skins from BlizzCon 2018 Virtual Ticket are now available for purchase. Following Console skins are now available for purchase. Terran: Machined Terran: Special Forces Terran: Mira's Marauders Zerg: Evolved Zerg: Simulant Zerg: Primal Protoss: Nerazim Protoss: Forged Protoss: Purifier Vorazun announcer has been added for purchase. A new “Set Player Console Skin” function has been added. Fixed a crash that could occur after patching. Fixed an issue where automatic login could not work properly. Twisters are no longer cloaked by the We Move Unseen mutator. Adept The opponent can no longer see certain visual effects from the Psionic Transfer ability through the fog of war if they have units nearby. Rich Vespene Geyser SCVs are now able to continue building Refineries on Rich Vespene Geysers after being given a halt command. Maps Dusty Gorge Moved the natural mineral lines away from the nearby wall to avoid Photon Cannons from being walled off by two Pylons.

crusader Kings II is the game that launched a thousand DLCs, and pretty much spawned an unprecedented system of post-release expansions that could see a game supported even five or six years after the original launch. It's the grand-srategy game that put the genre on the map, and allowed for the mainstream success of future games such as EU4 and Stellaris. Now, with Crusader Kings 3 officially announced, it seems DLC support for CK2 is finally coming to end. But that still represents a library of extra stuff that comes with a hefty price-tag, even with the base game going Free-to-Play. Across 15+ DLCs (if we’re just counting the major, gameplay-altering ones), you can expect to pay nearly $200 extra (at full price) to acquire the “full” experience. We have guides for Paradox's other grand-strategy titles as well, namely Europa Universalis 4 & Stellaris - check them out! Steam sales and combo bundles can easily knock more than half of that off, but it’s still tough to digest if you’re just getting started. So, we’ve broken down every gameplay DLC, and whether we think it's worth your money. Strategy Gamer is a Paradox Store affiliate, and we earn commission on any purchase made via that store. SWORD OF ISLAM (2012) - $9.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Unlocks Muslim rulers (base CK2 only allows you to select Christian characters) with loads of new mechanics Decadence can cause your dynasty to collapse if you engage in immoral behavior. A new succession type for Muslim realms in which all legitimate sons have a shot at inheritance based on their prestige. Ability to have up to four wives. New CBs (reasons to go to war) specific to the Muslim world. Tons of new, Muslim-specific events and decisions, such as going on Hajj to Mecca. Is it worth it? As you’re going to discover with many CK2 expansions, it depends highly on whether or not you are interested in playing the new content it unlocks. You can play non-Muslim rulers forever and the fact that you don’t have this DLC installed will have no effect on you at all. They are a rather large, distinct, and interesting sphere of CK2’s world, however, and quite worth giving a spin if you’re looking for something different from feudal Catholic Europe. LEGACY OF ROME (2012) - $4.99 (Purchase) Highlights: New decisions and events for the Byzantine Empire, allowing them to restore the Roman Empire by capturing its former territories. Orthodox rulers can Mend the Schism, re-uniting the Western and Eastern halves of the church and rendering Roman Catholicism a heresy. A new army type called retinues, in contrast to feudal levies which must be called to war each time, represent standing armies like those of the Byzantines that exist on the map at all times and never need to be disbanded. Is it worth it? Absolutely. It’s only $5, and retinues are such an essential element of late game CK2 that you’re basically handicapping yourself by not having access to them. The other features are fairly specific to Byzantium and other Eastern Orthodox rulers, but retinues alone put Legacy of Rome on the essential list - especially since it tends to go for under $3 on sale. SUNSET INVASION (2012) - $4.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Adds an ahistorical invasion of technologically-advanced Aztecs who arrive from across the Atlantic to conquer Europe in the late game. Introduces Nahuatl culture and the Aztec pagan religion. Is it worth it? As probably CK2’s most controversial expansion, and the only highly anachronistic one, that’s a bit of a loaded question. It’s probably the least essential expansion, and I play with it turned off the vast majority of the time. That being said, there is enjoyment to be had if you go in knowing you want an unrealistic and almost silly campaign that’s quite a bit different from what CK2 has to offer otherwise. It also puts pressure on Western Europe at a time when things can start to feel static, similar to the role the Mongols play in Eastern Europe. THE REPUBLIC (2013) - $9.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Unlocks playable merchant republics, such as Venice, Genoa, and the Hansa. Can build trade posts in other rulers’ provinces to extend their trade networks and get richer. Rather than playing a hereditary ruler, you play the head of one of a number of powerful families who try to influence elections to stay in power. Lots of new events specific to republics. Is it worth it? Like Sword of Islam, this one is entirely situational. You won’t see any of its effects if you only ever play feudal rulers. And given that there are a fairly small number of republics in the game’s timeframe, it opens up fewer, new options than most of the character-unlocking DLCs. Still, republics offer a rather unique way to play the game that can help keep things from feeling stale, especially for players who love to amass gold and spend it on cool stuff. THE OLD GODS (2013) - $14.