#Hassan.

Volkswagen's first European-market SUV-coupé is the Taigo, a rakish-roofed crossover that's closely related to the Polo and the T-Cross. Now on sale in the UK from £21,960, it is offered with a choice of two petrol engines, a 1.0-litre turbocharged triple with either 94bhp or 109bhp, or a 1.5-litre four-pot with 148bhp. Each is available with a five- or six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed DSG, with efficiency figures ranging from 46.3mpg to 52.3mpg on the WLTP cycle. The Taigo has been on sale for a year already as the Nivus in South America, and it arrives on our shores largely unchanged, save for a series of tweaks aimed at bringing it into line with the brand's line-up here. European-market models will be built at Pamplona in Spain, alongside its MQB-A0 platform-sharing siblings. At 4266mm long, 1494mm tall and 1757mm wide, the Taigo is comparable in size to the big-selling Nissan Juke, while its 2566mm wheelbase almost exactly matches that of the Polo and T-Cross. With a seats-up boot capacity of 438 litres, luggage space is barely diminished compared with the straighter-backed T-Cross. The Taigo is positioned as a "trendy crossover" with a "powerful, sporty appearance". Key differentiators over the T-Cross include a roofline that slopes down towards a subtle spoiler at the rear, a new look front end with standard-fit LED headlights, contrasting wheel-arch trim and an extended rear overhang. Inside, the Taigo bears a strong resemblance to the T-Cross and recently updated Polo. Standard kit includes a multifunction steering wheel, a central touchscreen with Volkswagen's latest 'MIB3' infotainment software and an all-digital gauge cluster. Touch-sensitive climate controls – as fitted to the Golf, Tiguan and ID 3 – are an option, as is the IQ.Drive package, which brings a raft of driver aids, including predictive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance, in addition to those fitted as standard. link :https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/new-2021-volkswagen-taigo-lands-uk-£21960

In recent years, kolam artists have adopted the multicolor tradition of the rangoli — though the change has been divisive, especially at kolam competitions in India Written by Anna P. Kambhampaty Every year around this time, more than 1 billion people worldwide celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, with warm family meals, bursting fireworks, glowing lamps and an ornate ancient Indian folk art known as rangoli. These geometric patterns, religious symbols and floral designs are drawn on the floor of one’s home, often using chalk and colorful powders, as a way to ward off evil spirits and welcome the good faith of gods and goddesses. The word “rangoli” is derived from the Sanskrit word “rangavalli” and roughly translates to “rows of colors,” a fitting image for Diwali’s message of light conquering darkness. “The Christmas tree is to Christmas as rangoli is to Diwali,” Jugnu Verma, an artist and arts educator in Columbia, South Carolina, said in a recent phone interview. “It’s incomplete without it.” While making rangoli can be celebratory, it is also a daily ritual for many women in India and throughout the diaspora — a tradition that grounds them in challenging times. Verma, 40, who has been making rangoli for three decades, said the focus required to make rangoli “helps develop meditative power.” ALSO READ |Diwali Rangoli Designs 2021: Latest Diwali Rangoli Designs Images, Pics, Photos, and Pictures She was born in Bihar, India, where her mother created a new rangoli every day outside their home, and moved to the United States when she was 27. “It was a very difficult time,” Verma said. “I was far, far away from my family for the first time.” She frequently felt lost and lonely. That changed when a friend invited her to make henna tattoos and rangoli for a cultural event at the local library. The experience helped Verma connect with her new community. “I didn’t know many people here, but when they saw my art, they wanted to know more,” she said. Verma often makes rangoli using edible materials such as rice flour, turmeric and lentils, so that any creatures that pass her doorstep can feast on her creation. It’s OK if her designs are eaten by insects, trampled over by visitors, whisked away by wind or washed away by rain. That impermanence is part of the form’s beauty. This idea, of feeding as many souls as possible during the day, pervades the tradition, though the style of rangoli can vary throughout India. The kolam, in Tamil Nadu, is traditionally made with white rice flour. Each work starts with a grid of dots, which are then connected with various patterns of lines and curves. The result is a highly computational drawing. “Four hundred million Hindu women do some form of this kind of art or ritual sometime during the year,” said Vijaya Nagarajan, the author of a book on the kolam and an associate professor of religious studies at the University of San Francisco. Though I’d always noticed in my own family that the ritual was done only by the women of the household, I realized through conversations with Nagarajan that it is almost universally closely tied to female experience. In conducting research for her book, Nagarajan spent time in Madurai, a city in Tamil Nadu, where she spoke with people whose gender expressions were fluid. “They made the kolam when they woke up in the morning and felt like a woman,” she said. “They would dress in their sari, put the jasmine flowers in their hair, braid their hair and make the kolam. It’s an indication of gender, even if the gender is fluid.” By: New York Times | November 4, 2021 5:30:55 pm diwali Rangoli outside Jugnu Verma's home in Lexington, S.C., July 17, 2021. Making ornate floor art can be a celebratory act for festivals like Diwali and a meditative practice. (Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times) Written by Anna P. Kambhampaty Every year around this time, more than 1 billion people worldwide celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, with warm family meals, bursting fireworks, glowing lamps and an ornate ancient Indian folk art known as rangoli. These geometric patterns, religious symbols and floral designs are drawn on the floor of one’s home, often using chalk and colorful powders, as a way to ward off evil spirits and welcome the good faith of gods and goddesses. The word “rangoli” is derived from the Sanskrit word “rangavalli” and roughly translates to “rows of colors,” a fitting image for Diwali’s message of light conquering darkness. “The Christmas tree is to Christmas as rangoli is to Diwali,” Jugnu Verma, an artist and arts educator in Columbia, South Carolina, said in a recent phone interview. “It’s incomplete without it.” While making rangoli can be celebratory, it is also a daily ritual for many women in India and throughout the diaspora — a tradition that grounds them in challenging times. Verma, 40, who has been making rangoli for three decades, said the focus required to make rangoli “helps develop meditative power.” ALSO READ |Diwali Rangoli Designs 2021: Latest Diwali Rangoli Designs Images, Pics, Photos, and Pictures She was born in Bihar, India, where her mother created a new rangoli every day outside their home, and moved to the United States when she was 27. “It was a very difficult time,” Verma said. “I was far, far away from my family for the first time.” She frequently felt lost and lonely. That changed when a friend invited her to make henna tattoos and rangoli for a cultural event at the local library. The experience helped Verma connect with her new community. “I didn’t know many people here, but when they saw my art, they wanted to know more,” she said. Verma often makes rangoli using edible materials such as rice flour, turmeric and lentils, so that any creatures that pass her doorstep can feast on her creation. It’s OK if her designs are eaten by insects, trampled over by visitors, whisked away by wind or washed away by rain. That impermanence is part of the form’s beauty. This idea, of feeding as many souls as possible during the day, pervades the tradition, though the style of rangoli can vary throughout India. The kolam, in Tamil Nadu, is traditionally made with white rice flour. Each work starts with a grid of dots, which are then connected with various patterns of lines and curves. The result is a highly computational drawing. “Four hundred million Hindu women do some form of this kind of art or ritual sometime during the year,” said Vijaya Nagarajan, the author of a book on the kolam and an associate professor of religious studies at the University of San Francisco. Though I’d always noticed in my own family that the ritual was done only by the women of the household, I realized through conversations with Nagarajan that it is almost universally closely tied to female experience. In conducting research for her book, Nagarajan spent time in Madurai, a city in Tamil Nadu, where she spoke with people whose gender expressions were fluid. “They made the kolam when they woke up in the morning and felt like a woman,” she said. “They would dress in their sari, put the jasmine flowers in their hair, braid their hair and make the kolam. It’s an indication of gender, even if the gender is fluid.” diwali (Gabriela Bhaskar/The New York Times) In recent years, kolam artists have adopted the multicolor tradition of the rangoli — though the change has been divisive, especially at kolam competitions in India. “If the judges were more traditional, elder judges, the traditional kolam was the best, most aesthetic,” Nagarajan told me. “But if they were younger women, they would say the rangoli was better, reflecting the fascination with color and changing notions of beauty.” Srividya Vallurupalli, 46, a software engineer in Danville, California, experienced that shift firsthand. “When my mom was growing up, it was only done with white powder,” she said. “In our generation, the colors got added.” Once passed down through generations of Indian women, typically from mother to daughter, the art of rangoli is now the subject of countless tutorials on social media. Instagrammers such as Kanchan Kauthale, 36, who lives in Maharashtra, post step-by-step photos of their rangoli creations. On TikTok, rangoli videos take the viewer from simple outline to bold pattern at a mesmerizing speed; together, posts tagged #rangoli have more than 840 million views. At the same time, the ritual has become less and less of a daily practice. “People are using paints so that they don’t have to put the rangoli every day in front of the house. It can last for at least a few months to a year,” Vallurupalli said, unlike traditional rangoli, which is largely at the will of the elements. ALSO READ |Diwali 2021: Take a look at how India is gearing up for celebrations In the winter of this year, when the United States was starting to see a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, India was entering another deadly wave. There have been more than 34 million reported cases in the country, and estimates have put the death toll around 4 million. “In India, with all the people dying and dealing with this problem, you just pray,” Verma said. “Making rangoli is the same as praying.” In the midst of the crisis, my grandfather on my father’s side died in Vijayawada. He didn’t die from COVID-19, but the travel restrictions and health fears made it impossible to see him. No one in my immediate family could be there to hear his last words or even attend the funeral. In lieu of more traditional rites, we held a small ceremony at our house in Syracuse, New York. Anyone who’s been to central New York in the winter knows that snow is a constant of the season. So rather than making our rangoli outside, my grandmother and I constructed one at the base of our fireplace, following a YouTube tutorial and gridding our design with Crayola chalk. The final design was a row of white flowers surrounded with green detailing. The rangoli is still there today. link : https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/the-art-and-ritual-of-rangoli-diwali-tradition-india-kolam-7607055/

