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Canadian firm Inkas is pretty good at one thing: turning vehicles into armoured fortresses for people who would rather not contract rapid-onset lead poisoning, if you know what we mean. It’s latest offering is an upfitted BMW X7 — in fact the company’s the first to armour up this SUV model. Starting with a regular BMW X7, Inkas adds a layer of armour underneath the sheetmetal, allowing it to withstand a .308 Winchester bullet, even if fired at the door seals. The underside has also been strengthened to take the blast of two simultaneous grenade blasts. The entire vehicle meets the CEN 1063 BR6 ballistic standard. If you aren’t feeling enough like James Bond, Inkas will also let you add sirens, a PA system, air-filtration devices, night vision, a smoke-screen system, an engine-bay fire-suppression system, and emergency lights. Inkas doesn’t offer any engine upgrades to cope with the extra weight of the armour, but it will put the armour on any trim level of X7 you wish, which means you can opt for either a 335-horspower inline-six; or a V8 with 523 or 612 horsepower. On the inside, it’s a regular X7, which means you get adaptive cruise control, ambient lighting, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto compatibility, lane-keep assistance and more. Pricing for the armoured X7 is available on request, but how can you put a price on a life?

It’s hard to imagine life without the internet. But while the online world provides many benefits, one of its biggest drawbacks is trolls: the army of keyboard cowards who sit behind their desks and fire off hate, usually under fake names, who can cause their victims physical and psychological harm. It’s no wonder high-profile people and celebrities have been known to pull the plug on their social media accounts in response. In 2017, British singer Ed Sheeran quit Twitter citing overwhelming abuse from trolls, while Stranger Things actress Millie Bobby Brown deleted her account in 2018 after becoming the subject of a homophobic meme. At the weekend, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced they were abandoning social media due to the amount of “hate” they received. According to media reports, the couple are “very unlikely” to return to social media platforms.

BEIJING (Kyodo) -- North Korea has changed the English title of its leader Kim Jong Un from "chairman" to "president," according to recent state media reports from the country. The Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday ran an English story of Kim visiting the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, on the outskirts of Pyongyang, on Tuesday to mark the birthday of his late father, Chairman Kim Jong Il, whose preserved remains lie in state there. The KCNA report referred to the current leader as "president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," using the country's formal name. KCNA, whose English service had previously called him "chairman" of the State Affairs Commission, the highest governing body, changed that to "president" for the first time last week while reporting on Cuban leaders' message to Kim. However, his title in Korean remains the same as before. Speculation has been growing as to why the title was changed. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency quoted experts as saying the move appears intended to present North Korea to the world as a "normal state" by following the practice of other countries such as China and Russia, whose heads of state are called "president." Until now, the title of "president" was reserved for Kim Il Sung, the late state founder and grandfather of the current leader. It has been suggested there might also be a dual aim of gaining external authority by using the same title as the state founder, who died in 1994 after 46 years in power. During a ruling party congress last month, Kim, formerly "chairman" of the ruling Workers Party of Korea, was elected as its "general secretary," taking over the top post previously held by Kim Jong Il, the nation's previous leader who died in 2011 after 17 years of rule.

The FIA, Formula E Operations, teams and manufacturers have worked together on these updates to protect and increase the competitiveness of customer teams, but it will not boost costs for manufacturers. With twin-motor powertrain configurations banned in agreement with all teams, plus a convergence around longitudinal set-ups, a growing emphasis has been placed on software. In the races, this largely concerns optimising energy efficiency and the calibration of the regenerative braking. Throughout the Gen1 and Gen2 rules cycles, customer teams - such as Envision Virgin Racing (Audi) and Venturi Racing (Mercedes) - have received the same motor and invertor hardware as their supplier but have been largely responsible for developing software in conjunction with external engineering partners and specialists. PLUS: How Mercedes and Porsche can avoid a difficult second FE album However, Autosport has learned that this will be closed off during Gen3, arriving for the 2022-23 season, and that manufacturers will be required to provide exactly equal equipment - now including any software upgrades - for every race. Frederic Bertrand, the FIA director of FE and innovative sports projects, told Autosport: "Up to now, the car from the manufacturer was delivered and then additionally the team could provide some software and updates on the performance side. "This is no longer possible in the next generation. The car will have to be delivered updated in the same way the works team car is. "Every race, the manufacturer will have to provide to the customer and to its works team the same type of software." According to an FIA spokesperson, these changes will "ensure the healthy progression of the championship in the next generation" by signposting the expenditure required by privateers and manufacturers. Bertrand added: "This we wanted because we feel that software is clearly one of the major paths right now of performance and development. "We had the feeling some could deliver the car but at the end if you don't get all the side upgrades and software management system delivered with it, then the guys are not able to be competitive at the end because they're losing too much time to recover. "This we wanted to close for the future." The FIA and FE have introduced a new clause to its updated Gen3 Manufacturer Registration Procedure so that if a manufacturer decides to quit the championship, it will have to continue to supply any customer teams until the end of the rules cycle in 2025-26. Additionally, the FIA will introduce a €600,000 cost cap split across both cars on manufacturer services related to the supply of cars - less than half of the previous estimated amount for Gen2. This covers the manufacturer's technical support provided by two engineers working with the customer team, software updates plus the implementation and running of simulator models.

PC gaming hardware and accessories saw a huge leap in sales in 2020, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. This is something that PC gaming fans are well-aware of as video cards and processors remain difficult to find. Hardware and accessories for the PC gaming space reached $4.5 billion in the United States last year. That is up 62% compared to 2019 and more than twice the sales in the 2017 period. NPD also noted that PC gaming content increased 19% to $7.5 billion. The growth isn’t exclusive to video cards, processors, and games, though. Every PC-gaming category grew year-over-year. This includes audio headsets, monitors, and keyboards. NPD adviser Stephen Baker credits much of the momentum to pandemic-related behavioral changes. “COVID-19 lockdown measures played a role in the growth we’re seeing in PC gaming, as consumers looked for ways to stay entertained while spending more time at home,” said Baker. NPD analyst Mat Piscatella echoed that sentiment. “[PC gaming is] one of the most accessible segments, as many households have a desktop or laptop computer,” said Piscatella. “Over the course of 2020, there was a significant increase in both the number of PC video game players as well as the time and money those players invested in PC gaming.” Baker expects this market to continue growing through 2021 — although at a slower rate of around 3%. Beyond that, the industry should settle at around these spending levels. “We remain optimistic about the outlook for PC gaming hardware and accessories for the future, and expect the segments growth rate will exceed that of the total industry,” said Baker. “We do not, [however], expect ongoing incremental dollar increases but rather a plateauing of demand at these new elevated levels.” GamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. How will you do that? Membership includes access to: Newsletters, such as DeanBeat The wonderful, educational, and fun speakers at our events Networking opportunities Special members-only interviews, chats, and "open office" events with GamesBeat staff Chatting with community members, GamesBeat staff, and other guests in our Discord And maybe even a fun prize or two Introductions to like-minded parties