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Unlocks playable pagans (Norse, Slavic, Suomenusko, and Romuva) and Zoroastrians with tons of new mechanics for each. Adds a new start date in 867, the height of the Viking Age. Lots of new Viking mechanics, such as coastal raids and being able to sail your longships up major rivers. Revolts are now led by a named leader character who can be captured, killed, or reasoned with like other rulers. Adventurers are a new AI character type, representing warriors with no land who gather an army and set off to conquer distant lands. Adds the ability to “reform” a pagan religion to make it more capable of competing with the Abrahamic faiths. Zoroastrians can restore the old Persian Empire by reclaiming it from the Muslim conquerors. Is it worth it? Absolutely. This is still probably my overall favorite CK2 expansion, though I admit that I’m heavily biased towards all things Norse pagan. The 867 start date is far more volatile and dynamic than 1066, with greater ahistorical possibilities, while not straying so far out of the feudal age that it feels like a bad fit for CK2’s mechanics -- which is the impression I often get from the even earlier 769 start added in the Charlemagne expansion, which we will discuss below. Pagans and Zoroastrians are a ton of fun, as are their respective mechanics for cementing their places in history. SONS OF ABRAHAM (2013) - $9.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Introduces the Catholic College of Cardinals, which can be mani[CENSORED]ted to put a friendly Pope in power. Adds Judaism as a playable religion with new events, decisions, and mechanics. Two new Catholic holy orders. New holy orders for religions that didn’t have them already (such as Zoroastrians). The ability to borrow money from the Knights Templar/ A huge number of new events, many for Abrahamic faiths. Christians can now go on pilgrimages to holy sites. Muslims can side with the Mutazilitie (science-focused) or Ashari (piety-focused) schools. Christians can force relatives and courtiers to take the vows and become a monk or a nun. Is it worth it? This is the first major expansion to expand on Catholic Europe, the area the game focused on at release. If that’s your thing, this one is borderline essential. The new holy orders make a big difference in making some previously bare bones religions feel fleshed-out. Judaism gets some pretty cool stuff, like being able to restore the Kingdom of Israel, which makes for a fun playthrough. And the new Muslim mechanics offer an interesting trade-off, allowing you to continue the scientific revolution of medieval Islam at the risk of potentially offending some of your more devout coreligionists. There’s something for everyone, but Muslim, Christian, and Jewish characters will get the most out of it. RAJAS OF INDIA (2014) - $14.99 (Purchase) Highights: Unlocks playing as the Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain rulers of the Indian subcontinent. Tons of events and decisions for the religions listed above. Members of Indian faiths are tolerant of one-another, so a Buddhist ruler isn’t obligated to convert his Hindu subjects. War elephant units for Indian rulers. Is it worth it? This one is very easy to ignore if you’re not particularly interested in the Indian subcontinent, especially given its relative distance and isolation from the rest of the map. The Indian religions are each flavorful and interesting, but to this day still feel less fleshed-out and more disconnected from the rest of the map. There’s plenty of enjoyment to be had, but it’s definitely among the least essential DLCs. CHARLEMAGNE (2014) - $14.99 (Purchase) Highlights: A new, even earlier start date of 769 AD, when Charlemagne was competing with his brother Karloman to rule over the Franks. A bunch of events and decisions tied to Charlemagne and Karloman that give a number of different ways for their fates to play out. Empires with sufficient legalism (like Byzantium) can now appoint titles to temporary governors called viceroys instead of handing them out as permanent, hereditary, feudal holdings. Adds the playable Zun religion. Can now create custom kingdoms and empires not based on historical ones if you own enough land. Is it worth it? I have mixed feelings about Charlemagne. At first, I loved the 769 start. But the more I’ve played it, the more two issues become apparent. One: CK2 was not designed to handle this time period. Two: 700 years (769 - 1444) is just too long to play a single campaign. I almost always get bored long before I’m finished, which makes the extra centuries more of a burden than a boon. The story events with Charlemagne are a lot of fun to play through a time or two, but leave the dozens of subsequent generations feeling less dramatic and dynamic. I find it hard to say this expansion isn’t worth ever getting. Quite the contrary. But I don’t consider it nearly as essential as I once did. WAY OF LIFE (2014) - $7.