The human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccine is cutting cases of cervical cancer by nearly 90%, the first real-world data shows. Cancer Research UK described the findings as "historic", and said it showed the vaccine was saving lives. Nearly all cervical cancers are caused by viruses, and the hope is vaccination could almost eliminate the disease. The researchers said the success meant those who were vaccinated may need far fewer cervical smear tests too. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women around the world, killing more than 300,000 each year. Almost nine-in-10 deaths are in low and middle income countries where there is little access to cervical cancer screening. The hope is vaccination will have an even bigger impact in those countries than wealthier nations such as the UK. More than 100 countries have starting using the vaccine as part of World Health Organization plans to get close to eliminating cervical cancer.. In the UK, girls are offered the vaccine between the ages of 11 and 13, depending on where they live. The vaccine has also been offered to boys since 2019. The HPV vaccine can only prevent an infection, it cannot rid the body of the virus once it has been caught. The viruses are so widespread that immunisation has to be aimed at children before they become sexually active. What is the HPV vaccine and who can get it? Busting the myths around sex virus HPV 'I had no cancer symptoms but a smear saved my life' The study, published in the Lancet, looked at what happened after the vaccine was introduced for girls in England in 2008. Those pupils are now adults in their 20s. The study showed a reduction in both pre-cancerous growths and an 87% reduction in cervical cancer. "The impact has been huge," said Prof Peter Sasieni, one of the researchers at King's College London. The reductions were less dramatic when older teenagers were immunised as part of a catch-up campaign. This is because fewer older teenagers decided to have the jab and they may already have been sexually active. Overall, the study estimated the HPV programme has prevented about 450 cancers and 17,200 pre-cancers. Prof Sasieni said that was "just the tip of the iceberg" because those vaccinated were still young to be getting cancer, so the numbers would only grow with time. 'I told them to save me for my children' Laura Flaherty was diagnosed with cervical cancer this year at the age of 29 after putting off a routine smear test. "The HPV vaccine hadn't been rolled out when I was at school," she says. "I was diagnosed after a routine smear test. I'd put it off for four months - and while it wouldn't have made a difference to my diagnosis - it just shows how important it is to keep up to date with your smears. "I was told I had abnormal cells and tested positive for HPV and further investigation revealed I had stage one cervical cancer, which resulted in a hysterectomy. "I was sat in a room and told: 'I'm really sorry, it's cancer'. I had two small children and I said 'I need you to save me, they need looking after'. "I went for my smear test in February this year and was given the all clear in August. I just always feel so lucky to be here." line At the moment, women are invited for a smear test every three to five years to screen for cervical cancer. But Prof Sasieni said there "definitely" needed to be a rethink after these results. He told me: "It should be a wake-up call to policy-makers, women will read this and think 'why should I go for screening?'. "I would hope we'd come back with a new screening programme, two to three times a lifetime and continue screening women who have not been vaccinated." This is not the final say on the HPV vaccination. There are still questions about how long protection lasts and whether there needs to be a mid-life booster. There are also more than 100 types of human papillomavirus. The UK started using a vaccine that protected against two of them and is about to introduce one that protects against nine viruses, including the main causes of genital warts. The cancer-causing versions lead to dangerous changes to the DNA of infected cells that transform them into cancer. This can happen in any infected tissue. The viruses can be spread through vaginal, oral and anal sex, so are also linked to anus, penis and some head and neck cancers. However, 99% of cervical cancers are caused by human papillomaviruses. Dr Vanessa Saliba, a consultant epidemiologist for the UK Health Security Agency, said the findings were "remarkable" and showed the vaccine "saves lives by dramatically reducing cervical cancer rates among women". Michelle Mitchell, the chief executive at Cancer Research UK, said: "It's a historic moment to see the first study showing that the HPV vaccine has and will continue to protect thousands of women from developing cervical cancer." Follow James on Twitter link : https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59148620

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Huawei Watch Fit was launched in the Indian market on Monday. The wearable was unveiled in August globally, and its India availability was first teased on Amazon India last week. The Huawei Watch Fit has a large display, and it includes features like 24x7 heart rate monitoring, and 10-day battery life. The Huawei Watch Fit has a 1.64-inch vivid AMOLED display, comes with over 97 workout modes, and all-day SpO2 monitoring. It resembles a lot with the newly unveiled Redmi Smart Band Pro, which also offers SpO2 tracking. Huawei Watch Fit price in India and sale The new Huawei Watch Fit is priced in India at Rs. 8,990. The wearable is listed exclusively on Amazon India with sale pegged to begin from tomorrow i.e., November 2. It comes in several strap colour options including Sakura Pink, Isle Blue, Graphite Black, and more. Launch offer include a free Huawei Mini Speaker with the purchase. This offer is applicable till stocks last. Huawei Watch Fit specifications and features On the specifications front, the Huawei Watch Fit features a 1.64-inch HD AMOLED display with 70 percent screen-to-body ratio. Other display features include adaptive brightness and 130+ watch faces with options to customise. In addition, it comes preloaded with six Always-On watch faces. Redmi Smart Band Pro, Redmi Watch 2 Lite With SpO2 Tracking Announced There are over 96 workout modes with advanced data tracking on the Huawei Watch Fit. It has 11 professional workout modes including running, walking, cycling, swimming and more. The other 85 workout modes include fitness training, dancing, ball games, water sports, winter sports and extreme sports. The smartwatch comes with 12 animated fitness courses and 44 standardised fitness exercises built-in to give users free one-on-one personal training without the need for a smartphone or any other device. Ads by The Huawei Watch Fit comes with heart rate, sleep, menstrual cycle and blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) monitoring. Huawei has integrated its proprietary TruSeen 4.0 heart rate monitoring to support intelligent background heart rate monitoring, while Huawei TruSleep 2.0 delivers sleep stage monitoring real-time heart rate monitoring, and sleep respiration quality. Huawei Watch Fit claims to offer 10-day battery life with continuous heart rate and sleep monitoring. The watch claims to charge up to 70 percent in just half an hour. Only five minutes of charge is said to sustain the Huawei Watch Fit for an entire day of typical use. The Huawei Watch Fit records daily steps, activity hours, and periods of medium to high intensity activities in a colourful, circular pattern. It is capable of providing alerts for SMS messages, incoming calls, and calendar apps. Also, it can provide message notifications from social media apps. The watch can also work as a remote shutter or for controlling music playback on your smartphone. Furthermore, it includes features including Weather, Alarm, Timer, and Stopwatch. link : https://gadgets.ndtv.com/wearables/news/huawei-watch-fit-price-in-india-rs-8990-launch-sale-november-2-amazon-specifications-features-2595767

Chrome's omnibox now prefetches search results even faster Searching the web on Google Chrome is now faster than ever thanks to a new update to the omnibox in Google's browser. In a new post in the search giant's The Fast and the Curious series by Chrome product manager Yana Yushkina, the company explained that searching in Chrome is now even faster since search results are prefeteched if a suggest query is very likely to be selected. For those unfamiliar, Chrome's omnibox suggests potential queries when the “Autocomplete searches and URLs" feature is turned on in the browser's settings. This makes searching for information faster and easier as users don't have to type in an entire search query to find what they're looking for. According to Google, search results are now four times more likely to be shown within 500 milliseconds of a user typing a query into Chrome's omnibox. It's worth noting that this only happens if Google Search is your default search engine though other search providers can trigger this feature as well by adding information to the query suggestions sent from their servers to Chrome (more information can be found here). Memory improvements and shutdown hangs With the release of version M89 of its browser back in March, Google rolled out its new memory allocator PartitionAlloc to Android smartphones and Windows devices bringing improved memory usage (up to 22 percent savings) and performance (up to nine percent faster responsiveness). Since that time though, the company has also implemented PartitionAlloc on Linux in m92 and in Chrome OS in M93. Now with field data from version M93 on Chrome OS, Chrome shows a total memory footprint reduction of 15 percent in addition to a 20 percent browser process memory reduction which improves web browsing on Chromebooks for both single and multi-tabs. Google also provided new details on a local cache that was added to Chrome's history system years ago with the goal of making startup faster. Instead of speeding up startup though, the cache added code complexity and memory usage while also being the company's top contributor to shutdown hangs in its browser. The cache has now been removed and Chrome will likely shut down faster going forward. Looking to improve your web browsing experience? Check out our roundups of the best browsers and best anonymous browsers as well as our list of the best VPN services to keep your browsing data private After living and working in South Korea for seven years, Anthony now resides in Houston, Texas where he writes about a variety of technology topics for ITProPortal and TechRadar. He has been a tech enthusiast for as long as he can remember and has spent countless hours researching and tinkering with PCs, mobile phones and game consoles. link https://www.techradar.com/news/browser-wars-google-chrome-just-received-a-major-performance-boost

PiKEDEX, we choose you! We travelled across the net, searching far and wide until we came across this Pokedex project with a Raspberry Pi inside known as the PiKEDEX. Created by maker Yeu1, it looks just like the classic handheld device from Pokemon, but instead houses our favorite SBC. The best Raspberry Pi projects are ones you can play with and this one is designed to run RetroPie. This emulation platform offers a variety of emulators known as cores, including one for the Game Boy line that Yeu1 is using here to play Game Boy Games. The shell was designed from scratch by Yeu1 using Fusion 360. It was then 3D printed in red filament to produce the final product we see in the video above. The 3D printer files are available to purchase through Etsy for any interested parties. Inside the PiKEDEX is a Raspberry Pi 3B+. It’s connected to a PCB used for the front panel buttons and an LCD screen for video output. The handheld is mobile, using a portable USB battery for juice on the go. To get a closer look at this project in action, check out Yeu1’s channel over at YouTube and be sure to follow him for more cool projects. link : https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-pokedex