What’s that up ahead? It is a hitchhiker with their thumb in the wind? The Suns’ bus keeps driving down the regular season road and as the miles pass, new members are looking to join the fun and jump onto the bandwagon. Good. Welcome aboard. Remember to fill out your application. Dave King will review it. Phoenix has now completed their 4th set of seven games and are 39% of the way through the 2020-21 season. Knowing that there are 10 such periods in a 72 game season (plus two games at the end), we have taken note of each seven game stretch. We have been observing the team in these periods as they navigate the peaks and valleys that the regular season poses. As we enter Period 5, the set of games that will take us halfway through this journey, Phoenix has an 18-10 record and is tied for 4th in the Western Conference. They have just completed their strongest stretch of the season against stout competition (opposing teams were 84-73 entering the 7-game period) with a .857 winning percentage. Outside of an epic 24-point collapse against the Nets, the team knifed their way through the Eastern Conference’s best and ended the period with a dominating 4th quarter against the Pelicans. As of today, Phoenix has a 96% chance of making the playoffs. We will not be playing the “refresh tank-a-thon” game this year. This is music to my ears. It would take an epic collapse to miss the playoffs this year. Period 4 taught us that epic collapses are possible, however. The goal is to stay focused. To continue to focus on the road ahead rather than the destination. Seven games at a time. 15 of you called it! Pat yourself on the back, virtually high-five those around you, and start betting on games at your local sportsbook. Another vote for 0-7, eh? I am happy to report that you are wrong. In more ways than one. So what did we learn? My observation on this run of Suns basketball is this: the team has grit. Not all of the wins in Period 4 were blowouts. They had to mentally overcome blowing a 12-point lead against the Cavs. They had to survive the final minutes of the 4th versus Milwaukee. They had to come back being down 11 to defeat the Pelicans. Winning in the NBA is hard and if you are not focused on every possession, if you let possessions get away from you, you lose. We’ve seen it for too many years in Phoenix. This team has absorbed the personality of Chris Paul and personifies it on the court. The matches they navigated during Period 4 will do wonders for this team moving forward. It shows the team that they are never out of it. It is a point of reference when they play difficult competition, knowing they can win. It builds confidence. It was a fun stretch of games. Like your shrink tells you to do with your feelings, compartmentalize it. It is the past. We look towards the future now. Like the seventh track on The Blueprint III, we’re on to the next one. The road that lies ahead contains opportunity. The Period 5 stretch has winnable games against some bad teams. Only one nationally televised game this period? That’s the Suns I know! Although I was kind of getting used to the national pundits discussing the championship level of defense the Suns play, only to watch it disintegrate and crumble before our eyes. Sorry...that Nets loss still stings when I think about it. Put in a box, John, put in a box... First up will be the Grizzlies. If you feel that this is a team that “has the Suns’ number”, you’re not wrong. While the Suns dominated the Grizzlies during the Steve Nash era, Memphis has gone 21-9 against Phoenix Since the 2012-13 including 4-1 in the last five. That includes the national TV 108-104 loss on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January. Memphis has been a schizophrenic team this season as they currently sit 9th in the west with a 13-12 record. They have had a 7-game win streak to account for their 13 wins, but they have had two streaks of 3 losses of more as well. Which Grizzlies team will we see tonight? Hopefully the one that loses. Dillon Brooks is on my ‘Top 5 NBA Guys Who Annoy Me’ list (headlined by Trae Young) and to see him lose would make for an enjoyable Saturday evening. I get that C.J. McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins are out for the Trailblazers, but to give the Suns a 73% chance of winning that game? I believe it is much closer than that. The Suns are Blazers are jockeying for Western Conference positioning and the result of this game could go a long way in determining an end-of-year tiebreaker. Damian Lillard has been an absolute stud since his running mate McCollum went down with a left foot injury. In the 14 games without C.J., Dame has gone for 31.9 points on 45.9/39.1/92.8 splits. His team during that stretch is 10-4 and currently amidst a 6-game winning streak. I guess that’s not good enough to get him as an NBA starter... One of the games I am circling during Period 5 is the contest against the Hornets. LaMelo Ball, who Charlotte has decided to move into the starting lineup for the past 8 games, is just plain fun to watch. His court vision and playmaking skills are exceptional for a rookie talent. It isn’t necessarily equating to wins, but they are a team that can...wait for the bad pun...sting you. A three-game road trip begins in the Windy City against the Bulls, stops over in the Twin Cities versus the Timberwolves and ends in the City of Angels facing the Lakers. The Bulls are lead by the puzzling case of Zach LaVine. He is a scoring machine, a “walking bucket” some might say. He is doing so in an incredibly efficient manner and is someone the Suns will not want to allow to get going. 28.5 points per on 51/42.7/85.7. Good stats, bad team guy or legitimate All Star? We’ll find out when the Suns play them. Then it’s the Timberwolves. Oh, the Timberwolves. All of those years we spent contemplating what would happen if Karl Anthony-Towns, D’Angelo Russell and Devin Booker would team up for a super team. Newsflash: it wouldn’t be super. 2⁄3 of the duo are in Minnesota and, although KAT has only played in 10 games so far this season due to a plethora of challenges, the team plays zero defense. They currently are the worst team in the NBA. They do have the #1 overall pick in Anthony Edwards. He is exciting! Look at the dunk he had last night: The last game of the seven game stint is a make up game hosting Golden State. The Warriors, the team Phoenix beat by 11 in late January, is 6-5 since then. Kelly Oubre has played much better since his 1-for-11 shooting night against his old team. He’s averaged 19.7 since, including a career high 40-point performance against the Mavs.

My Vote DH 2

2021 BMW 330i Iconic Edition price and specs BMW says $81,900 drive-away price includes $10,000 worth of extras Illuminated grille, black trim, laser headlights and a sunroof top the equipment list Just 200 examples available in Australia Pricing and specification details for the 2021 BMW 330i Iconic Edition have been published. Limited to just 200 examples across BMW Australia showrooms, the special-edition 330i – priced from $81,900 drive-away – includes a range of po[CENSORED]r options, including a 'BMW Iconic Glow' grille, featuring white LED elements integrated into each vertical strake that illuminate when activated, and when the vehicle is stationary. Other standard inclusions: laser high-beam headlights, a power-operated glass sunroof, a rear lip spoiler, tri-colour M stripes on the seat belts, puddle lamp projection from the door mirrors, carbon-fibre mirror caps, heated front seats, 19-inch black alloy wheels, and a black grille. Black Sapphire and Mineral White exterior colours are available, with 100 units of each colour on offer. Even though the limited edition is equipped with what BMW claims is $10,000 worth of extra equipment, the drive-away price of the 330i Iconic Edition is less than the 330i M Sport variant on which it is based. Normally, the BMW 330i M Sport costs between $85,000 and $87,000 drive-away depending on state of registration. Above and bottom: The BMW 330i Iconic Edition, as pictured on BMW Australia's online configurator. The carbon-fibre mirror caps and grille illumination aren't pictured. Other standard features on the Iconic Edition – derived from its M Sport donor vehicle – include Vernasca leather trim, power-adjustable seats, LED (low-beam) headlights and tail-lights, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite navigation and digital radio, keyless entry and push-button start. There's also adaptive dampers, M Sport brakes, wireless smartphone charging and an array of active safety features including autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. Also carried over is the BMW 330i's 190kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol engine, mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. BMW Australia is expected to release information on the BMW 330i Iconic Edition later this week. The information in this story has been sourced from dealers and BMW's online configurator. We will update this story if any new details are released.