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Adds character focuses, such as War, Family, and Theology, that each have many associated events to flesh out the day-to-day life of your character. Is it worth it? It doesn’t sound like much, but the answer is definitely yes. No matter what kind of character you’re playing focuses can break up the monotony and add a greater sense of reality to the world, while helping to break up the long chunks of time when there might be nothing politically interesting going on. Some of the best events in CK2 came out of this DLC, and I’d have a hard time making myself play without it. HORSE LORDS (2015) - $14.99 (Purchase) Highlights: New playstyle for nomadic hordes that’s vastly different from their settled counterparts Clans can vie for power to become the Great Khan. Feudal holdings can be razed for pasture land, increasing the potential po[CENSORED]tion of your horde. New succession mechanics where only strong rulers can command respect, allowing vast hordes to collapse with the death of one man. Members of your court and family can now found mercenary bands and gather followers to fight with them for pay. Adds the Silk Road trade routes, which can be fortified with trade posts to give their owners more income. Can now force another ruler to become your tributary in war. Is it worth it? We’re back in firmly situational territory here. The hordes can be a ton of fun to play, but are really emblematic of what I see as the developers trying to “hack” CK2’s systems and make them do things they were never intended for. The somewhat awkward management of nomad holdings and governments can get you to wondering why they didn’t just make a new game about horse nomads, instead of trying to shoehorn them into a feudal incest simulator. If you don’t plan on playing as a horse nomad tribe or holding land along the Silk Road, you can definitely skip this one. CONCLAVE (2016) - $14.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Your ruler’s council now plays a much larger role, able to vote on certain issues and maneuver to gain more authority at the expense of the monarch. A new system of favors allows exchanges of resources for votes on the council. Powerful vassals will now be very unhappy if not on the council. Rework of regencies. New system for educating and influencing the traits/stats of young children. Rework of realm laws. Able to change laws defining the status of women in your society, giving them more equality over time. Is it worth it? For my money, absolutely. It was one of the more controversial expansions at launch due to the addition of some questionable features (and I was one of the loudest complainers!) that have since been revised and/or made toggleable game options. But the core of it, the new council mechanics, is fantastic. It brings new depth and strategy to internal politics, makes playing a vassal of a higher ruler much more fun, and more realistically simulates the simple fact that most rulers in the middle ages were not even close to being unchallenged, absolute monarchs. Getting your way is a lot more satisfying when you have to mani[CENSORED]te a bunch of people to do so. THE REAPER’S DUE (2016) - $9.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Rework of the disease system including symptoms, new diseases, and treatment options via a new appointed office called Court Physician. Epidemic diseases can depo[CENSORED]te a province, lowering income and manpower, which takes time to recover from. Rulers can now build hospitals in provinces, which protect to some extent against depo[CENSORED]tion. Provinces that have not been ravaged by war or disease can now become prosperous, increasing income and manpower recovery. Crown Focus allows rulers to choose one of their provinces to focus on, increasing its prosperity. Tons of new events, including many related to the revamped Black Plague. Adds the ability to seal yourself in your castle to avoid an epidemic, triggering many new events related to isolation. New ways to torture and execute prisoners Is it worth it? Before Reaper’s Due, I was always complaining about how one of the most momentous, continent-changing events of the Middle Ages, the Black Death, was barely represented in CK2. Now, it’s much more of a world event with fanfare and unique mechanics. And while it still doesn’t trigger the kinds of cascading historical changes it did in the real world, it’s still nice to see it getting more recognition. The court physician and prosperity systems are also useful and interesting no matter whom you’re playing. MONKS AND MYSTICS (2016) - $14.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Adds Societies to the game, which characters can join and rise through the ranks of to gain access to new abilities. The Hermetic society focuses on esoteric learning and the secrets of the cosmos. Lucifer’s Own is devoted to Satan and gives its members dark powers to prolong their lives and harm their enemies The Shia Hashashin are masters of murder and intimidation. Monastic orders for many religions allow you to pursue a life of devotion and purity. Lots of new events related to societies. Characters now have inventories for storing weapons, artefacts, and symbols of office that have an impact on stats. Is it worth it? Some of the societies are really cool, but also nearly as unrealistic as Sunset Invasion at the higher levels. So if you want a purely historical playthrough, it’s probably safe to skip this one. The new events are really the highlight of it all. They’re well-written and often shocking, and combined with those added in previous expansions like Reaper’s Due and Way of Life, really give your character enough to do that you can play CK2 almost as an RPG or a visual novel instead of a strategy game about conquest. At least, until they