SRW is like the self-indulgent anime fanfic of your teenage dreams, and it's finally available on Steam. Imagine the world’s most self-indulgent work of anime fanfic: Characters from mismatched universes hanging out, going on adventures, and saving the multiverse from a rogue’s gallery of familiar villains. Whatever you’ve pictured—no mater how over-the-top—it'll almost certainly be dwarfed Super Robot Wars, a 30-year-old strategy-RPG series that mashes together dozens of anime shows to create ridiculous patchworks of stompybot violence. For the 30th anniversary of the series, publisher Bandai Namco has finally cut (or bought) its way through a hell of licensing red tape to take this nonsense worldwide. The series has until now almost always been stuck in Japan. But Super Robot Wars 30 launched in the west on Steam last week, and as a longtime SRW fan who kept up through imports and unofficial translations, I couldn’t be happier. Let me tell you why you should be, too. The Super Robot Wars basics First let me temper some expectations: if giant anime robots and their pilots aren’t your thing, or if you don’t know a Gundam from a Getter Robo, you’re going to feel a little lost. At heart, the SRW games are good if not mindblowing strategy RPGs in the vein of Fire Emblem, Disgaea or similar. They can be a little too easy unless you crank the difficulty settings up or deliberately limit yourself, and with a little min-maxing, you can break them over your knee. Still, give Super Robot Wars a chance to work its magic and these flaws are easily overlooked. Without spirit, SRW 30 would be a forgettable experience. But if there’s one thing this game—and series—has in spades, it’s character. These games feel like they’re written by excitable teens whose heads are buzzing with what-if scenarios. If mecha anime characters have any place in your heart, these stories are weapons-grade wish fulfilment. The enthusiasm really is infectious. Familiar heroes get put through the wringer but come out the far side happier, stronger and better supported for it. Tragedies averted, fates broken. It’s melodramatic stuff. Despite some wild plotting to bring all these settings together, characters react authentically, even as they get tied up in an increasingly strange new story. SRW 30 drops players into a hybrid world simultaneously set before, during, and after several anime shows, all tied into a bespoke story about a band of teens commanding a semi-sentient spaceship on a quest to save Earth (whew!). The events of Mobile Suit Gundam, Mazinger Z and Code Geass have already played out by the start of the game, while SSSS Gridman and Brave Police J-Decker are just about to begin. Another show called Knight’s & Magic is featured here, and its protagonist (a teenage mecha anime nerdling named Ernie) is profoundly genre-savvy. His excited meta-commentary brings playful comic relief to SRW 30’s many battles. And oh, what battles there are. SRW battles are all about big numbers and big anime explosions Be ready for dozens of giant robots fighting each other, plus kaiju and aliens and even weirder things. The strategic battles are bookended by visual novel-style dialogue sequences, and missions often recreate famous scenes from the featured shows, but with added crossover twists and fresh scenarios featuring new characters and villains to hold everything together. And there’s plenty of opportunity for what you're probably here for: big anime explosions. The fights look and sound authentic. Every iconic attack is animated in gorgeous full-screen detail with all the cut-ins, voice acting and appropriate theme music intact. You’ll probably start skipping lengthier animations when you’re cutting through fodder enemies, but even after years of dabbling in the series, I still let the more dramatic exchanges play out in full. Under the hood you’re looking at a lot of numbers. Every mech and its pilot has an extensive stat sheet of abilities and perks. There are special rules for how smaller house-sized mechs deal damage to massive skyscraper-sized titans (and vice versa) and several flavours of levelling and experience. Mechs, pilots and your carrier-mothership can be separately upgraded and customized, and pilots can even be assigned to different vehicles later on. Unless you’re deliberately restricting yourself, there’s a lot of room for expressive play in SRW 30, even on higher difficulties, giving it the feel of playing with a kid’s toybox. You’re free to pump resources into your favourite action figures to turn them into mechanical gods, or try to create a balanced tactical force with synergised skills that support each other. SRW 30 is the biggest of these toyboxes yet, with characters and units from 22 different shows and movies, plus a smattering of all-new characters and mecha. And there are still five more crossovers coming as DLC. Even if you’re not familiar with all the shows featured, SRW 30 acts as a fine introduction. I know I’ll be checking out some of the worlds introduced here—most are easily streamed on services like Crunchyroll. So what makes Super Robot Wars special? Crossovers are much more commonplace these days than when Super Robot Wars began in 1991. We live in a world with Fortnite and Dead By Daylight parading out seasonal tie-ins, and where Kingdom Hearts offers a whirlwind tour through Disney’s back-catalogue loosely connected through high anime camp. What makes Super Robot Wars special is that these characters and the worlds they come from are much more tightly connected. Each game creates a whole new hybrid setting from its component parts, with a history-laden glossary to pore over. Almost all of them stand alone. Aside from being the first mainline game released outside of Asian territories, SRW 30's most defining feature is its non-linearity and expandability. Typically, SRW games are lengthy, linear mission-to-mission progressions, occasionally branching and converging back onto the main plot. SRW30 gives you a choice of protagonist and route straight away, and once a handful of tutorial prologue missions are done, you’re given surprisingly free rein. Just beyond the tutorial battles, I found myself presented with a head-spinning 27 missions available to be played in any order, and mainline story missions scale in difficulty to a degree, encouraging you to pick your own route. And this is just the first act of the story. These are typically not short games, and it’ll probably take me weeks to finish it once. My next replay will be even longer. Image 1 of 5 While previous SRW games have dabbled with DLC, 30 has two major expansions coming, each adding 13 story missions and nine robots from even more universes. The first wave will include Sega SRPG franchise Sakura Wars and the recently Netflix-adapted Ultraman. Inquisitive dataminers have found files hinting at a second season pass featuring even more missions and crossovers. Is there such a thing as too much anime? Bandai Namco clearly aims to find out. The tradeoff is that this anime excess doesn’t come cheap. While SRW 30 is massive by itself and one of the cheaper entries in the series, if you want the ultimate edition you’re looking at putting down a hefty $105/£80 if you don't wait for a discount (and that’s not counting potential future season passes). Much of the ultimate edition’s steep price-tag comes from the Premium Sound DLC, which adds (expensively licensed) vocal themes from every series featured, replacing the default instrumental covers. Purely aesthetic, but I feel the music adds a lot. Still, SRW 30 has a fully customizable soundtrack, so if you wanted to replace each track yourself from your own 100% legal collection, there’s a menu for that in-game. You can even assign different music to individual attacks, if you want to get fancy. If—when—you start to crave more super robots... If Super Robot Wars becomes your new obsession, then there are a whole lot more games to play if you don’t mind putting in a little extra legwork. SRW 30 is a fine place to begin, but it’s not actually the only SRW game to be released in English on Steam—it's just the first that isn't region-locked to Southeast Asia. There are more to pick from if you’re willing to work around that limitation. Just remember that Valve says that using a VPN to change your region "is strictly against the Steam Terms of Service and may result in restrictions on your Steam account." 2017’s Super Robot Wars V (tackling Rebuild Of Evangelion) and 2018’s SRW X (featuring Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) are available in English on PC, PlayStation and Switch. They're easily found if you’re willing to either import a physical copy or circumvent Steam’s region locking. 2019’s SRW T (starring Cowboy Bebop’s crew) is out on consoles, and the Switch version emulates perfectly on PC. Bandai Namco has previously released the Super Robot Wars OG series worldwide. Super Robot Wars OG is a spinoff without any of the crossover third-party characters. Some of these games have been localized, although not quite as fluently as recent outings. Some OG characters even make an appearance in SRW 30, with more coming as DLC. And if all that still isn’t enough, there are another eleven games localized by fans, and another seven translated enough to be playable, though you’ll be missing out on the story if you can't read Japanese. To start with the newest and shiniest, Super Robot Wars 30 is out on Steam for $60/£40. The pricier deluxe edition includes the season pass, and the ultimate edition adds the official vocal theme songs on top, too. link : https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/why-super-robot-wars-30-is-a-big-deal-for-strategy-rpg-fans-worldwide/

Our reporters have been making reams of notes this week: here's what they found out In this week's roundup of automotive gossip, Citroen tell us about the future of the MPV and Ford reveal what they've got on the way. But first, Rolls-Royce reveal that their EV plans won't affect one of their most distinctive styling features. Think of Rolls-Royce and you think of that grille, no doubt. Which prompts the question: will the luxury marque’s debut EV need such a big mouth? CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös implied it’s not a tradition that will die easily. “Watch this space,” he said, chuckling. “I don’t want to give anything away, but one thing I can tell you is that it will be a proper, proper Rolls-Royce. It deserves the nameplate, it will be peerless and our clients will love it. First of all, we are building a Rolls-Royce, and secondly it’s electric – not the other way around.” Back to top Stand by for an electric Ford Focus. We don’t know what it will look like yet, but design boss Murat Gueler hinted it’s among the EVs currently being sketched out ahead of a launch in the coming years. “Everybody’slaunching electric cars and we will launch a few in the future,” he said. “Definitely, we’re looking at everything: proportions, architectures… we’re really busy designing all the next-generation cars. There’s a lot ofwork going on.” Citroen singals the end of the line for the MPV Want a Citroen C4 Spacetourer? Get your order in quick: it’s not hanging around for long. As CEO Vincent Cobée said, the traditional MPV is a dying breed: “We’ve been the last of the Mohicans for a number of years. We’re stil selling the C4 Spacetourer, with that level of interior roominess. We’re probably the last ones. We need to acknowledge that we’re overly dominating that segment and the segment is fast, fast, fast disappearing.” No surprise that customers are buying SUVs instead. link : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/confidential/autocar-confidential-styling-plans-rolls-royce-ev-electric-ford-focus-way-and

Farmer Stefano Cutrupi from the commune of Radda in Chianti, Tuscany, has been growing giant pumpkins since 2008 An Italian farmer smashed the heaviest pumpkin record with a specimen that weighed 1,226 kg (2,702 lb 13.9 oz) — to be heavier than a Nissan Micra car, or about the same as 17.5 adult men! ALSO READ |Mexican man earns Guinness record for world’s largest collection of Disney’s ‘Cars’ memorabilia The farmer, Stefano Cutrupi from the commune of Radda in Chianti, Tuscany, has been growing giant pumpkins since 2008. He presented the harvest at the 10th edition of the Campionato della Zuccone pumpkin festival in Peccioli, near Pisa, on September 26, 2021. The pumpkin started germinating in March. It was assessed by representatives from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, who confirmed that the quality of the produce is good enough to be entered for competition, as per guinnessworldrecords.com. “In my head, I was reliving the whole journey to get to that moment,” Cutrupi told GWR. “At the time of the weigh-in, I had my back to the screen,” Cutrupi continued. “When my friends and the audience saw the weight, they swept me up in celebration. At that moment I knew I had made it. I screamed until I lost my voice,” he added. But the farmer also had his share of struggles. “In mid-May, the sun started to burn the leaves of the Atlantic Giant plants. From mid-June to mid-August, there were regular temperatures between 33 and 40°C (91-104°F). “Climate control is a critical factor from germination through to harvest. To allow plants to express themselves at their best, it’s a matter of heating, cooling, shading, misting, watering-feeding when needed,” he told guinnessworldrecords.com. The heaviest pumpkin comes a year after the largest jack o’lantern, by both weight and circumference, which was verified by Guinness World Records in 2020. link : https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/giant-pumpkin-about-17-5-adult-men-smashes-world-record-guinness-7601740/