Manila House Private Club's recent webinar shed light on social media's effects amidst a pandemic. Moderated by Bambina Olivares, the "Cutting of Oxygen: Can We Live Without Social Media" webinar stirred an interesting discussion among personalities whose careers mostly hinge on the online world. The audience was able to hear from content creator Macoy Averilla, Instagram product marketing lead Alex De Leon, EON's strategic planning lead Teddy Mapa and research analyst Andrea Duldulao, and psychologists Mara Yusingco and Ian Agustin. After the talk, we were able to gather three of the most significant things to keep in mind when connecting through social media while keeping your distance in real life. Read below to know how to lessen your social media use to get a healthier lifestyle: We're quite susceptible to doomscrolling during these challenging times. Unfortunately, constantly seeing negative posts can affect you completely. EON's research analyst Andrea Duldulao mentioned how this can cause extreme stress and information overload. Instagram's product marketing lead even shared how often they work to ensure false news doesn't cause more people distress. So, instead, focus on positive content. Follow more people who bring happiness, find content that enhances the mind rather than troubles it. We often hear people say the term "social media detox" which refers to limiting the use of social media applications. Some would delete their social media app either for days or weeks just to keep themselves away from another hour of endless scrolling. But it appears that we don't have to turn away from the online world completely. Mara Yusingco, a psychologist and instructor at the Ateneo de Manila University, explained that overusing social media can definitely harm a person. Psychologist Ian Agustin agreed, which means that you don't need to delete Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter permanently. You just need to use it moderately. Macoy Averilla, also known as Macoy Dubs, shared that he refuses to read comments on social media. Considering the abundance of satire in his videos, Macoy will always be prone to criticism. But the content creator finds this as part of "social media's ecosystem". Much like Macoy, we can either learn from the comments or choose not to pay attention to them as much. Which only circles back to the first tip—keep your timeline full of optimism. All you have to do is simply remember these three effective tips to have a healthier experience on social media.

In the early 1920s, Mark and Mary Blumenthal started a new life. Their parents had already left behind family roots in Lithuania and Russia to live in Britain. Against a background of rising anti-Semitism in Britain and across Europe, these second-generation immigrants changed their Jewish name to the most inconspicuously English one they could have found: Bland. Now their great-grandson is a BBC presenter who announced on Thursday he would be known as Ben Boulos - taking his maternal family's name to reflect his Sudanese-Egyptian heritage. The name change game He says he received an "overwhelming and overwhelmingly positive" reaction - much of it from people with similarly mixed heritage who have wrestled with questions of identity. "I didn't realise quite how many people had gone through the same thought processes about their name, what it says about their identity, and how many people thought about changing it," says Ben. Some of the people who contacted him had multiple cultures in their background but Anglicised names that concealed their family history. Others had lost a name from their culture through marriage. And many had a similar story to his great-grandparents on his father's side, where they had in the past swapped a Jewish name for an Anglicised one "for reasons of survival" as Ben puts it. All these questions came to a head for Ben in lockdown, when the enforced isolation gave him time to weigh up his desire to better reflect his identity and the potential upheaval to his career and family. "Thinking about your name and your identity is the kind of thing you put off because life is too busy, it's never a good time, everyone else is busy. When is the right time to strike up a conversation with your parents about your idea of changing your surname?" With the blessing of his family, he announced the change on Twitter: "Same Ben. Less Bland." As a boy at school, Ben says he was driven to fit in. His accent and appearance meant most people took him to be as white and British as they come. But every now and then there was a cultural disconnect. People didn't understand when they learned that his family celebrated Christmas or Easter on a different day, in line with their Coptic Christian faith. His home life was a bustling hubbub of traditional Sudanese-Egyptian food and conversation in Arabic and English - far from bland. At work in the BBC, Ben says colleagues would sometimes be taken aback by his language skills. "Every time I would go through the process of explaining and people would say, 'I had no idea, why have you never said?' I always felt it would be a very odd thing to go around saying the whole time." The name Bland had achieved exactly what his great-grandparents needed at the time - to "mask any kind of difference", Ben says. "Now it feels like having a name that reflects the heritage on my mum's side of the family is not just for people who can see and decipher little clues, it's like the mask has come off and it's out there for everyone to see." Ben says he is as proud of his Jewish heritage as of his Sudanese-Egyptian background and considered reverting to the name Blumenthal. But he says he wanted a name that gives "a more complete picture of who I am and the influences on my life". Boulos reflects the identity that has played the bigger role in shaping him, and the Coptic Christian faith he continues to practice. He worried, however, that his decision might be seen as disloyal to his great-grandmother's memory, her foresight in seeing Europe's shift to violent anti-Semitism and taking steps to protect her family. "Who knows if they hadn't taken that decision whether the family would have survived and whether I'd even be here?" Ben asks. But he feels that his decision reflects "a recognition that the world has completely changed", where he can speak openly and proudly of both his Jewish and his Sudanese-Egyptian heritage - and they no longer need the name Bland for survival. Ben sees a parallel between the two strands of his family which both converged on Britain as a refuge - his Sudanese-Egyptian family having become increasingly concerned about life in Khartoum during the 1970s and 1980s for the Christian minority. "That's why with the name Bland, it's fine that people have assumed up until now that I'm just as Anglicised and as British as they come. I really feel there is a lot to be thankful to this country for," he says. "But it doesn't give the complete picture about who I am, the background that shaped my identity and my beliefs and my perspective on the world. I want that to be more clear." One person who has mixed feelings about the change is journalism's other Ben Bland, a former Financial Times reporter who is now a south-east Asia expert for a think tank. On one occasion the two Ben Blands appeared simultaneously on the BBC. In his explanation of the name change, the BBC presenter mentioned that he'd been receiving social media messages meant for the other Ben Bland, "some pleasant, some hostile". Ben Bland - the south-east Asia expert - congratulated his former namesake on his new identity. But he said: "I'm a bit concerned that my abuse-meter will rise now."