start to get repetitive - which they definitely will if you stay with the same society for long enough, Jade Dragon (2017) - $14.99 (Purchase) Highlights: Adds China as an off-map power that can conquer territory on the map by way of the Western Protectorate title, demand tribute, or even be conquered to install your dynasty on the throne. New Silk Road mechanics that react to the changing political situation in China Rally points that allow you to raise all of your levies and have them travel automatically to a specified province. New CBs that make it easier for small rulers surrounded by same-religion rivals to expand. Bön and Khurmazta relgions (also unlocked if you own The Old Gods) Taoism religion (also unlocked if you own Rajas of India) Is it worth it? Rally points and the new CBs are nice, all-around quality of life features. But what will really determine how much bang you get for your buck with Jade Dragon is how often you like to play on the Eastern edge of the map. Having the Chinese Emperor to deal with makes the region feel very different, both in terms of opportunities and challenges. The huge number of new events and diplomatic options tied to China liven things up as well. Obviously, however, the further from China your realm is located, the less any of this is going to matter. Holy Fury (2018) - $19.99 (Review) (Purchase) Highlights The final DLC for CK2, that actually features mechanics and bits back-ported from CK3's design. Adds ‘Random’ and ‘Shattered’ World generation options. One lets you play on a completely fictional map of Europe, a la Random New World from EU4, while the other keeps the land-mass in place and simply changes up the faction dynamics and configurations. Legendary Bloodlines allow for really good characters to pass on buffs and bonuses to their descendants. Players can found their own, but there’s also some pre-made historical ones as well. Some new event chains to go along with the (free) revamped Crusader mechanics. Extremely pious characters can become saints, and Feudal Kings must find Clergy to crown them and legitimise their authority. Lots and lots of other changes big and small. Is it worth it? It’s a strong yes, although there’s an equally strong caveat. Holy Fury manages to breathe new life into the wider game thanks to the Random/Shattered world options. Much like the Random New World from EU4, your mileage on this may vary, but Holy Fury also manages to completely revitalise the Christian game specifically on more standard map settings through new Crusade and Character mechanics. We didn’t think CK2 could do it again, but by gosh, it’s done it again. It's almost tragic in the way that this is the game's final expansion, although the development team mentioned that they wanted to send CK2 off on a high note. I'd say they definitely achieved that. CAVEAT: Unfortunately, if you lack DLCs like Sword of Islam, Sons of Abraham, and Rajas of India you may accidentally run into several ‘Game Over’ states if you switch your character to a religion you’re not allowed to play as. Check our review for more details. Also, the free patch once again proves to be as strong, if not stronger, than the DLC itself. MINOR DLCs: Ruler Designer ($4.99) - Allows you to create a ruler from scratch, selecting traits, appearance, culture, religion, and stats. They will replace any character in the historical map you choose. This is a fun, worthwhile little DLC… but keep in mind that in a game you will likely play for over a dozen generations, the character you create will only be a small part of the story. Customization Pack ($4.99) - Allows you to change the hair and beard of a character any time you want, as well as rename any of your titles. While by no means essential, I’d definitely miss being able to call the empire I just founded whatever I damn well please if I were to play without it. Europa Universalis IV Save Converter ($9.99) - In theory, this is one of my single favourite pieces of DLC Paradox has ever put out. Being able to continue my medieval shenanigans into the renaissance, potentially completing an epic, 1100-year-long mega-campaign makes me drool just thinking about it. The only reason this one doesn’t get my unreserved endorsement is that support for it is spotty. The team in charge of maintaining the converter is far too small (basically one guy, from what I understand), to keep up with the major changes being made to both games on a regular basis. Sometimes, it’s in great working shape. At other times, it’s largely nonfunctional with little concept of when a new update might get it up and running again. I’m so, so, so glad it exists, and it’s a wonder to behold when it’s in top form. I just wish it got the love it deserved to be an integral part of PDS’s grand strategy equation. THE BREAKDOWN Essential Expansions for Everyone: The Old Gods Legacy of Rome (Specifically for the Retinues feature) Way of Life Conclave The Reaper’s Due Situational Expansions (In No Particular Order): Holy Fury (Essential for Christians and Pagans) Sword of Islam (Essential for Muslims) The Republic (Essential for Republics) Sons of Abraham (Essential for Judaism, Very Highly Recommended for Christians and Muslims) Rajas of India (Essential for Indian religions) Charlemagne (Essential for Zunists, Very Highly Recommended for playing large, advanced empires due to the Vice-royality features) Horse Lords (Essential for Steppe Nomads) Jade Dragon (Highly recommended for the Far East - particularly the steppe, Tibet, and the Tarim Basin. Not necessarily essential for India.)