A group of leaders at COP26 will sign the climate change conference's first major deal on Tuesday when they promise to stop deforestation by 2030. Signatories in Glasgow will include Brazil, where large parts of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down. Felling trees contributes to climate change because it depletes forests that absorb vast amounts of the warming gas CO2. More money is also promised to protect and restore forests. More than 100 countries say they will sign the pledge, covering around 85% of the world's forests. And governments of 28 countries will commit to remove deforestation from the global trade of food and other agricultural products like palm oil, soya and cocoa. These industries drive forest loss by cutting down trees to make space for animals to graze or crops to grow. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the global meeting, will call it a "landmark agreement to protect and restore the earth's forests". "These great teeming ecosystems - these cathedrals of nature - are the lungs of our planet," he was expected to tell the event. "It is good news to have a political commitment to end deforestation from so many countries, and significant funding to move forward on that journey," Prof Simon Lewis, an expert on climate and forests at University College London told BBC News. But he said the world "has been here before" with a declaration in 2014 in New York "which failed to slow deforestation at all". This declaration does not tackle growing demand for products like meat grown on rainforest land which would require tackling high levels of meat consumption in countries like the US and UK, Prof Lewis adds. Can COP26 really save the planet? Indigenous climate activist: 'We have no more time' Life where it's too hot to work, too hot to sleep "This deal involves more countries, more players and more money. But the devil is in the detail which we still need to see," explains Ana Yang, Executive Director at Chatham House Sustainability Accelerator, who co-wrote the report Rethinking the Brazilian Amazon. "This is a really important step at COP26. This meeting is around increasing the level of ambition and keeping global temperature rises below 1.5C - this is a big building block," Ms Yang suggests. What is in the forests deal? To stop deforestation and break the link between tree loss and agriculture, almost £14bn ($19.2bn) of public and private funding is being pledged. Some of this will go to developing countries to restore damaged land, tackle wildfire and support indigenous communities. More than 30 of the world's biggest companies will commit to end investment in activities linked to deforestation. The bold plan to save Africa's largest forest And a £1.1bn fund will be established to protect the world's second largest tropical rainforest - in the Congo Basin. COP26 climate summit - The basics Climate change is one of the world's most pressing problems. Governments must promise more ambitious cuts in warming gases if we are to prevent greater global temperature rises. The summit in Glasgow is where change could happen. You need to watch for the promises made by the world's biggest polluters, like the US and China, and whether poorer countries are getting the support they need. All our lives will change. Decisions made here could impact our jobs, how we heat our homes, what we eat and how we travel. Read more about the COP26 summit here. More on Climate Change bottom strapline Tuntiak Katan, coordinator of the Coordination of Indigenous Communities of the Amazon Basin, welcomed the deal telling BBC News that indigenous communities are on the frontline of stopping deforestation. Mr Katan, an indigenous Shuar from Ecuador, said indigenous communities globally protect 80% of the world's biodiversity but face threats and violence: "For years we have protected our way of life and that has protected ecosystems and forests. Without us, no money or policy can stop climate change," he explained from COP26. Who will sign the pledge? More than 100 countries will promise to halt deforestation including Canada, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia. Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of palm oil, a product found in everything from shampoo to biscuits. Production is driving tree destruction and territory loss for indigenous people. While Russia's huge natural forests, with more than one-fifth of the planet's trees, capture more than 1.5 billion tons of carbon annually. Climate change: Human activity makes forests emit carbon Brazil's Amazon: Deforestation 'surges to 12-year high' A simple guide to climate change In the planet's biggest rainforest, the Amazon, deforestation accelerated to a 12-year-high in 2020 under President Jair Bolsonaro. "Having Brazil signing the deal is really important because it holds a large chunk of tropical forests. But the money must be channelled to people who can make this work on the ground," Ana Yang at Chatham House explains. Many people living in the Amazon, including in its urban areas, depend on the forest for their livelihoods and they need support in finding new incomes, she suggests. Why is stopping deforestation so important? Trees are one of our major defences in a warming world. They suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, acting as so-called carbon sinks. They absorb around 1/3 of global CO2 emitted each year. Currently an area of forest the size of 27 football pitches is lost every minute. And if depleted a forest can also start to release CO2. If too many trees are cut down, scientists are worried that the planet will reach a tipping point that will set off abrupt and unpredictable climatic change. link : https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-59088498

OnePlus 7 Pro and the OnePlus 7 are getting an update that brings the October 2021 Android security patch to the flagship smartphone series from 2019. Alongside, the update is also bundled with a couple of bug fixes — including a call interface fix — and improvements for the OnePlus 7 series smartphones. The update is rolling out in the global markets and will soon reach Europe but there is no mention that the update will be reaching Indian users anytime soon. OnePlus 7 series came with Android 9 Pie out-of-the-box and subsequently received Android 10 and Android 11 updates. OnePlus 7 Pro, OnePlus 7 update changelog The OxygenOS 11.0.4.1 update for OnePlus 7 Pro and OnePlus 7 was announced through a post on the official community forum. The update is currently rolling out to the global and European regions. OnePlus did not specifically mention if users in India will also be receiving the update since there was no firmware version listed for the Indian handsets. OnePlus has improved the system stability of its flagship smartphones launched in 2019. Alongside, the update also claims to fix the issue where the incoming call interface was displayed with a delay. The biggest USP of the update for OnePlus 7 series is the bundled October 2021 Android security patch. OnePlus 8 Series, OnePlus 8T Get New Update With Files by Google App The firmware versions for the OnePlus 7 Pro in the global market and Europe are 11.0.4.1.GM21AA and 11.0.4.1GM21BA, respectively. The vanilla OnePlus 7 gets 11.0.4.1.GM57AA and 11.0.4.1GM57BA as the firmware versions in the global market and Europe, respectively. The size of the update is not mentioned, but users are advised to update their smartphones while they have a strong Wi-Fi connection and are put on charging. The update will have a staggered rollout where only a limited number of users will first receive the update, followed by a broader rollout in a few days. The update for the OnePlus 7 series will reach the users automatically over-the-air. However, keen users can manually check for the update by heading to Settings > System > System updates. link : https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/oneplus-7-pro-oxygenos-11-0-4-1-update-october-2021-android-security-patch-changelog-2593427

According to a new survey from cloud directory service JumpCloud, security is the top concern among IT admins, with 37% fearing software vulnerability the most. Many people in enterprises today worry about security issues, starting with executive management, CISOs, and security teams. IT administrators still remain on the front lines, however, tasked with managing user devices, identities, and access to all IT resources. When asked to rank their biggest concerns on a sliding scale, IT admins told JumpCloud that security breaches, hacker attacks, and ransomware are the top three. These include vulnerability exploits (37%), ransomware (35%), use of unsecured networks (33%), and use of the same password across different applications (30%). Respondents also gave real-world examples, such as an employee that clicked on a bad link that cost the company $680,000. Another respondent found ransomware on the company president’s machine. In addition, the great resignation sweeping the global economy has hit IT teams hard. One respondent reported losing two IT admins in the same month, and, worst of all, was unable to find qualified replacements. Finally, remote work remains a major adjustment for organizations. Managing devices, user access, identity management, systems, networks, applications, and more is a significant source of stress. While respondents had to adjust within days due to COVID-19 last year, challenges such as lack of hybrid security remain. One respondent said, “An internal server went down, which caused everyone at home having to come into the office to connect to the Wi-Fi to enable their connections to be restarted.” The JumpCloud survey asked 509 U.S.-based and 503 U.K.-based IT professionals about their biggest fears and their scariest IT experiences over the past year. Read the full report by JumpCloudVentureBeat. link : https://venturebeat.com/2021/10/30/report-37-of-it-admins-fear-software-vulnerabilities-more-than-cyber-threats/

High latency bug hits fast Update: We've added testing and commentary below to reflect our updated testing with both the Windows 11 and AMD chipset driver patches that became available last week. Our real-world game testing didn't find any large performance changes, as some games benefit from the patches while others lose a slight amount of performance or remain the same, balancing out any gains in our overall measurements below. We found that synthetic measurements of AMD's L3 latency and fabric have returned to normal. We still see a small reduction in L3 bandwidth measurements in Windows 11, but these don't appear to have a performance impact in most of our tested games. Read on for the updated article: Amended article: A few weeks ago, we put a few of the leading AMD Ryzen chips from our Best CPUs for gaming list through several gaming benchmarks and targeted tests to see the extent of the Windows 11 bug that reduced performance on AMD's processors. The patches became available last week, so we've also now updated the article with testing to show the impact. AMD's original announcement that it and Microsoft were jointly investigating two performance-sapping bugs in Windows 11 was an eye-opener, especially since they impacted all Windows 11-compatible AMD processors, which AMD said reduced gaming performance by up to 15% in some eSports titles and 3-5% in desktop PC applications. The original issue appeared to be quite severe, at least in synthetic benchmarks. As you'll see in our extensive CPU Benchmarks below, we found that AMD's L3 latency could be as much as six times higher in Windows 11 compared to Windows 10, and that L3 bandwidth was up to 12X higher in Windows 10. However, we didn't see such severe impacts in our gaming tests, with our biggest Windows 10 vs 11 differences weighing in at 7% in one game title, while others are far more muted. Notably, we tested with the first Windows 11 update that actually made the bug worse. We've since followed up with patch testing and found that most of the games on the fully-patched system are within 2% of pre-patch performance. The bug impacts chips with more than eight cores the most, so we used the 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X that dominates our CPU Benchmark hierarchy to test the patches. We did find that one title, Project Cars 3, is 7.5% faster after the patch, while Shadow of the Tomb Raider is 6.7% slower. Overall, the performance gains and losses across the full gamut of our tests amounted to a wash. Meanwhile, the synthetic L3 cache and bandwidth measurements improved dramatically. Frankly, the bugs couldn't have come at a worse time: Intel is on the cusp of launching its seemingly-potent Alder Lake chips that could swing the advantage back in its favor. Making things worse for AMD, Windows 11 has new scheduler optimizations specifically for Alder Lake, so reviewers will use the new operating system for testing. That raised concerns that the bug could possibly result in unfair comparisons, but the quick resolution has at least removed that concern. However, Intel did tout gaming performance benchmarks with Alder Lake against AMD's Ryzen 9 5950X last week. Intel divulged that it tested the 5950X before the patches were available, leading to accusations that the benchmarks weren't representative of the true differences between the two chips. It's surprising that two severe bugs squeezed past both AMD and Microsoft's QA teams — the first reports of the L3 bug popped up in forums several months ago as enthusiasts tested the pre-release Windows 11 builds. AMD also reported that its UEFI CPPC2 (Collaborative Power and Performance Control 2) feature, a technology that helps to steer lightly-threaded work to the fastest cores on the chip, also has issues that can impact lightly-threaded applications (like games). AMD says this bug is more detectable in chips with more than eight cores and >65W TDP. (Notably, these issues are separate from the performance issues surrounding Microsoft's recommended VBS and HVCI security settings that have caused an outcry. We recently put those issues to the test.) AMD and Microsoft jointly investigated the issue, and a software update to fix the CPPC2 issue and a Windows Update to remediate L3 latency problems were delivered last week (full details here). Windows 10 vs Windows 11 Gaming Performance Benchmarks We tested with Windows 11 Pro 23000.258 and the Windows 11-compatible Nvidia 472.12 graphics driver (the latest driver arrived after testing was complete). As always for CPU testing, we used an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 to minimize the graphics bottleneck. We also stuck with a 1920x1080 resolution, so be aware that the impact of the bug will vary with different resolutions and graphics cards. We have also tested with a limited selection of games, so be aware that performance deltas could vary with other titles. link : https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-windows-11-patch-testing-gaming-benchmarks-L3-cache-bug