Office 2021 for PC and Mac is coming later this year, Microsoft has confirmed, but despite what many believe you won’t need an Microsoft 365 subscription in order to use it. Although Microsoft has shifted its focus in recent years to subscription-based software and services, particularly as it weaves in cloud functionality and storage from OneDrive, there’s still a subset of users that would prefer the familiarity of an upfront purchase instead. For a long time, though, Microsoft’s commitment to offering that has been questioned. The software giant’s push around Microsoft 365 subscriptions, after renaming Office 365 in 2020 to better reflect the nature of the packages it offers, seemed designed to push upfront purchases out of the way. How much value you get out of a subscription to Microsoft 365 really depends on how much of the software and services you actually commit to. If you’re just looking for a word processor, then paying a monthly fee – or for a yearly subscription, which Microsoft offers a discount on – probably doesn’t make sense. However if you’re willing to shift your digital life to Microsoft’s cloud, then things like bundled OneDrive start to make more sense. Microsoft 365 Family, for example, is priced at $99.99 per year and includes software for up to 6 users, and up to 6TB of OneDrive cloud storage. Microsoft 365 Personal is $69.99 per year, but only includes software access for one person, and 1TB of storage. Beyond pricing, the big difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 2021 is the sort of functionality you can expect over time. With Office 2021 and the one-time purchase model, what you basically get out of the box is the software you have for its lifespan. That’s five years, Microsoft says. Like other service providers, Microsoft has been aggressive in rolling out new features and updates over the past few years. That’s included special smartphone and iPad apps for Office, new video conferencing features for Teams, and more task-focused software such as Outlook Spaces. What’s been consistent about them is that they’re designed for Microsoft 365 users to try. In short, if you want to be on the cutting edge of what Microsoft sees as the future of its Office suite – and the definition of that seems to get broader all the time – then you need to be on a Microsoft 365 plan. As for why you might still want to go for a one-time purchase, there are more reasons than just wanting to bypass a monthly or annual subscription fee. Systems that are rarely or never connected to the internet, for instance, need full standalone functionality. While we’ll have to wait a little for Microsoft to actually release the new version of Office 2021 with outright purchase, there’s good news around pricing. The company says that it does not plan to change the price for the software when it does launch it, compared to what it’s currently asking. Right now, Office Home & Student 2019 is the only personal version of the software offered as a one-time purchase. That costs $149.99, and includes the “Classic 2019 versions” of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You don’t get any cloud storage, though, nor Microsoft’s mobile apps or Outlook, and the license covers use on a single PC or Mac, for use at home or at school. Office 2021 Home & Student is likely to have the same restrictions, to go with the same $149.99 price. It’ll be supported for five years, Microsoft says, and on both PC and Mac.

The Colorado Economic Development Commission normally doesn’t throw its weight behind unproven startups, but it did so on Thursday, approving $2.9 million in state job growth incentive tax credits to try and land a manufacturing plant that will produce hardware for quantum computers. “Given the broad applications and catalytic benefits that this company’s technology could bring, retaining this company would help position Colorado as an industry leader in next-generation and quantum computing,” Michelle Hadwiger, the deputy director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade, told commissioners. Project Quantum, the codename for the Denver-based startup, is looking to create up to 726 new full-time jobs in the state. Most of the positions would staff a new facility making components for quantum computers, an emerging technology expected to increase computing power and speed exponentially and transform the global economy as well as society as a whole. The jobs would carry an average annual wage of $103,329, below the wages other technology employers seeking incentives from the state have provided, but above the average annual wage of any Colorado county. Hadwiger said the company is also considering Illinois, Ohio and New York for the new plant and headquarters. “Quantum computing is going to be as important to the next 30 years of technology as the internet was to the past 30 years,” said the company’s CEO, who only provided his first name — Corban. He added that he “loves” Colorado and doesn’t want to see it surpassed by states like Washington, New York and Illinois in the transformative field. “If we are smart about it, and that means doing something above and beyond, we can win this race. It will require careful coordination at the state and local levels. We need to do something more and different,” he said. The EDC also approved $2.55 million in job growth incentive tax credits and $295,000 in Location Neutral Employment Incentives for Nextworld, a growing cloud-based enterprise software company based in Greenwood Village. The funds are linked to the creation of 306 additional jobs, including 59 located in more remote parts of the state. But in a rare case of dissent, Nextworld’s CEO Kylee McVaney asked the commission to go against staff recommendations and provide a larger incentive package. McVaney, daughter of legendary Denver tech entrepreneur Ed McVaney, said the company’s lease is about to expire in Greenwood Village and most employees would prefer to continue working remotely. The company could save substantial money by not renewing its lease and relocating its headquarters to Florida, which doesn’t have an income tax. “We could go sign a seven-year lease and stay in Colorado or we can try this new grand experiment and save $11 million,” she said. Hadwiger insisted that the award, which averages out to $9,500 per job created, was in line with the amount offered to other technology firms since the Colorado legislature tightened the amount the office could provide companies. But McVaney said the historical average award per employee was closer to $18,000 and the median is $16,000 and that Colorado was not competitive with Florida given that state’s more favorable tax structure.

STATELINE, Nev. -- Imagine flying a foot off the surface of Lake Tahoe at 70 miles per hour, soaring through the trees and getting a bird's-eye view of two outdoor NHL games with almost no one else around. Now watch the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe this weekend. NBC will use two drones to broadcast live footage for the first time -- plus a fixed-wing aircraft, robotic cameras, handheld cameras and usual game cameras -- when the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights play in the Bridgestone NHL Outdoors Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, SN1, TVAS) and the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers play in the Honda NHL Outdoors Sunday (2 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, SN1, TVAS). "You're going to see some shots that you've never seen in a hockey game before," NBC director Charlie Dammeyer said. The NHL long dreamed of playing in the wilderness to celebrate the most romantic roots of hockey, but it never made sense to play games without fans in attendance instead of drawing tens of thousands to a stadium. Then came the coronavirus pandemic. If ever there were a time to do it, this is it. The NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe is a made-for-TV event, which provides a mix of opportunities, challenges and responsibilities. The NHL can play somewhere it never could with fans in the stands, NBC can try things it never could with fans in the stands, and the whole thing is tailored toward the fans who cannot be there. "It's as close to a blank canvas as we've ever had for one of these outdoor games, and to me, that's the exciting part," Dammeyer said. "We still have to cover a hockey game. We still have to serve the fan. We still have to serve the viewer. That's what makes it unique. The only way for people to watch this is [on television], so it's our job to capture the best action, capture the game and oh, by the way, capture this great beauty that's around us." Everything was planned with television in mind, starting with the location of the rink on the 18th fairway of the golf course at Edgewood Tahoe Resort, 50 paces from the water at its closest point. The game camera is at center ice facing the benches and the view of the pines, the lake and the Sierra Nevada. Along with two cameras that isolate on players and another that focuses tightly on the puck, the game camera sits atop a deck made of scaffolding but decorated to look like it's made of stone. The deck is an independent structure to prevent shaking and almost 30 feet tall to mimic the camera angle in an arena, even though the cameras are closer than they would be in an arena. "You don't want to mess up how people are viewing a game, right?" Dammeyer said. "Really, it's the game camera. That's how 90 percent of the game is ultimately viewed, is from the game camera, so we start with that position." At the north end of the rink, facing the vista of South Lake Tahoe, are two camera towers decorated to look like fire lookout towers. At ice level surrounding the rink, there will be robotic cameras and handheld cameras. Normally, NBC couldn't use a camera called a jib because it is a large piece of equipment that would block fans in the stands. Meanwhile, wireless cameras will roam the surrounding grounds, from the beach to the golf course. A third-party vendor that usually films movies and commercials will fly the two drones. One is about 7-feet wide and heavy, and it will carry a cinematic, gyro-stabilized camera. Think of the other as the Connor McDavid of drones. "It's fast," Dammeyer said. "I think it can go 70-some miles per hour. It can go a foot off the lake. It can fly through trees. It's going to give you the wow shot." What neither drone will do, however, is fly over the ice. The drones will avoid flying over people. Dammeyer will rely on their high-tech, high-powered lenses and won't ask them to follow the puck. He will use them between the whistles. "Normally, in an indoor game, I might go to a tight face on the bench or something like that," Dammeyer said, standing next to the rink. "Here, I may come right off this lake right over here and come right up to the face-off." The fixed-wing aircraft will complete the picture with all-encompassing panoramas. "I think it's our job to, A, cover the game and, B, really remind people of where we are," Dammeyer said. "It's unique, and I think if we don't embrace that and the uniqueness of us doing a hockey game on a golf course in the middle of winter on Lake Tahoe with no fans … "I think that would be a mistake if we didn't embrace that, and we absolutely will embrace that."