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Welcome

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Apple's macOS Catalina is finally here, and you can install it on your Mac at this very moment, provided your device is new enough to actually install it. We're going to dig into macOS Catalina, all of its features and how to download it, but first a bit of history. Apple first unveiled macOS Catalina at its WWDC 2019 conference in San Jose, California earlier this year, during which the company showed off some of the exciting new features that macOS Catalina brings to the table, including its neat capability to use an iPad as a secondary screen. So, after a wait that seemed to last forever, we can finally download the update. This is an enormous update, too, as through a new feature called "Project Catalyst," iOS 13 and iPadOS developers can easily port their work over to the macOS environment. This means if you update your Mac today – though, you might want to wait – you should have access to quite a few more Mac apps. There are some things going away though. For example, iTunes, the media software that's been a mainstay for almost two decades, has slipped into that long night. In its place, however, we get a new Mac-flavored Apple Music app, along with Apple Podcasts and Apple TV. So, don't worry, you can still listen to your music and watch the new season of The Good Place. All of that is just the tip of the iceberg for macOS Catalina. Don't worry though, we're going to delve into everything that macOS 10.15 has to offer, from the features to which Macs can actually download it. And, be sure to keep this page bookmarked, as we'll keep it updated with all the latest macOS 10.15 Catalina news as it pops up. If you're having issues, check out our macOS Catalina problems: how to fix the most common issues guide for help. Cut to the chase What is it? macOS 10.15 Catalina, successor to macOS 10.14 Mojave When is it out? Out now How much will it cost? Nothing. Apple software updates are always free macOS Catalina release date Apple hosted its iPhone 11 event on September 10, but the show came and went without so much of a mention of macOS 10.15. However, Apple's macOS 10.15 Catalina page was updated with an "October 2019" release window. Apple didn't share any more particulars about the release, so when it launched it took us all by surprise. Luckily, that does mean you can now download macOS Catalina, so long as you have a compatible Mac. You may want to wait until the next update comes out, just to make sure that any serious bugs are squashed. You see, updating your operating system is definitely a huge undertaking, and you could possibly break something, losing a ton of valuable data. So, if you don't absolutely need the new software, waiting might be your best bet. We'll update this hub as soon as we know a new update is available, but if you feel like living on the edge, go ahead and hit that download button. We'll show you how. macOS Catalina compatibility If you want to get your hands on the latest macOS update, you're going to have to make sure your Mac actually does support it. Luckily, if you already have macOS Mojave installed, you're likely in the clear. Unless, of course, you circumvented Apple's restrictions. 12-inch MacBook (2015 and later) MacBook Air (2012 and later) MacBook Pro (2012 and later) Mac mini (2012 and later) iMac (2012 and later) iMac Pro (2017) Mac Pro (2013 and later) Goodbye, iTunes – hello, Apple Music, Podcasts Books and TV It's official, iTunes is gone. From its ashes, though, rises a unique collection of exciting apps for macOS: Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts and Apple Books – and they will be refined versions of those already found on iOS. Apple Music gives macOS Catalina users access to their whole music libraries irrespective of whether the tracks have been downloaded or are being streamed. This also houses music that's been ripped from CDs, integrated into the same libraries. Apple TV, on the other hand, is home to the app's channels and offers more than 100,000 iTunes movies and TV shows available for you to browse, buy or rent. And, content will be available in 4K HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio wherever offered. Apple TV+ will also be accessed courtesy of this app as soon as the service rolls out later in the year. Meanwhile, Apple Podcasts brings the service's more than 700,000 podcasts, in addition to new episode updates, to the Mac in a completely fresh interface. This rendition of the app also provides better search functions that can pull up episodes by hosts, guests or even discussion topics. inally, Apple Books is home to all the audiobooks you can purchase, download and listen to. Much like the other new apps, it also features a familiar interface for anyone who is used to iTunes. Worried about all your existing music and playlists, as well as iTunes gift cards and credit? Don’t be concerned. All your music and playlists will be transferred over to the Apple Music app in macOS Catalina. Plus, any iTunes gift cards or unspent iTunes credits are still valid to be used in these new apps. In macOS 10.15 Catalina, the iTunes Store, which can be accessed through the Sidebar in the Apple Music app, is still available to buy new music. And of course, you can subscribe to the Apple Music streaming service using the app as well – if you do, you can hide the iTunes Store for a cleaner, more minimalist interface. With iTunes making its exit, syncing devices in macOS Catalina is now taken care of by the Finder app. It can back up and sync those devices. According to Apple, it will also be easier to drag and drop files for quick transfers. Sidecar turns your iPad into another display This is possibly the most thrilling update that macOS 10.15 Catalina offers: the capability to extend your Mac's display to a nearby iPad, whether wired and wirelessly. A good amount of MacBook users are already own an iPad, so this basically means that a significant number of mobile workers just received a secondary display for free. Probably even more notably for designers, this connected iPad can also be used as a drawing tablet with specific supported apps. Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Illustrator and iWork are the first apps listed that support this capability. We currently don’t have the official word on which iPad models will support the Sidecar feature. Still, we can guess that it'll most likely be those models that can also run the new iPadOS, which is also expected later this year. Apple says that the following Mac apps will support Sidecar's Apple Pencil input and other enhanced features: Adobe: After Effects, Illustrator, Premiere Pro Affinity Designer & Affinity Photo Cinema 4D CorelDRAW DaVinci Resolve Final Cut Pro & Motion Maya Painter Principle Sketch Substance Designer & Painter ZBrush Screen Time comes to macOS One of Apple's most meaningful changes to iOS 12 was Screen Time, an app that tracks your iPhone or iPad usage time and offers insights into the trends. This time around, this feature will not only come to macOS with Catalina, but also offer a new “One more minute” feature, giving you more time to save your work or finish up a game. This information will also be synced across your other Apple devices, so that you have a complete profile of how often you look at your collective screens, as well as get tips on what to do with that information. Additionally, it will also include parental controls on time spent using a Mac, as well as with whom kids are able to interact with on those devices. Project Catalyst Thanks to Apple's new Project Catalyst initiative, macOS 10.15 Catalina will soon be po[CENSORED]ted with a slew of iOS and iPadOS apps. There are a number of them available at launch, but the real potential of this initiative is that it opens up the floodgates for all kinds of apps to come over to the Mac. For developers, it all seems to start with simply checking off a box within the Xcode app in macOS 10.15 Catalina. A series of new features and protocols then become available to the app in the development phase, from which the developer can choose to add to their apps – presumably with additional yet lighter coding. It looks to make the process smoother and even quicker, with even the likes of Twitter using the tool to more effortlessly bring its native app back to macOS from iOS.