Funcom announced it was making a Dune multiplayer survival game back in 2019. Here are some features we're hoping to see. It hasn't been on our radar for a while, but back in early 2019 Funcom announced it was making some Dune videogames, including an open world multiplayer survival game. It feels like a good fit considering Funcom developed Conan Exiles, another multiplayer survival game set in a massive desert environment. Dune is back on our radar in a big way, thanks to, y'know, Dune. The movie. We haven't heard any real details about the upcoming Dune game since Funcom first announced it, so we decided to speculate about some features we'd like to see, from sandworms to stillsuits to the all-important spice. Here's what we're hoping to see in Funcom's Dune survival game. Note: There are some spoilers for Dune below if you haven't seen the film or read the books. More than just a desert I don't want to ruffle any feathers right off the bat, but deserts… are kinda boring. Not immediately boring! The desert in the Dune movie looked beautiful. But that's for a two-hour film. When playing a game for dozens or hundreds of hours it's hard to imagine being captivated by walking down a sand dune and cresting another sand dune and seeing... yet another goddamn sand dune. A few games, like Max Max, have done a nice job by differentiating areas of the desert so each looks and feels a bit different, but in the end you're still mostly dealing with sand, sand, and more sand. I haven't read too far beyond the original Dune novel but I know that in the distant future of Arrakis there are some terraforming efforts made and parts of the desert planet become more green than brown. Having some additional biomes in the Dune game beyond just deserts and caves, some zones with highly varied plant and wildlife as well as the familiar arid and desolate areas, could certainly help the world feel more visually interesting. It would also give players a chance to wear something besides just a moisture-recycling stillsuit 24/7. I think setting the game at that point in the Dune timeline could give it a bit more variety. —Chris Livingston, Features Producer Actual drug trips Dune is a richly-realized science fiction universe, depicted across 27 published and upcoming novels (not including short stories and other works). It is also a book that was written in San Francisco in the early '60s, as hippies, counterculture, music, recreational drugs, and The Summer of Love (in '67) were intersecting. That atmosphere undeniably guided Herbert's book, a story with a galaxy-shaping, mind-altering substance at its center. With that in mind, it would be awfully disappointing if Spice were just another ordinary videogame resource! I don't want to equip my Spice Implement and hold F to Gather Spice. I don't want to purchase a season pass that adds 200 Spice to my account. I want this magic mineral to be folded into the story and experience of playing the game itself—if this is an RPG of some kind, using Spice shouldn't be like eating a baked potato in Minecraft. It should have some richer meaning and implementation. —Evan Lahti, Global Editor-in-Chief Some really intricate knife combat Considering it's a futuristic sci-fi world, it's a little weird to see people running around with knives and swords. But the knife-heavy combat is because of personal defense shields (they looked very silly in the original Dune movie) that stop anything moving fast from penetrating them. Bullets aren't gonna do much because they're simply moving too rapidly and I'm guessing something like a laser blaster wouldn't be effective either. So, warriors carry around big knives because you can slow them down enough to be able to stab someone even if they've got their shield turned on. I'm hoping combat in the Dune game can reflect some of that knife-mastery required to be both quick and slow enough to fight effectively. Hack and slash at someone with a shield it's just not gonna do any damage. A more intricate version of knife combat, with things like parries and counters and the all important slow blade might give the combat a nice learning curve and a bit of nuance. —Chris Maybe it's my old flight sim fandom speaking, or my more recent experience as a cyber-delivery driver in Cloudpunk. Either way, what I'd really like is to get behind the controls of an Atreides ornithopter. I want to transport spice harvesters and patrol for wormsign, rescue workers from sandworm peril, fight the invading Harkonnen and Sardaukar, and maybe most importantly, just cruise the endless, arid wastes. Is Arrakis a boring place? Maybe—it's a big-ass desert, after all—but it doesn't have to be: The Fremen have lived there for thousands of years, and that opens the door to all kinds of potential mystery to explore. A ruin here, an ancient stash there—there's plenty of fictional fodder to make it work, especially in a videogame adaptation. —Andy Chalk, US News Lead A building system (or a nomad system) Look, I know one entire thing about Dune: it involves sand. I do know multiplayer survival games though, and I will always, always show up for a building system. Give me a little crafting bench and a bunch of snapping build pieces and I will live there for weeks. If you all get into Dune Multiplayer someday and start sending me screenshots of sandcastles or sand shacks or whatever kind of structures Dune people live in, I am guaranteed to be there. — Lauren Morton, Associate Editor I think I may be feeling the opposite, because time and again in games with buildable bases I've proven completely incapable of constructing a home I really want to live in. I think I'd prefer to be nomadic in the Dune game, if possible, with nothing but a tent or portable habitat I can plunk down, sleep or craft in, then fold up and take with me. Especially in multiplayer games like Rust where players claim a spot, start building an ugly-ass boxy base, then abandon it, the landscape winds up littered with unsightly crapshacks. Maybe it's time for a multiplayer survival game to ditch building and stick with portable habs that don't clutter up the scenery. —Chris Tameable worms I know two things about Dune. Like Lauren, I am aware that it involves sand. I also know, however, that there are worms in that sand. Large worms. Well, I think you should be able to ride the worms. Let's call them… duneworms, maybe. Or sandtubes. —Tyler Wilde, Executive Editor I'm pretty sure worm-riding will be a part of the game (you can do it in No Man's Sky as of this Halloween) and if it's not, man, people gonna be mad. And hopefully it'll be some high-level, extremely difficult activity or people are gonna be steering worms all over the map and eating all the fresh spawns. —Chris Let me be the worm Humans are boring and very bad at surviving in the harsh desert. Sandworms are very exciting and good at surviving in the harsh desert. So why would I want to be anything other than a worm? Let me speed across the dunes gobbling up spice and spaceships, and maybe a player or two. I would not be very happy if Tyler tried to ride me though. Ban riding worms. It's rude. —Fraser Brown, Online Editor A pee button Maybe it's my old flight sim fandom speaking, or my more recent experience as a cyber-delivery driver in Cloudpunk. Either way, what I'd really like is to get behind the controls of an Atreides ornithopter. I want to transport spice harvesters and patrol for wormsign, rescue workers from sandworm peril, fight the invading Harkonnen and Sardaukar, and maybe most importantly, just cruise the endless, arid wastes. Is Arrakis a boring place? Maybe—it's a big-ass desert, after all—but it doesn't have to be: The Fremen have lived there for thousands of years, and that opens the door to all kinds of potential mystery to explore. A ruin here, an ancient stash there—there's plenty of fictional fodder to make it work, especially in a videogame adaptation. —Andy Chalk, US News Lead A building system (or a nomad system) Look, I know one entire thing about Dune: it involves sand. I do know multiplayer survival games though, and I will always, always show up for a building system. Give me a little crafting bench and a bunch of snapping build pieces and I will live there for weeks. If you all get into Dune Multiplayer someday and start sending me screenshots of sandcastles or sand shacks or whatever kind of structures Dune people live in, I am guaranteed to be there. — Lauren Morton, Associate Editor I think I may be feeling the opposite, because time and again in games with buildable bases I've proven completely incapable of constructing a home I really want to live in. I think I'd prefer to be nomadic in the Dune game, if possible, with nothing but a tent or portable habitat I can plunk down, sleep or craft in, then fold up and take with me. Especially in multiplayer games like Rust where players claim a spot, start building an ugly-ass boxy base, then abandon it, the landscape winds up littered with unsightly crapshacks. Maybe it's time for a multiplayer survival game to ditch building and stick with portable habs that don't clutter up the scenery. —Chris Tameable worms I know two things about Dune. Like Lauren, I am aware that it involves sand. I also know, however, that there are worms in that sand. Large worms. Well, I think you should be able to ride the worms. Let's call them… duneworms, maybe. Or sandtubes. —Tyler Wilde, Executive Editor I'm pretty sure worm-riding will be a part of the game (you can do it in No Man's Sky as of this Halloween) and if it's not, man, people gonna be mad. And hopefully it'll be some high-level, extremely difficult activity or people are gonna be steering worms all over the map and eating all the fresh spawns. —Chris Let me be the worm Humans are boring and very bad at surviving in the harsh desert. Sandworms are very exciting and good at surviving in the harsh desert. So why would I want to be anything other than a worm? Let me speed across the dunes gobbling up spice and spaceships, and maybe a player or two. I would not be very happy if Tyler tried to ride me though. Ban riding worms. It's rude. —Fraser Brown, Online Editor A pee button Denis Villeneuve's Dune spends a few minutes teaching us about stillsuits, the high-tech desertwear of Arrakis that collects nearly all your body's moisture and converts it back into drinkable water. Sweat becomes sustenance. But there's one bit the movie leaves out: so does pee. If Dune is a survival game, that means a major mechanic will be managing your thirst in the desert, and that means there should be a button to pee on command before you drink up. He who controls his urine controls the universe.— Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor Stillsuits recycle your poop, too. On the one hand I'm not sure Funcom wants to remind you that you're drinking recycled pee and poop. On the other, it's Funcom, which has dong-size sliders in Conan Exiles. So who knows? They might be quite happy reminding you each time you drink from your suit you're consuming the last desert dump you took. link : https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/a-dune-multiplayer-survival-game-is-on-the-way-and-heres-how-we-think-it-should-work/