Bosch teams up with Microsoft to develop a software platform to seamlessly connect cars to the cloud. The goal of this collaboration is to simplify and accelerate the development and deployment of vehicle software throughout a car’s lifetime in accordance with automotive quality standards. The new platform, which will be based on Microsoft Azure and incorporate software modules from Bosch, will enable software to be developed and downloaded to the control units and vehicle computers. A further focus of the collaboration will be on the development of tools that increase efficiency in the software development process. This in turn will drive innovation and reduce development costs for vehicle software within and across organizations. For drivers, the platform will mean quicker access to new functions and digital services. The collaboration between Bosch and Microsoft combines the wealth of software, electronics, and systems expertise of the world’s leading automotive supplier with Microsoft’s know-how in software engineering and cloud computing. Both companies intend to make the new software platform available for first vehicle prototypes by the end of 2021. “Bosch already securely updates car software over the air today. With the comprehensive platform for software-defined cars, we want to further empower automakers to develop new functions and get them on the road faster,” said Dr. Markus Heyn, member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. “Our collaboration with Bosch brings together the expertise of one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers with the power of the Microsoft cloud, AI and GitHub,” added Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Cloud + AI, Microsoft. “With software quickly becoming a key differentiator in the automotive industry, our ambition is to help businesses accelerate the delivery of unique mobility services across passenger cars and commercial fleets at scale.” Developing the automotive future together Software will play an increasingly important role in future vehicle generations. New trends such as electromobility, automated driving and modern mobility services would not be possible without it. This also will require more frequent updates and upgrades in the future. However, stringent safety requirements throughout the vehicle’s lifetime make wireless software updates and digital services for cars very complex. The wide range of different series and models makes things even more challenging. The collaboration will benefit from Bosch’s deep understanding of electrical and electronic architectures, control units, and vehicle computers, which is necessary for over-the-air vehicle updates. In addition, the company will contribute its expertise as well as software-based products and development tools for cars. This includes the basic software and middleware for vehicle computers and control units, as well as cloud-based software modules to bring over-the-air updates to entire vehicle fleets. “Having a comprehensive software platform from the vehicle to the cloud will reduce the complexity of the software development and the vehicle system integration. In this way we will create the conditions for wireless updates to work just as smoothly and conveniently in vehicles as they do in smartphones,” Heyn said. The pre-integrated platform will greatly reduce the complexity of over-the-air updates, which help ensure that a vehicle’s software is always up to date, thanks to the fact that the software architectures of vehicles and the cloud will now fit together seamlessly. Bosch and Microsoft also plan to enrich existing developer tools that will enable automakers and suppliers to simplify and accelerate their own software development, while adapting to the unique challenges in the automotive industry. The companies also plan to use GitHub’s fully integrated enterprise platform and to open-source important parts of the new software platform on GitHub.com to encourage code re-use and best practice sharing across the industry.

PC gaming hardware and accessories saw a huge leap in sales in 2020, according to industry-tracking firm The NPD Group. This is something that PC gaming fans are well-aware of as video cards and processors remain difficult to find. Hardware and accessories for the PC gaming space reached $4.5 billion in the United States last year. That is up 62% compared to 2019 and more than twice the sales in the 2017 period. NPD also noted that PC gaming content increased 19% to $7.5 billion. The growth isn’t exclusive to video cards, processors, and games, though. Every PC-gaming category grew year-over-year. This includes audio headsets, monitors, and keyboards. NPD adviser Stephen Baker credits much of the momentum to pandemic-related behavioral changes. “COVID-19 lockdown measures played a role in the growth we’re seeing in PC gaming, as consumers looked for ways to stay entertained while spending more time at home,” said Baker. NPD analyst Mat Piscatella echoed that sentiment. “[PC gaming is] one of the most accessible segments, as many households have a desktop or laptop computer,” said Piscatella. “Over the course of 2020, there was a significant increase in both the number of PC video game players as well as the time and money those players invested in PC gaming.” Baker expects this market to continue growing through 2021 — although at a slower rate of around 3%. Beyond that, the industry should settle at around these spending levels. “We remain optimistic about the outlook for PC gaming hardware and accessories for the future, and expect the segments growth rate will exceed that of the total industry,” said Baker. “We do not, [however], expect ongoing incremental dollar increases but rather a plateauing of demand at these new elevated levels.” GamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. How will you do that? Membership includes access to: Newsletters, such as DeanBeat The wonderful, educational, and fun speakers at our events Networking opportunities Special members-only interviews, chats, and "open office" events with GamesBeat staff Chatting with community members, GamesBeat staff, and other guests in our Discord And maybe even a fun prize or two Introductions to like-minded parties

The rebooted Mortal Kombat movie has debuted its first trailer — and, much like the games it’s based on, the upcoming film looks to be very violent. (Warner Bros. has actually released two trailers, with a more gory red-band version available on YouTube.) Mortal Kombat stars Lewis Tan as an MMA fighter Cole Young, who seems remarkably blasé about the suspiciously dragon-shaped scar on his chest (he assumes it’s just a birthmark, which certainly strains credulity.) But Cole is quickly recruited to fight in a legendary tournament — the titular “Mortal Kombat” — with the fate of Earth in his hands. (Literally. There’s going to be a lot of fighting.) The trailer also gives the first good look at the latest live-action versions of Sonya, Kano, Raiden, Jax, Liu Kang, Shang Tsung, and Kung Lao, along with the dueling supernatural warriors Sub-Zero and Scorpion (the video game’s unofficial mascots). The new film is set to be a rebooted attempt to adapt the hyper-violent fighting game after the original Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation films from the 1990s. Like all of Warner Bros.’ 2021 blockbusters, Mortal Kombat will be released in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously on April 16th, 2021.