The first TR4+ socketed motherboard for AMD's 3rd Gen Ryzen Threadripper CPUs has leaked out and it's a monster. Pictured in a leak by Videocardz, the Gigabyte AORUS TRX40 motherboard has been revealed and although it doesn't show us a lot in detail, what we can see is still a load of info in terms of design scheme for the new TR4+ board lineup. Gigabyte AORUS TRX40 Motherboard For Up To 64 Core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000 CPUs Pictured - E-ATX Design With Superb Cooling Starting off with the socket, the Gigabyte AORUS TRX40 motherboard socket looks very similar to the existing TR4 socket featured on X399 motherboards. Even the mounting mechanism is similar to the one featured on current TR4 motherboards. What we have heard is that the configuration for the pins would be different on the new socket hence it would be termed as TR4+. There are reports that have suggested that the socket wouldn't support the previous genThreadripper CPUs but those are just rumors and nothing is currently set in the stone. Related AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Core Crushes The Intel Core i9-10980XE 18 Core CPU in 3DMark Firestrike – Up To 24% Faster Than Intel’s Flagship HEDT Moving on, we have eight DDR4 DIMM slots that would be able to support 32 GB modules for a total capacity of up to 256 GB. I can spot a large heatsink array featured on the top of the VRMs area along with a proper aluminum stacked-fin heatsink near the I/O slots and a regular heatsink with plastic cover on the right side of the motherboard. The VRMs also look to be pretty decent for what looks like a 12 Phase design but there could be more. The heatsink cover on the right has a heatpipe running through it. The same Heatpipe runs through all four heatsinks and ends up in the main PCH heatsink which comes with active cooling. A new PCH has been added to the motherboards which are an upgraded version of the X399 PCH that allows for PCIe Gen 4.0 support, more lanes and improved I/O features. This PCH, just like the X570 chipset, requires active cooling and we can definitely see it on this motherboard. Expect all of the TR4+ motherboards to feature active cooling just like their X570 brethren. For expansion, there are four PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and triple M.2 slots (Gen 4.0) with full cover heat-sinks. A total of either 8 or 10 SATA 3 ports are available along with USB 3.1 front panel headers. A debug LED can be spotted on the motherboard and an extensive Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0 LED system can be seen running across the sides and on the PCH heatsink. The motherboard even comes with an extra 6-pin connector to pump juice to the expansion slots when running several AIC cards. There also seems to be an Aquantia 10G chip hidden beneath a small heatsink under the DDR4 slots to the left. This is definitely one high-end design that would easily end up being priced more than $500 US. AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Series CPUs - Here's What To Expect In Terms of Price, Specs, and Performance The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3000 series family is internally known as “Castle Peak” and is stated to bring dominant leadership in the HEDT market. The family will prove to be a new watermark in performance and overall efficiency while new platform features will be introduced on the new and enhanced TR4+ motherboards which are rumored to feature a revised socket and a new chipset Currently, reports state that there will be two separate platforms for enthusiasts and workstation chips, the TRX40 and WRX80. The details of these platforms are listed below. AMD TRX40 'Enthusiast' Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Processors The TRX4 HEDT platform would feature quad-channel memory, UDIMM memory support with 2 DIMMs per channel and up to 256 GB of capacity per channel. This means that the platform will support up to 1 TB of memory. There would also be support for 64 Gen 4 PCIe lanes with 16 lanes switchable with the SATA interface. There also seems to be info regarding TDPs and we can also notice the segmentation here too. The Group 'A' series processors, which are the HEDT lineup for the TRX40 platform with 280W TDP, Tcase Max temperature of 60C and Tctl Max of 100C. AMD WRX80 'Workstation' Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Processors Now coming to the WRX80 series, we are looking at a pure workstation lineup. Even the processors built around this platform are spec'd similar to the EPYC 7002 variants, featuring 8-channel DDR4-3200 support in UDIMM, RDIMM, LRDIMM flavors. The platform would support 1 DIMM/channel featuring support for up to 2 TB of memory. There wouldn't be any OC support like the TRX40 series but you get 96-128 Gen4 PCIe lanes with 32 switchable lanes to SATA. The Group 'B' series processors which are the workstation lineup for the WRX80 platform will also feature a 280W TDP but different temperature range of Tcase Max temperature of 81C and Tctl Max of 100C.