VW ID 3-rivalling electric hatchback promises 261 miles of range The new Ora Cat, a Chinese-built electric hatchback due on sale in the UK from December and priced from just £25,000, has been revealed promising efficiency and performance figures that outshine several key rivals. Launched in China in 2018 and confirmed for a European roll-out at the Munich motor show in September, the Cat is the newest model from the nascent, EV-only Ora subbrand formed by automotive giant Great Wall Motors (GWM). Five years after pulling the uncompetitive Steed pick-up from sale in the UK, GWM is re-entering the market with models from Ora and the more premium-oriented Wey marque, whose plug-in hybrid Coffee 01 SUV is due to arrive in Europe next year. What most obviously marks the Cat out from other EVs at this price point is its maximum range of 261 miles, which is more than double that of the similarly priced Mazda MX-30 and slightly more than even the top-rung Renault Zoe. That maximum figure is achieved by a Cat featuring a 63kWh (gross) battery pack. That model is expected to cost from around £28,000, although a smaller 58kWh option with a 209-mile range will also be available. Both are capable of charging at 80kW from a CCS fast charger, while 6.6kW single-phase and three-phase 11kW AC charging are standard on all models. Power is sent to a motor on the front axle – a drivetrain configuration which Ora bosses believe will aid the car’s po[CENSORED]rity on wet UK roads. The motor makes 169bhp and 184lb ft, which sends the Cat from 0-30mph in 3.8sec, 0-62mph in 8.5sec and on to a top speed of 100mph. The Cat measures 4235mm long by 1825mm wide and 1596mm high, making it a close dimensional match for the Volkswagen ID 3, while a wheelbase of 2650mm means even six-foot-tall adults can sit comfortably in the rear. The Cat is expected to be offered in four trim levels, all of which will qualify for the government’s £35,000 EV grant, company representatives say. Each trim will be offered with a high level of standard equipment, making the Cat a viable rival even to compact EVs from established European premium brands. Back to top LED lights are standard front and rear, as are 18in alloys, a pair of high-resolution 10.25in screens with smartphone mirroring, rear parking sensors, a 360deg camera, facial recognition and a raft ofdriver aids. A performance-inspired range-topper will be offered, bringing sportier design cues including bespoke wheels and unique colours, but there are not yet any plans for a higher-output powertrain to be offered. An app allows various functions to be controlled away from the car, while over-the-air updates keep the operating system up to date. Notably, Ora is one of few automotive brands to highlight its operating system’s processing capacity, such is the marketing power of the chips which manage the cockpit and driver aid systems. It is yet to be confirmed how Ora models will be sold in the UK, although Autocar understands a hybrid physical-digital retail model will be implemented. Great Wall’s ultimate goal is to sell 50,000 Cats per year in the UK, with another model to follow next year and eventually building a comprehensive line-upcomprising both hatchbacks and SUVs, some of which are already on sale in China. Like Tesla and Genesis, Ora will show its cars in shopping centres to familiarise the public with the brand as it ramps up its presence in the market. Can the cat cut it here? We will find out what the Cat is like to drive early next year and will refrain from offering predictions on its success until then, but the early left-hand-drive prototypes on static display make a compelling case for Ora. link : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ora-cat-supermini-ev-launching-uk-£25k

The scene is set for people to actively choose to focus on pets instead of children Can this kind of caregiving toward animals really be considered parenting? Or is something else going on here? I’m an anthropologist who studies human-animal interactions, a field known as anthrozoology. I want to better understand the behavior of pet parenting by people from the perspective of evolutionary science. After all, cultural norms and evolutionary biology both suggest people should focus on raising their own children, not animals of a completely different species. More child-free people, more pet parents The current moment is unique in human history. Many societies, including the U.S., are experiencing major changes in how people live, work and socialize. Fertility rates are low, and people have more flexibility in how they choose to live their lives. These factors can lead people to further their education and value defining oneself as an individual over family obligations. With basics taken care of, people can focus on higher order psychological needs like feelings of achievement and a sense of purpose. The scene is set for people to actively choose to focus on pets instead of children. In earlier research, I interviewed 28 self-identified child-free pet owners to better understand how they relate to their animals. These individuals pointedly shared that they had actively chosen cats and dogs instead of children. In many cases, their use of parent-child relational terms – calling themselves a pet’s “mom” for instance – was simply shorthand. They emphasized fulfilling the species-specific needs of their dogs and cats. For example, they might fulfill the animal’s need to forage by feeding meals using a food puzzle, while most children are fed at the table. These pet owners acknowledged differences in the nutrition, socialization and learning needs of animals versus children. They were not unthinkingly replacing human children with “fur babies” by treating them like small, furry humans. ALSO READ |How to make Diwali stress-free for your pets Other researchers find similar connections, showing that child-free pet owners perceive their companions as emotional, thinking individuals. This way of understanding the mind of the animal helps lead to the development of a parent identity toward companion animals. In other cases, uncertain individuals find their need to nurture sufficiently fulfilled by caring for pets, cementing their fertility decisions to remain child-free. Nurturing others is part of being human Yet, these findings still do not answer this question: Are people who choose pets over children truly parenting their pets? To answer, I turned to the evolution of parenting and caregiving. Evolutionary anthropologist Sarah Hrdy wrote in 2009 that humans are cooperative breeders. This means it is literally in our DNA and our ancestral history to help care for offspring who are not our own. Anthropologists and biologists call this trait alloparenting. It is an evolutionary adaptation that helped human beings who cooperatively raised children survive. For early humans, this ancient environment was likely made up of small, foraging societies in which some people exchanged child care for food and other resources. I propose that it is this evolutionary history that explains pet parenting. If people evolved to alloparent, and our environment is now making caring for children more difficult or less appealing to some, it makes sense for people to alloparent other species entering their homes. Alloparenting companion animals can offer a way to fulfill the evolved need to nurture while reducing the investment of time, money and emotional energy compared to raising children. Untangling differences in caring for pets To further understand this phenomenon of child-free adults parenting pets, I launched an online survey via social media, seeking responses from U.S.-based dog and cat owners over the age of 18. The survey included questions about attachment and caregiving behaviors using the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale. It also asked a series of questions I developed to probe specific human caretaking behaviors oriented toward pets – things like feeding, bathing and training – as well as how much autonomy companion animals had in the home. The final sample of 917 respondents included 620 parents, 254 nonparents and 43 people who were undecided or did not answer. Most of the respondents were also married or in a domestic partnership for over one year (57%), between the ages of 25 and 60 (72%) and had at least a bachelor’s degree (77%). They were also mostly women (85%) and heterosexual (85%), a common situation in human-animal interactions research. Both parents and nonparents reported high amounts of training and play with their pets. This finding makes sense given that all pet owners need to help their dogs and cats learn how to navigate a human world. Survey respondents reported socializing, training and enrichment, including play, for their animals. ALSO READ |Pet health: Easy-to-follow nutrition pointers for your dog Nonparents were more likely to be the one providing general care for the animal. This finding also makes sense since parents often adopt or purchase companion animals as a way to help their children learn responsibility and to care for others. Child-free animal owners invest time, money and emotional energy directly in their pets. Nonparents reported higher rates of general attachment to their animals. They more frequently viewed their pets as individuals. Nonparents were also more likely to use family terms such as “parent,” “child,” “kids” and “guardians” when referring to their relationships with their pet. It is this difference, combined with the evidence from my earlier research that these individuals address the species-specific needs of the dogs and cats in their care, that suggests pet parenting is, truly, parenting pets. Though the details may look quite different – attending training classes instead of school functions, or providing smell walks for dogs instead of coloring books for children – both practices fulfill the same evolved function. Whether child or pet, people are meeting the same evolved need to care for, teach and love a sentient other. My colleagues and I continue to collect data from all over the world about how people live with animals. For now, this study provides evidence that, perhaps rather than being evolved to parent, humans are evolved to nurture. And as a result, who and when we parent is much more flexible than you might initially believe. Shelly Volsche, Clinical Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Boise State University Have you noticed more cats riding in strollers lately? Or bumper stickers that read, “I love my granddogs”? You’re not imagining it. More people are investing serious time, money and attention in their pets. It looks an awful lot like parenting, but of pets, not people. link : https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/research-suggests-cat-and-dog-moms-and-dads-really-are-parenting-their-pets-7598521/

Climate change and Covid are top of the agenda as leaders from the world's major economies meet in Italy. It is the first time the G20 leaders are meeting face-to-face since the start of the pandemic. However, China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Vladimir Putin will not be in Rome for the summit, choosing to appear via video link instead. The meeting comes amid increasingly dire warnings for the future if urgent action is not taken to cut emissions. The group - made up of 19 countries and the European Union - is estimated to account for 80% of the world's emissions. Speaking ahead of the two-day summit, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson suggested failing to act would result in "our civilisation" going backwards, consigning "future generations to a life that is far less agreeable than our own". However, he acknowledged that neither the G20 meeting, nor the upcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow, which begins on Monday, would stop global warming, saying "the most we can hope to do is slow the increase". According to Reuters news agency, a draft communiqué outlines a promise from the G20 to work towards limiting the rise in temperatures to 1.5C (2.7F) - but no legally binding agreement will be made. How many vaccines are rich countries sharing? What do the poorest countries want from climate summit? Why China's climate policy matters to us all Mr Johnson is also expected to touch on coronavirus vaccine inequality during the summit, telling his fellow leaders "the pace of recovery will depend on how quickly we can overcome Covid", with the first priority being "the rapid, equitable and global distribution of vaccines". More than six billion Covid vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. However, a letter addressed to Italian PM Mario Draghi, who is hosting the G20, from more than 160 former world leaders and global figures noted just 2% of people in low-income countries have received a jab. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden will push for countries to boost energy production, amid rocketing prices, as well as discussing a plan to prevent future pandemics. The group is also expected to back a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15%, which is backed by 140 countries around the world. link : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-59101218