One of the aspects of this pandemic that’s affected car enthusiasts has been the lack of auto shows. Of course, during a pandemic the lack of an auto show isn’t actually anything to complain about in the grand scheme of things. However, so many enthusiasts use auto shows as a way to connect with other like-minded enthusiasts and meet people in person that they might not normally see, for various reasons. It’s also a way to indulge our passions together, as enthusiasts, and because of that auto shows were hugely important in many enthusiasts’ lives. So as a way to provide as close of an experience to that as possible, we’re partnering with the Chicagoland BMW dealerships to host virtual car events on our Facebook page. Starting Tuesday, February 16, eleven Chicagoland BMW dealerships will begin livestreaming virtual events on the BMWBLOG Facebook page. During these livestreams, dealers will spotlight some of the latest BMW products and talk about their performance, specs, designs and options, showing customers the cars they’re missing and giving them the info they want/need. This is the first time we’ve ever partnered up for something like this and we’re excited to bring a virtual car event to you. This past year has been tough for car enthusiasts, as it’s almost impossible to enjoy cars with friends without coming in close contact with one another. Personally, we can attest to that, as there are so many people that we only see at big auto shows that we haven’t seen in over a year and it’s beginning to take its toll. However, the ability to check out cars together virtually is the next closest thing. This way, if you’re so inclined, you can jump on the livestream with your friends and check out the new Bimmers together. Being that it’s on Facebook, we’ll be taking questions and will answer as many as we can. It’s also nice to see BMW working closely to keep its customers and fans involved with the brand during the pandemic. Even though people can’t really be together, BMW is still finding a way to connect to its loyal fans, so they can experience the brand, even in a digital way. Please stay tuned to our BMWBLOG Facebook Page for the direct links to the livestream. In the mean time, book this first even on February 16, 2021. Here are the participating dealers and the schedule for Feb 15-19, 2021:

BEIJING (Kyodo) -- North Korea has changed the English title of its leader Kim Jong Un from "chairman" to "president," according to recent state media reports from the country. The Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday ran an English story of Kim visiting the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, on the outskirts of Pyongyang, on Tuesday to mark the birthday of his late father, Chairman Kim Jong Il, whose preserved remains lie in state there. The KCNA report referred to the current leader as "president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," using the country's formal name. KCNA, whose English service had previously called him "chairman" of the State Affairs Commission, the highest governing body, changed that to "president" for the first time last week while reporting on Cuban leaders' message to Kim. However, his title in Korean remains the same as before. Speculation has been growing as to why the title was changed. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency quoted experts as saying the move appears intended to present North Korea to the world as a "normal state" by following the practice of other countries such as China and Russia, whose heads of state are called "president." Until now, the title of "president" was reserved for Kim Il Sung, the late state founder and grandfather of the current leader. It has been suggested there might also be a dual aim of gaining external authority by using the same title as the state founder, who died in 1994 after 46 years in power. During a ruling party congress last month, Kim, formerly "chairman" of the ruling Workers Party of Korea, was elected as its "general secretary," taking over the top post previously held by Kim Jong Il, the nation's previous leader who died in 2011 after 17 years of rule.

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Businesses using talent.io include Deliveroo, VW, TripAdvisor, TransferWise, American Express and Renault. The company analysed more than 100,000 vacancies in various cities around Europe and London, looking at salaries and daily rates of both permanent and freelance professionals,focusing on four main positions: back-end, front-end, full-stack and lead developers. The study found that Munich is the city with the highest median salary for software developers (€70,000), followed by London (£60,000/ €66,000), Berlin (€60,000), Amsterdam (€57,500) and Paris (€45,000). During 2020, there was an increase in remote working, which talent.io’s CEO, Nicolas Meunier, said was reflected in demand for remote software developers. When the company surveyed its clients at the start of the pandemic, three-quarters experienced minimal impact during the transition to remote working, said Meunier. “Companies realised that remote working could actually work in a great and efficient way and tech teams have always been leaders in pioneering new ways of working,” he said. The data from talent.io shows that developers gain the biggest increase in salary when they move from having up to three years’ experience to the four to six-year bracket. Asked how developers progress to becoming software development leads, Meunier said: “Software developers wanting to progress to become lead developers first need to build the skills to become senior developers. Lead developers are responsible for mentoring junior members and helping them to ramp up their technical skills. A lead developer needs years of practice to develop strong expertise in the language and frameworks used in their team and company.” He said they also need expertise in how to build software from the moment a feature or product is prioritised, to the moment it is deployed. “The developer needs to acquire know-how on all the stages of development for features and products,” Meunier added. Another essential requirement on job specification is project management, he said. This means having expertise in project management and coordinating people towards the completion of a project and having good communication and setting objectives. Asked about the specific programming skills that are most in demand, Meunier said: “We have observed Node.js and React are some of the most in-demand technologies at the moment.” Looking at talent.io’s data reveals that in Berlin, companies appear to be paying a premium rate for front-end software developers with four to six years’ experience. Annual salaries jump from €50,000 for developers with three years or less of experience to €60,000 for those with four more years. According to talent.io, the annual salaries of London front-end developers does not seem to increase beyond £50,000 until they gain seven or more years’ experience, when their salary jumps from £50,000 to £63,000. Explaining the difference in salaries and the hike in Berlin, Meunier said: “There is a high demand for front-end developers with four to six years’ experience in Germany because of the way the industry is structured. E-commerce or marketplaces, for instance, are more sensitive to front-end developers in the German tech market.” Talent.io’s data also shows that there is a relatively big jump in salary for London back-end developers with four to six years’ experience. According to Meunier, this is because such developers are now in high demand. “The most in-demand back-end profiles on our platform are developers with four-plus years of experience,” he said. “As a result, companies have to attract them with more competitive salaries. Let’s also not forget that these developers often have several job offers, so they use this as leverage when choosing a company.” Meunier said the salary jump can also be explained by the fact that many developers change their job after just one year in a company, which allows them to command a higher salary. In London, talent.io’s data suggests that a lead developer with seven years or more experience can earn as much as £70,000 (€77,000) a year, while those with four to six years’ experience typically earn around €74,000. This is on par with Munich-based lead developers.