Technology used by engineers to listen for faults in bridges could be used to diagnose 'noisy' arthritic knees, a study suggests. It involved a tiny microphone being attached to participants' knees to pick up high-frequency sounds. Although not audible to humans, the waveforms can be analysed by computers to give an insight into knee health. Better diagnosis of osteoarthritis and more tailored treatments are possible, the researchers said. But they acknowledged that more research and trials in larger numbers of people were needed first. Osteoarthritis of the knee is a common degenerative joint condition, which can cause pain, stiffness and swelling in the joint. Normally, the body can repair low-level damage to the joints - but with osteoarthritis, the protective cartilage on the ends of bones breaks down and cannot mend itself. In this study, involving Lancaster University, the University of Central Lancashire and Manchester University, researchers "listened" to the noise produced by the knees of 89 adults with osteoarthritis. They were all asked to stand up from a seated position five times while acoustic signals from their joints were recorded. Their results showed that the technique could "hear" the difference between the signals produced by healthy knees and those with osteoarthritis. Prof John Goodacre, from Lancaster University, who led the study, said it was a promising technique. "The current way of grading knee osteoarthritis is crude, usually involving an X-ray, and the picture can change every few months. "This is a finer, more sensitive way of grading severity without relying on an X-ray." Knee tune The research team, who published their findings in PLOS One, found that the more "hits" that were visible on the waveforms produced by the knees, the more "noisy" the knee and the more severe the osteoarthritis. Although it is not possible to listen to these sounds with the human ear, it is possible that each individual knee has its own "tune", Prof Goodacre said. Audible grating or crackling sounds or sensations in the joints can also be a symptom of osteoarthritis. Prof Goodacre said the technique could lead to more personalised treatments, tailored to the particular characteristics of someone's knee condition. He said that with more research, the new approach could be used as a diagnostic tool for athletes to avoid injury - and to see whether patients' knees were responding to treatment. The technology has not yet been tested on any other forms of osteoarthritis, in the hip or hand, for example.

Egypt has banned a pilot for life for allowing celebrity and actor Mohamed Ramadan to sit in the cockpit during a private flight to Saudi Arabia. The actor and singer posted a video of himself in the co-pilot's seat, holding the controls, as someone else commented he's "driving the plane now". The co-pilot was also reportedly banned for a year over the incident. The flight was run by Smart Aviation, whose chief executive resigned his post, officials said. "After confirming the violations against the Egyptian civil aviation law, we have taken deterrent measures towards the reckless and irresponsible actions [of the pilot]," Egypt's civil aviation ministry said in a statement, reported by Masrawy news. Aviation safety for Egyptian airliners was paramount, the ministry added. Mohamed Ramadan, who has more than seven million subscribers on his YouTube channel, posted the video on 13 October to his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Speaking to camera, he says: "In a first of its kind, I will go drive the plane." The clip cuts to him entering the cockpit, where he sits next to the pilot with his hands on the control wheel. An unidentified man off camera then says: "I swear to God, Mohamed Ramadan is the one driving the plane now." Egyptian aviation rules sti[CENSORED]te that passengers are not allowed to enter the cockpit while a flight is in operation. Some on social media responded angrily to the video, with calls for the actor to be boycotted. Ramadan, who has appeared in more than a dozen Egyptian films and several TV series, was said to be travelling with his band to perform at an entertainment festival in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The 31-year-old actor has also made his mark in the music industry, with his hit song Mafia getting more than 158m views on YouTube. Despite his huge fan base, Ramadan has courted controversy in the past. In August, there were calls for the singer to be banned from performing after he was criticised for wearing a see-through shirt and dancing "provocatively" at one of his concerts. He was also criticised back in 2016 for being insensitive to fans, many of whom are from low-income backgrounds, after boasting about two luxury cars he had bought.