Dell's Alienware sub-brand has introduced two new gaming desktops. The Alienware Aurora R13 is powered by Intel's 12th Gen 'Alder Lake' CPUs while the Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 is powered by AMD Ryzen processors. The Aurora R13 is offered with up to 12th Gen Intel Core i9 12900KF processor while the Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 can be configured with up to AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor. Alongside, Dell has also released a new XPS desktop powered by the 12th Gen Intel 'Alder Lake' CPUs. Dell Alienware Auruo R13, Aurora Ryzen Edition R14, XPS desktop price, availability The new Alienware Aurora R13 price starts at $1,479.99 (roughly Rs. 1.10 lakh) for the Intel Core i5 12600KF-powered desktop. The top-of-the-range Aurora R13 with Intel Core i9 12900KF processor is priced at $4,649.99 (roughly Rs. 3.48 lakh). Alienware Aurora Rzyen Edition R14 price starts at $1,249.99 (roughly Rs. 93,600) for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor variant and goes up to $4,879.99 (roughly Rs. 3.65 lakh) for the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X-powered variant. The Dell XPS desktop's price begins at $919.99 (roughly Rs. 69,000). Alienware Aurora R13 and Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 are available to purchase via Dell's official website. The Dell XPS desktop will be available later this year. The Aurora R13 is available in Dark Side of the Moon and Lunar Silver colour options, the Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 is available in a sole Dark Side of the Moon colour option. The Dell XPS desktop will be available in Night Sky and Platinum Silver colour options. The newly launched Alienware Aurora R13 desktop is powered by the 12th Gen Intel 'Alder Lake' CPUs that were launched earlier this month. It will get the 12th Gen Intel Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 processors, paired with up to 128GB of dual-channel DDR5 RAM. The processors are paired with up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 GDDR6X GPU or up to AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT GDDR6 GPU. The desktops support Windows 10 Home and Pro versions. Onboard storage options on the Aurora R13 include single storage and dual-drive non-RAID configurations. The former can be configured with up to 2TB NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD, while the latter can be configured for up to 2TB NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD coupled with 2TB SATA SSD. Connectivity options at the front of Alienware Aurora R13 include a 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, along with one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port and one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with PowerShare technology. On the back, it gets four USB 2.0 ports, three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, 3.5mm headphone jack, and more. The Aurora R13 gets Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 with 802.11ac and 802.11ax support along with Bluetooth v5.2 for connectivity. It measures 510x589x225mm and weighs 16.5 kilograms. Dell Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 specifications The Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 desktop is powered by up to AMD Ryzen 9 5650X processor, paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 GDDR6X GPU or AMD Radeon RX6900 XT GDDR6 GPU. The processor is paired with up to 128GB dual-channel DDR4 RAM. The rest of the specifications match those of Alienware Aurora R13. Dell XPS desktop specifications The Dell XPS desktops are also powered by the 12th Gen Intel 'Alder Lake' processors (up to Core i9 12900K). It can be configured with either Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 GDDR6x GPU or AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT GDDR6 GPU. Storage options on the Dell XPS desktop are the same as the ones available on the aforementioned Alienware desktops. Even the ports and connectivity options on the XPS desktop are the same as the ones in the Aurora range, with the addition of an SD card slot at the front. It measures up to 391mm in height with the aluminium stand, while its depth and width measure 426.7mm and 173mm, respectively. It weighs up to 7.62 kilograms. link : https://gadgets.ndtv.com/laptops/news/dell-alienware-xps-aurora-r13-ryzen-edition-r14-price-usd-1479-99-launch-specifications-intel-12th-gen-alder-lake-cpu-2590976

A research team from the Interactive and Robotic Systems Laboratory at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló has developed software that allows underwater robots with mani[CENSORED]tion capabilities to be controlled remotely in a more efficient way, as it offers a computer graphic interface and prior realistic simulation. The new technology amends, in the context of underwater scenarios, the lack of simulation systems and realistic 3D interfaces that enable remote control of tasks in autonomous and teleoperated mobile mani[CENSORED]tor robots. The use of robots in hazardous scenarios is indispensable, especially in situations caused by accidents, fire, smoke, radiation or deep water, which are almost impossible to access in person. The new software enriches the reality received from the robot located in the hazardous environment and unifies it with 3D information extracted by artificial intelligence techniques. This results in a mixed reality that is very useful for users. The system makes it possible to represent the state of the robots in the 3D environment by obtaining real data regarding the position of the vehicle and the mani[CENSORED]tor arm, as well as the information received from cameras and sensors. The user interface incorporates a realistic simulation system to experiment with robot functions and simulated telemetry before interacting with the real systems. This allows for greater efficiency in the tasks performed by the robot, ensuring people's safety in such situations. The new software makes it possible to achieve underwater robots capable of mani[CENSORED]ting, obeying the orders of the human operator and simulating the effects of robotic actions before they occur; at the same time, it enriches the information offered to the user, favors the supervision of the task and improves the safety of the interventions. One of its advantages is that it offers greater precision in the mani[CENSORED]tion and control of robots in adverse or dangerous scenarios. The main sectors that can benefit from this new technology are those linked to cooperative robotics (e.g. industry 4.0), underwater, radioactive or hazardous environments for human health due to fire and smoke, as well as security and telecommunications research. The research team is seeking specific agreements and subsequent licensing agreements with companies for the development and adaptation of the technology to specific applications. The development of this user interface has been carried out during the execution of the TWINBOT project and has been validated in real conditions (with two G500 vehicles) at the Centre for Research in Robotics and Underwater Technologies of the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló (CIRTESU). The software has also been improved and adapted to industrial and hospital environments during the first year of the European project H2020-El-Peacetolero. link : https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-interface-underwater-robotic-equipment.html

A bold step towards bridging the real and the virtual. In a livestream for Facebook Connect 2021, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Project Cambria, a next-generation, high-end Mixed Reality headset that will raise the bar for how customers interact with virtual words. It's still in the development stages, but with "encouraging progress" being made towards a bridge between VR and AR, Meta (which Facebook renamed itself as during the event) feels it will have a product ready as early as next year. Project Cambria will features high-resolution, full-color video passthrough to the headset’s screens, which will allow it to showcase not only the physical space you're involved in, but also overlay it with augmented reality. Zuckerberg explained the cutting-edge nature of the device as requiring price tag high end of the price spectrum” price tag. Project Cambria is expected to make use of a new generation of optics that would make it slimmer than existing headsets. New sensors handle the improved tracking features, as well as take in, algorithmically process, reconstruct and augment your immediate physical reality. The headset features face and eye tracking, which will work in conjunction with avatars that closely mimic your actual movements into the digital real. And so that those lifelike avatar interactions are more engaging than simple digital video conferencing, Facebook also announced Horizon Home for Oculus experience, enhancing the existing virtual home by allowing users to invite digital friends over to play games, watch movies, or hang out. Customization for these virtual spaces will take slightly longer to arrive. link : https://www.tomshardware.com/news/facebook-announces-project-cambria-mixed-reality-headset

The best part of a new season is getting another chapter in Respawn's sci-fi soap opera. Last week I spent a night with Escape, Apex Legends's sun-soaked next season arriving on November 2. As noted in my preview, it's an exciting return to form for the game that brings us a sprawling new tropical map, a spicy new SMG, and the return of a fan-favourite Titanfall 2 character in new legend Ash. There's a lot to be excited for—so why is it that, after a few dozen games, I cannae stop thinking about a character who's been in the game for almost a year? Okay, so anyone who's even remotely aware of my broader online presence knows, this isn't exactly a new thing. As a charming red-haired Scottish lass myself, I've joked that Respawn basically put me in the game with the addition of Horizon back in Season 7. It's ultimately not a great shock that I spent much of the preview period playing as my gravity-defying doppelganger (especially considering the demand to play new girl Ash who I, admittedly, wasn't very good at). That said, there was another reason to experience Escape from the familiar eyes of Dr Mary Somers. From a run of comics to her own Stories from the Outlands trailer, Ash's introduction has been heavily framed by her, well, "tense" relationship with Horizon. But while I was expecting a few lines to recognise the beef between these two, I wasn't prepared for that feud to be the highlight of the new season. Character growth Cards on the table, I wasn't super enamoured by the Apex characters at launch. Oh, the game was a blast, and there's a lot to love with what the launch roster has become, but ultimately I saw them as just another set of hero shooter characters. These games might have cool characters with fun designs and neat backstories, but when you hit the game proper, all that really matters is their toolkit. But while I've already written on how Respawn brought the community on board to further explore the possibility space of this sci-fi universe, less has been said on what it's done to tell that story in-game. Apex sits in a very strange position, a battle royale with Overwatch-style hero characters—and it's thanks to the format of the former that it really gets to dig into the personality of the latter. Fortnite might have pioneered the idea of an ever-changing story in battle royale, but Apex gives that story personality. New faces trickle in, and while the major plot beats may shift from season to season as Respawn introduces new maps and modes, there's an almost soap opera appeal to just sitting down with a comfortable cast and listening to them banter night after night. See, as fast-paced as Apex may be, there's a lot of downtime in any battle royale. Apex wisely fills that silence with constant chatter. On one level, this means you have a constant audio stream keeping you updated on the state of the game (ring timers, care package drops, friendly pings and such). But it's also a powerful vessel for storytelling, each line a vessel for the writers to deliver a little nugget of characterisation. When characters have ties in Apex, it usually plays out through player-driven voice cues. Pinging "thank you" or "your welcome" may spur Rampart to talk about how Mirage is slacking on the cleaning, or push Valk into getting a wee bit flirty with Loba. But when Horizon is on a team with Ash, she becomes a different person entirely—the cheery, absent-minded astronaut fading into a snarling, wounded, grieving mother. This isn't the first time two characters have been at each other's throats. Revenant and Loba have some serious beef, after the spooky skeleton-man butchered her family. But it's so heightened as to be basically cartoonish, and at this point in the story Loba even has the upper hand after making it impossible for her skeleton nemesis to ever truly die (the one thing he wants). While they're hardly the best of friends, their feud plays out as more of a rivalry than outright hatred. But even if the situation is just as ridiculous (the inciting incident did, after all, see Dr Ashleigh Reid punt Horizon into a black hole and subject her to the time-dilation plot of Interstellar), voice actor Elle Newlands plays Dr Somers' lines with such a raw, venomous pain that I spent much of the preview audibly screaming. It doesn't matter that Ash and Reid are technically separate personalities—one a perfectionist android trying to transcend humanity, the other the ghost of the woman she once was screaming inside her head. Horizon hates, and I mean truly hates, them both just the same. A seething resentment the game has previously hinted at but rarely plunged into this deeply. It's also, admittedly, a wonderfully Scottish form of antagonism—a defence system wrapped in layers of pettiness and passive aggression. When there are three squads left, she'll feign shock at Ash being such a team player, or retort that it was nice of Ash to "let them keep your seat warm" when a Kill Leader falls. I've not historically been a fan of thank you lines being delivered with spite (what's up, Revenant), but I'll forgive it when Horizon spits at Ash for being a backstabbing blender. It's the small moments that hit the hardest. The way even Horizon's snarling passive-aggression fades into a depressed fugue when doing something as simple as confirming a teammate's ping—our once-adventurous space mom barely managing to let out a defeated "aye". The most painful note of all is that this animosity isn't felt both ways. Ash is a cold, calculating simulacrum, and she really couldn't care less about this stroppy astronaut's feelings. Let it out Like most hero shooters, the Apex cast comprise a range of heightened archetypes. The mad scientist, the self-obsessed goofball, the relentlessly-optimistic robot, a literal skeleton. But with each season, Respawn finds ways to ground these larger-than-life characters, building them out and exploring different sides of their personalities. Horizon arriving as a motherly figure gave Mirage room to let his cock-sure mask slip; now, Ash offers an opportunity for Horizon to explore a trauma that's been left to simmer since she arrived in the games last year. What excites me the most, though, is that this relationship isn't set in stone. Apex Legends is a live game, and that constant flux isn't just restricted to maps and mechanics. Characters and relationships are active, constant concerns in a way that's absolutely fascinating to follow. Caustic and Wattson have gone from deep feuds to wary reconciliation. Mirage, Wraith and Rampart have stumbled into some kind of sitcom-like flirty roommate situation, while Bangalore, Loba and Valk are caught in a bittersweet queer love triangle. These plot points often begin in seasonal comics or animated shorts, but they persist through the game itself. That persistence and constant development also makes the game's queer representation feel meaningful. It's easy to miss that Overwatch's Tracer or Soldier 76 are gay when that fact is locked in tertiary comics, because it's never made present in game. But if you're teamed up with Loba and Valk, it's impossible to ignore that these gals are absolutely hooking up after the game. Now, I don't imagine there's a world where Dr Somers and Dr Reid ride off merrily into the sunset together. But their antagonism adds another layer to the intricate web of relationships playing out across any given match. And hey, considering the twists and turns of the Apex story so far, who's to say there isn't even the slimmest possibility of reconciliation? That's a long-shot I wouldn't imagine seeing for seasons to come, of course, and for now I'm just bracing to see how this relationship pans out over the coming months. Needless to say, I'm firmly on Team Space Mom all the way to the end. link : https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-real-star-of-apex-legends-next-season-is-a-scottish-mother-with-a-grudge/