The prying open of the hardware stack has begun in earnest, but the precise path this complex process will take has yet to be determined. Market forces, limits of scaling and the emergence of disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence have fueled the rise of open source hardware. Still, as this EE Times Special Project demonstrates, physical, legal and economic barriers remain as a fledgling group of open source advocates and a handful of commercial vendors seek to democratized hardware design. Those proponents and early adopters have focused their energies on reduced instruction set computing, the foundational RISC architecture that emerged from the University of California at Berkeley in the 1980s. RISC has seeded the beginnings of an ecosystem extending beyond processor technology to include open interconnects, network and, ultimately, open computing. As with open source software, key chip makers are eyeing the open hardware movement. Some perhaps with trepidation as semiconductor scaling runs out of steam and monster GPUs and CPUs accelerators approach the end of the line, giving way to new heterogeneous devices and chiplets. Indeed, the nascent open source hardware movement can glean lessons from their software brethren. Over the last several years, in examples of what critics described as “enlightened self-interest,” behemoths such as Microsoft (GitHub) and IBM (Red Hat) have snapped up key sectors of the open source software movement. If and when open source hardware development reaches critical mass, might the same acquisition spree repeat itself, potentially stymying hardware innovation? Industry observers are divided on the impact of pending deals such as Nvidia’s acquisition of chip IP vendor Arm Ltd. would have on the ambitious RISC-V project. “There are concerns expressed that Nvidia’s competitors would be alarmed and maybe move to RISC-V—which Nvidia also has a stake in. But that would be stupid, and Nvidia is not stupid,” said graphics industry analyst Jon Peddie. Regardless of how antitrust and other issues play out, the open computing ecosystem continues to expand. Beyond the RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA), groups like the Open Compute Project are driving innovations ranging from open interconnects for emerging chiplets to AI hardware-software design collaboration. Indeed, the group’s 2021 strategic plan concludes that a “a co-design approach is needed to allow for simultaneous work on all the [hardware] and [software] bottlenecks which can affect the performance….” The growing complexity of machine learning workloads that dominate enterprise data centers will likely forge closer ties among developers of open code and hardware. We examine these and other issues on our Open Source Special Project. Kevin Krewell, principal analyst at TIRIAS Research, surveys the rise of the RISC architecture and how it underpins much of the open source hardware movement. Indeed, the emergence of the RISC ISA has encouraged open source developers to grab the baton and forge new devices. Analyst Jon Peddie outlines one such project aimed at developing a new, free GPU design dubbed RV64X. Nitan Dahad, EE Times European correspondent and editor-in-chief of embedded.com considers whether the open source hardware movement can duplicate the success of the sprawling Linux ecosystem. He and others conclude the RISC ISA could prove the hardware equivalent of the Linux kernel. As Dahad’s sources explain, however, hardware designers face physical limits that far exceed pushing out the next software release. Contributor John Walko examines how the shift to open hardware such as radio access networks is shaping the deployment of next-generation 5G networks. Meanwhile, EDN Editor-in-Chief Majeed Kamran goes deep into the design details of emerging RISC-V processor designs, concluding that recent progress may foreshadow of new era of open computing. Lastly, we reprise EE Times Editor-in-Chief Junko Yoshida’s interview with Wes McKinney, the brains behind several open source data analytics tools. Among McKinney’s goals is bridging the gap between data science and big data, a chasm that open source hardware can help narrow.

Barbarians in Sid Meier's Civilisation VI have never been anything more than that—violent clans of bandits out to make your early game a living hell. This month, a free update finally gives some depth to these raiders, letting you bribe, hire, and incite one of six new clans. Introduced in a Firaxis dev update, a free update on February 25th will add an optional Barbarian Clans mode, introducing six new clans with their own unique specialty unit and terrain preferences. While these new units will make Barbarians tougher to fight, eradicating their camps from the map is no longer the only option you have for dealing with them. See, Barbarians now have a progress tracker before turning into a City State, and you can either help or hinder them on this path. Rather than eradicating a camp, you can choose to simply raid it, stealing its gold and knocking it down the progress tracker. On the other hand, you can pay clans to stop attacking you, or even hire them to pester other factions, with those acts of commerce pushing them towards statehood. Granted, Barbarians have long been symptomatic of the series' kinda messed-up approach to the concept of "civilisation"—a relentless forward march that paints the raiders as uncultured brutes beyond redemption, lesser to your proper, civilised state. This update gives you more options beyond simply kicking their heads in, but there's still an uncomfortably imperialist bent to the idea of elevating these barbarous primitives. This month's update also adds a leader pool, letting you filter out factions you don't want in your game. AI players will become more involved in air combat, making it harder to roll over them with bombers in the late-game, while plenty more balance changes are coming to natural wonders.

BMW has launched the new X3 xDrive30i SportX in India today. The new car is locally produced at BMW Group Plant Chennai. The company has announced that the ‘SportX’ petrol variant of the BMW X3 is available at dealerships from today. The car has been launched at an introductory price of ₹56.5 lakh (ex-showroom). Customers can book the car online through BMW Online Shop. Buyers who manage to book the car before 28 February mid-night, will be eligible for benefits worth up to ₹1.50 lakh. The benefits include BMW Service Inclusive Package and BMW Accessories Package. The BMW Service Inclusive covers all maintenance work, including any BMW Original Parts and oil requirements for 3 year/ 40,000 kms. The BMW Accessories Package will include the BMW Display key, 2.5 PM air filter, LED door projectors and universal wireless charger. The BMW X3 xDrive30i SportX gets LED headlamps with BMW's trademark four-eyed front face. The designers have used black high gloss elements on the radiator grille bars, two-tone underbody protection, air-breather and the 18-inch light-alloy wheels. On the inside, the car gets Sensatec upholstery, fine-wood trim with pearl chrome finisher and galvanic application on controls. Further, the car gets panoramic sunroof, ambient lighting with welcome light carpet and automatic 3 zone A/C. The car features BMW Live Cockpit Plus with touch functionality, digital instrument cluster with analog dials, Hi-Fi loudspeaker, Parking Assistant and Apple CarPlay as well aAndroid Auto. Mr. Vikram Pawah, President, BMW Group India said, “BMW has pioneered the world of sports activity vehicles (SAV) with its ‘X’ range. For nearly two decades, the BMW X3 has been extremely successful in the luxury SAV segment as it strikes an ideal balance between on-road and off-road capabilities. Today, with the addition of the new ‘SportX’ variant, we are strategically expanding the range of BMW X3 offering and giving our customers the ‘Power of Choice’. This powerful and adventurous ‘X’ machine is the ideal companion for those who are on a mission to push the limits. The new BMW X3 xDrive30i SportX is yet another proof of BMW’s commitment to keep innovating and producing the best vehicles in each segment."