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Hello, have a nice day, just step this follows and your problem will fixed Steam voice chat won’t connect Steam voice chat connects and communicates using WebRTC standard protocols. In order to connect to a voice chat, you will need to be able to send outbound UDP traffic to remote port 27015 and receive responses back. If you ever see your voice status stuck at “Connecting…”, it's likely that this traffic is being prevented. You can find detailed logs about your connection state and voice chat attempts by going to Friends List -> Settings (Gear Icon) -> Voice -> Show Advanced Settings -> Copy Voice Logs To Clipboard. If you are working with Steam Support on a voice chat issue, they may ask you to provide these logs. You'll want to investigate the following configurations on your machine and make sure that your voice chat traffic is not being interfered with. Because these issues are dependent on configurations unique to your specific setup, we highly recommend that you contact a PC support specialist in your area for detailed assistance. Investigate router ports Steam voice chat uses port 27015 for outbound communication and will automatically select an available port to receive UDP responses. Most routers and networks will automatically allow this traffic, but if you have changed your router configuration to be more restrictive, you will need to investigate and update that. You may consider reverting to a default configuration to further test the issue. Investigate firewall software Certain firewall configurations may prevent voice chat from working correctly. If you have a third-party firewall other than Windows Firewall on your machine, it is possible that it's restricting traffic. You may consider temporarily disabling it for testing purposes. If that fixes it, you'll need to add rules/exceptions for Steam and steamwebhelper.exe Investigate anti-virus software Certain AV products (like versions of Kaspersky Total Security) are known to block WebRTC traffic via their AV component, even if you've fully disabled the included firewall. You may need to try disabling or fully uninstalling third-party security software to check if it is interfering with Steam voice traffic. If it is, you may need to upgrade the version of your security software or contact the third-party vendor for support. You might also try adding exceptions for Steam in your AV configuration (for example, excluding steamwebhelper.exe from live monitoring services). Voice chat sounds bad or has low quality To achieve optimum sound quality, it is important that you spend some time configuring your audio settings, both for your operating system as well as through Steam Chat. Behavior that you may be attributing to a bug or bad performance, could simply be a setting or option that you haven't yet configured. You can access your chat settings via the gear icon in the upper right corner of your Steam Friends list. Check your devices You'll first want to check that you have the correct voice Input/Output devices chosen in your Steam Chat voice settings. If set to Default, Steam chat will use the default recording and playback devices that you have set through Windows. This allows Steam to adjust automatically when Windows settings are changed. From your Windows manage audio devices panel, you can view what devices Windows recognizes, as well as which ones are currently selected as default. The default devices should display a green checkmark and have an associated green level meter that you can use to test input/output volumes. You can also right-click any of these devices to set them as default or open properties. Adjust input volume/gain Input volume/gain within Steam voice settings is the first and most important setting you should configure. You should adjust this while in a voice chat with a friend, until they can hear you at a reasonable volume and vice-versa. Increase it if you are too quiet, and decrease if you are too loud. If you are too quiet even after raising this setting all the way, you may need to adjust your microphone's gain/boost setting or the Windows controlled recording level for your microphone device. From your Windows manage audio devices panel, you can view your default devices along with their associated green level meters to test input/output. You can also right click any of the devices and select the properties option for more advanced volume/gain options. Some audio hardware also has its own proprietary control panels and option menus. You would want to work with the manufacturer support team for advanced configuration help with these. Adjust voice transmission threshold Once you are confident that your input volume/gain levels are set appropriately, you may want to adjust your voice transmission threshold accordingly. If the audio from your microphone is below the set threshold, Steam won’t transmit it at all. If others are hearing white noise/typing/background sounds then you can try raising the transmission threshold to High. If others are saying parts of your words are cut off, or that you sound choppy or cut in and out, then you may have it set it lower or even turn it off completely. Adjust advanced options Finally, there are more specific options under the Show Advanced Options section - most users will benefit from leaving all of these on. However, if friends are saying that you randomly become louder/quieter you may want to disable Automatic volume/gain control. If nothing else in this article has helped, you may try disabling echo or noise cancellation just in case they are causing quality issues with your hardware. Test other hardware Check the inputs for your microphone, headphones, speakers and other audio devices. If you are having an issue, try swapping to another available USB or audio port. If you're using any converters, extensions or other intermediary devices, bypass them temporarily to make sure they aren't contributing to the issue. Finally, if you have extra hardware or an alternate PC, try swapping them out or testing on a different machine to eliminate the possibility that your current hardware is having an issue. Open your settings Steam voice settings: Select the gear icon in the upper right corner of your Steam Friends list, then select to the voice tab. Windows sound settings: Right-clicking on the speaker icon in your system tray and selecting either Recording or Playback devices. You can also access this panel from your Windows Control Panel by clicking on Hardware and Sound -> Manage Audio Devices. Good Luck

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