Probably not the Macan you truly want, but likely all the Macan you actually need What is it? The V6-powered versions of the Macan have always received more attention, and more critical love, but it's the 2.0-litre four cylinder version that offers the most accessible way to experience Porsche’s smallest SUV. That’s 'accessible', mind, certainly not 'cheap'. Unoptioned, this model starts at £47,780, and our test car had been boosted to £57,777 by extras. Like the rest of the range, the 2.0-litre has been given a mild facelift that will take it through to retirement, some time after the launch of the all-new Macan EV we’re expecting to see in 2022. There is also some more power, with the Volkswagen-sourced EA888 2.0-litre turbocharged engine now making 261bhp, an increase of 19bhp on the old car. Torque has increased slightly, too, up from 273lb ft to 295lb ft. Porsche now claims a 6.4sec 0-62mph time and a 144mph top speed. None of which is bad for the baby of the range. What's it like? Externally this is a subtle facelift. The biggest change is a new front bumper, with indicators moved higher, and new LED headlights, while the tail-lights are now joined by a full-width strip across the tailgate. There are bigger changes in the cabin, with the old car’s buttons around the centre console – the number varying depending on the options fitted – now replaced by touch-sensitive Haptic panels on each side with icons corresponding to each control. This minimalisation has also resulted in the loss of the gear selector’s former leather gaiter, and in consequence it now looks rather naked. The lever no longer has a separate channel for a manual selection mode: this does still exist, but the button that engages it is, counter-intuitively, next to the audio controls on the steering wheel. Yet despite the new black panelling, parts of the Macan’s interior are definitely showing their age given the car was launched in 2014. The continued presence of an analogue speedometer and rev counter is no cause for complaint in a Porsche, but it does mean that the digital display of the third ‘dial’ to the right is small and less crisply rendered than the central touchscreen. Even in base form, and without air springs or active dampers, the Macan’s dynamic performance remains hugely impressive. The 2.0-litre flows over a challenging road like a tall and exceptionally pliant hot hatch. Ride on the steel springs is certainly busier than it is on the air suspension of posher models, but this Macan absorbs sizeable bumps and awkward cambers without complaint, feeling considerably more relaxed at pace than the 911 GTS we drove over the same road. Back to top The four-cylinder engine provides impressive urge but not much in the way of experience. Porsche has opted to mask most of the noises it makes at lower revs, with the exhaust note muted under all but hard use. It lacks the charisma and low-down brawn of the twin-turbo V6 models but is certainly effective – and willing to rev to the marked 6750rpm redline. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox shifts with the same speed and accuracy as it does in the more senior models. Steering feels as weighty and accurate as the Macan GTS, although it should be noted that our test car had the speed-sensitive assistance of the £185 Power Steering Plus option. Unlike its brawnier sisters, however, the four-cylinder doesn’t have enough power to completely overwhelm the chassis’ high grip levels on dry Tarmac, so adhesion fades to eventual understeer on the Michelin Latitude Sport 3 tyres. Only on loose or slippery surfaces is there any real sense of the amount of torque the standard all-wheel drive system routinely sends to the rear. Yet even with both Macan S and GTS sitting above it in the hierarchy – the Turbo has been dropped – the basic Macan doesn’t feel like a poor relation. Should I buy one? The impressive solidity of Macan residuals has long offset high pricing, although the standard car does look expensive considering both its humble engine and not especially generous standard specification – even a reversing camera remains an extra-cost option. But the driving experience remains good enough to counteract some mild criticism, and even after seven years the Macan is dynamically a cut above its obvious rivals. link :https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/porsche/macan/first-drives/porsche-macan-20-2021-uk-review

Before the pandemic, more than 300,000 people walked through Times Square on any given day, according to the Times Square District Management Association. But last year, the pedestrian count plummeted to fewer than 50,000 people per day Written by Sandra E. Garcia For most New Yorkers, most of the time, Times Square is a challenge. Walking through the crowds of tourists, vendors, break dancing crews, and multiple Elmos and Iron Mans can be daunting when you’re just trying to make it to work. But it’s also disturbing to see the area nearly cleared out, as it was last year during the pandemic. As pedestrians slowly begin to fill the area again, a monument has been erected for those who have been there through it all. A Fountain for Survivors,” created by Pamela Council, an artist whose works are steeped in Black American culture, is an 18-foot fountain embellished with more than 350,000 acrylic nails, on display in Times Square until Dec. 8. ALSO READ |Want healthier nails? Try these easy home hacks The hundreds of thousands of acrylic nails used for the structure vary in size, from tiny toenail length to rectangular talon. Some are painted pale pink with a white tip. Some are magenta, gold and yellow. Others are bedazzled with rhinestones and crystals. A few feature hand-painted designs by local nail artists. Many are fanned out across the carapace of the fountain, which forms a curvy, bulbous shape around it, resembling a 3D rendering of an organ from an anatomy book. Pink and magenta clouds are painted on the inside of the structure, and the ceiling is tufted with a silk fabric, a gold light fixture holding it together in the middle. The fountain in the middle of it all contains 100 gallons of water, which trickle down three levels into a large fuchsia cauldronlike dish. As one walks into the art piece, the loud music from dance crews, the murmur of the crowd and the bright lights of the billboards seem to fade away. In the middle of the chaos of Times Square, the space is serene and dreamy, the sound of water calming the senses. “The fingernails become this sort of armor and this protective style layer, in between the buzzing Times Square public and people who are visiting this intimate space,” said Council, who uses they/them pronouns, in a recent interview. The nails also symbolize self-expression and the small acts of personal upkeep that many people rely on — or ritualize — in order to persevere on a daily basis. “We build monuments to winning wars and tragedies, but I need a monument to maintaining,” Council said. “For some people that is monumental.” Before the pandemic, more than 300,000 people walked through Times Square on any given day, according to the Times Square District Management Association. But last year, the pedestrian count plummeted to fewer than 50,000 people per day. “There are fewer people moving throughout Times Square, but the people who are, are working people, they’re the people that keep things running, they are the essential workers that we have been talking about for the last year and a half,” Council said. Now, with 64% of New Yorkers fully vaccinated, the city is rebounding. In September, there were nearly 219,000 people back in Times Square. The fountain was unveiled last week in Duffy Square, a small plaza in the northernmost triangle of Times Square. “Survival felt like a very universally urgent notion that people from all walks of life and experiences could identify with in this moment,” said Jean Cooney, the director of Times Square Arts, the public art arm of the Times Square Alliance and the organization that commissioned the work, “whether that idea around survival was for them related to the pandemic or something more personal.” It was Council’s lens on survival, which is punctuated by joy and gloomy humor, that Cooney felt could bring a much-needed levity to the area. According to a New York City Comptroller’s report from March 2020, 75% of all frontline workers at the beginning of the pandemic were people of color. More than 60% were women. That reality contributed to higher rates of mortality from COVID-19 among people of color, and worsened already persistent economic inequalities. Valerie Wilson, the director of the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, remarked on the pandemic’s disproportionate toll on Black and brown communities in the city: “I think that we are at a time now where there seems to be some greater acknowledgment of the traumas that are created by racism and racial inequality,” Wilson said. “That is important to counteracting the idea that Black people are simply being resilient. You do what you have to do but what is the cost?” Council’s fountain is an offering to those survivors and to all survivors, more generally. “With fountains, you can make these offerings and dedications on a civic scale,” they said. Council has worked with acrylic nails before. In 2012, the artist created a sculpture called “Flo Jo World Record Nails” that used 2,000 acrylic fingernails to shape a replica of a track course in honor of the 200-meter course where track and field athlete Florence Griffith Joyner made history. Council used the same materials for “A Fountain for Survivors,” but this time the artist is celebrating not an individual achievement, but offering a moment of respite to anyone within the city. “Their fountain is something really different and completely unexpected. At the same time, they’re using these materials that you’ve definitely seen before,” Cooney said of Council. “We all understand acrylic nails, but I’ve never seen 400,000 of them in beautiful and vibrant mosaics. It’s a little bit of something incredibly accessible and familiar, but turned into something completely spectacular and unexpected.” link : https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/acrylic-nails-get-the-fine-art-treatment-7595264/