Danielle McLaughlin’s debut novel The Art of Falling is a tale of infidelity, betrayal and deceit set in middle-class Cork, not a milieu that we see often in literary fiction. She is at pains to point out, however, that she didn’t draw on real-life people for her characters. “I suppose there is no way of managing what goes on in other people’s heads, so there may very well be people who read the book and say ‘oh, that’s me’. I can say now that it definitely isn’t. They are all entirely fictional.” There is one exception, however, says McLaughlin. “Bailey the dog in the novel is named after the dog after a friend of mine — a beautiful labrador who died. It only occurred to me later that the teenage daughter in the book is called Jennifer — the family that owns the dog also has a daughter called Jennifer. It just happened, I don’t know what my brain was doing. The teenager in the novel is entirely fictional and I warned my friend and her daughter that it is not them and they are completely fine with it. It just goes to show how careful you have to be,” she says. McLaughlin, who lives in Donoughmore in Co Cork with her husband and three children, may be a debut novelist but she has been a force on the literary scene for many years now, winning numerous awards and prizes for her short stories and acclaim for her 2015 collection, Dinosaurs on Other Planets. The main character in The Art of Falling is Nessa McCormack, an art curator whose work and personal life are in turmoil. She lives in a house inherited by her architect husband, whose recent affair has shaken their marriage. McLaughlin did take inspiration from real life in regard to Nessa’s home, one of the grand old houses in Sunday’s Well, with gardens that stretch down to the riverbank across from Fitzgerald’s Park. “Wouldn’t I love to live in one of those houses,” says McLaughlin. “The number of times I have looked across at them — to have the river and the park just across the way, at the bottom of your garden. You could wander out in your dressing gown in the morning, have your coffee, look across at the park. "I saw that distance between Nessa and the house — she doesn’t come from an affluent background… as well as that, the house has come down from another generation, she hasn’t earned it herself. It links to how she is very class-conscious and has insecurities around her social standing. She doesn’t feel quite at ease.” It took McLaughlin a while to adjust to life as a full-time writer after she gave up her legal practice due to illness when she was 40. When her meticulously crafted short stories won a slew of prizes, including the $165,000 Windham-Campbell Prize for fiction and the £30,000 Sunday Times Audible Short Story prize, it was a welcome boost, both financially and psychologically. “I had a couple of prizes that came close together, that were fantastic in terms of the financial support they provided. They were an important affirmation as well because I was having a little bit of a wobble in my thought process about the big questions, like ‘what am I doing with my life?’. "I was turning 50 and I had been ten years out of legal practice, which had been my dream for so long, then I just walked away from it. It wasn’t planned, I got ill, but I didn’t go back to it. Then those prizes dropped out of the sky. They arrived at a time where they were important from my own psychological perspective as well.” McLaughlin has also relied on the support of the writing community in Cork from the beginning. The Fiction at the Friary monthly event, which she set up with fellow Cork author Madeline D’Arcy, offers a forum for writers, established and emerging, to share their experience. “When I started writing, people were so good, encouraging and helpful that I always said if I was ever in a position to encourage someone else, I would want to pay it back. At the beginning, the tough parts of the writing life, like the rejection, can hit very hard. But talking to other writers who are going through the same thing really helps. "There is also the practical side of things, to have somewhere you can go along and get tips, maybe where you should be sending your work and all of that.” Connecting with other writers also acts as ballast against the often isolating and solitary pursuit of writing, although McLaughlin says it is a career that suits her as an introvert. She was also diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum in her 40s. “I have zero stigma about it but I’m not sure I’m terribly interesting in the way I talk about it. I think it is always good to learn more about ourselves so it’s great to have that information. I do find it interesting to think about how being on the autism spectrum might feed into my writing in terms of attention to detail and high level of focus, which I find very helpful in writing,” she says. McLaughlin has discovered, however, that being an introvert has not necessarily been an advantage in dealing with the ongoing isolation of lockdown. “When it started, I thought ‘I’m not someone who is out partying anyway so I will cope with this really well’. In the beginning, it was fine, maybe because the start of the pandemic coincided with good weather but I really did find it affecting my moods, especially the last few months of last year, it really kicked in as a very negative, energy-draining, low-mood thing. January was a million years long." McLaughlin says she has been working hard to keep herself upbeat. "I’m doing loads of walking, trying to get lots of sleep. But it has surprised me, from a good mental health perspective, even introverts do need to get out and socialise. I know I should be more zen, going to a deeper spiritual place, broadening my mental horizons and all that but actually it feels claustrophobic and I want it over.” I have just finished Words To Shape My Name by Laura McKenna. I thought it was wonderful, I was totally absorbed from start to finish. I also read A Quiet Tide by Marianne Lee recently; it’s about Ellen Hutchins, Ireland’s first female botanist. A beautiful book and lovely writing. I’m not big into TV but my kids got me into watching it, especially in the last year. We watched all of The Crown, which I really enjoyed. Also The Queen’s Gambit and Anne with an E, which I thought was beautiful. I tend not to listen to music an awful lot, I have always been more drawn to curling up with a book in a quiet place. I listen to music that my kids listen to — Hozier, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift. I tend to listen to short stories on podcast — I’ve been enjoying Spoken Stories: Independence on RTÉ Radio 1, Kevin Barry and Sue Rainsford had ones recently or I would listen to writers reading their own stories on the New Yorker podcast.

The Ministry of Health announced the latest figures on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Turkey yesterday (February 15). While the daily number of new cases has been announced by the Ministry as 7,945, the number of patients has been announced as 660. 91 people have lost their lives due to COVID-19 in Turkey in the last 24 hours. 7,106 people have recovered. The number of tests conducted in the last 24 hours has been announced as 116,452. According to the figures announced till today, 31,633,171 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Turkey so far. While the total number of cases is 2,594,128, the death toll has reached 27,562 people. While 1,232 patients are reportedly in critical condition, the rate of COVID-19 patients with pneumonia has been announced as 3.6 percent this week. The total number of recoveries is reportedly 2,482,435. According to the Ministry's figures, this week, the hospital bed occupancy rate is 47.9 percent, that of adult intensive care units is 59.6 percent and that of ventilators is 30.1 percent. The "COVID-19 Patient Table" also indicates that an average of 8 hours pass until the contacts of positive patients are detected and the rate of contact tracing (filiation) is 99.9 percent this week. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca has announced the number of COVID-19 cases on a provincial basis between February 8-14 as part of a new weekly initiative. "From now on, we will announce the number of cases for seven days at the beginning of each week," Koca has said on Twitter. The number of cases per 100,000 people is 60.19 in Istanbul, 35.49 in the capital Ankara and 44.39 in western Izmir province. While this number is the highest in Trabzon (228.02 per 100,000 people), Trabzon is followed by Rize (with 202.44), by Ordu (194.42), by Giresun (184.34) and by Samsun province (with 171.29 per 100,000). As for the lowest numbers, they are in the following provinces respectively: Şırnak (7.82 per 100,000 people), Hakkari (9.55) and Bitlis (10.35). Turkey began a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign on January 14 starting with health care workers along with top officials in a stated attempt to encourage public confidence in the vaccines. Since early December, Turkey has also been implementing curfews on nights and weekends to curb the spread of the virus. In his press conference on September 30, 2020, Health Minister Koca previously indicated that they did not add everyone who tested positive for COVID-19 to the number of daily patients and they considered only the ones who showed the symptoms as "patients." Until July 29, 2020, the expression of "number of daily cases" was used on the Health Ministry's COVID-19 table. It was then understood that after this day, it had been changed into "number of daily patients." However, following a meeting of the Coronavirus Science Board, Minister Koca announced that the number of asymptomatic cases would also be shared starting from November 25 "at the request of the people." While the number of daily cases has been announced since November 26, the total number of cases has been announced since December 10. Since originating in China in 2019, COVID-19 has claimed over 2.4 million lives in 191 countries and regions. Over 109.1 million cases have been reported worldwide while over 61.3 million patients have recovered so far, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The US, Brazil, and India are still the worst-hit countries in terms of their number of cases.