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Gearing up for a get-together? Whether you’re hosting a pool party (bit early), sitting in the Spring sun or firing up the barbie, we’ve got the best patio gear you need for the ultimate garden gathering including some top outdoor speakers. Forget beer gardens or picnics in the park: from smart lights to beer coolers to Bluetooth speakers, these patio accessories will transform your terrace into the spot of choice for socially distant shindigs. Even if it’s drizzling. Looking for lights to match your music? With an array of LEDs installed beneath the speaker’s surface, JBL’s Pulse 5 puts the ‘blue’ in Bluetooth. Pumping out your patio party mix in full 360, the Pulse 4 will pulse and glow in sync with the sound. Tweak the light show’s colours and patterns through the JBL Connect App or sync it with a second speaker for symmetrical shining. IP67 waterproofing means rain won’t extinguish the illuminations, while a 12-hour battery life will see it shine bright right through ’til sunrise. Still storing your stubbies in a big plastic bucket? That trusty tub might be handy for harbouring beers, but its thermal properties won’t keep them cold for long. Insulate your beverages better with this capacious cooler. Built for the wilderness, the substantial Tundra 45 is tough enough to survive the wildest of patio parties. And its beefy walls aren’t just for durability: lined with Permafrost foam, that hard shell also ensures the ice inside stays frozen for much, much longer. Which means your tinnies – up to 28 of them – will remain chilly, even if the sun is shining on your socially distant soiree. Military-grade handles make shifting a cinch, while anchor points allow you to lash the Yeti to your wagon if the barbie’s happening in your buddy’s backyard. Want an even frostier time? Add a pack of Yeti Ice for the ultimate melt-proof setup. Imagine Ambilight outdoors: amber tones to match the sunset, warm white shades during supper, neon green to guide you to the loo. Turning Philips’ smart lighting setup inside-out, the already comprehensive Hue range now includes wall lights, path lamps and lightstrips, each with integrated LEDs that cover millions of colours. Weatherproof, easy to install and controlled via the Hue app, place the Calla pedestal on your patio or use the optional spike for instant lawn illumination. Keep it subtle with tasteful accents or compliment the party with some disco saturation. Want to entertain the guests at your get-together? The contents of a can might make everyone merry, but the content offered by this can-sized projector beats any beer for amusement value. A compact yet capable cylinder, the Nebula Capsule Max can throw an image of up to 100 inches on any tent or wall. Automatic focussing ensures your screening will always be sharp, while a 720p resolution should be sufficient for all but the pickiest of visitors to your pop-up cinema. An in-built 8W speaker also sorts the audio if you don’t have tweeters to hand. At its best after dark, the 200-lumen Capsule Max can last for up to 4 hours on a single charge, while Bluetooth makes device control a doddle via the partner app. Time to choose a feature film? Hook up to the HDMI port or select something on Netflix through the Android 8.1 interface. There’s also a USB input, so fledgling directors can bring their latest flick on a flash drive. No prizes for guessing the plot of Home Alone: Lockdown Edition. Overnight stays might now be allowed, but that doesn’t mean you want outsiders bursting your bubble. Prefer to keep visiting pals in the garden? Prevent tented complaints by pitching this spacious shelter. Fit for eight without social distancing, the Octagon BlackOut is no standard sleeping pod: mesh sides all-round offer 360 views with the flysheet removed, while the waterproof fabric has a hydrostatic head of 4500mm – enough to withstand the very wettest of summer weather. Hosting a light sleeper? Don’t sweat it: as the name suggests, the Octagon BlackOut’s lining effectively blocks up to 99% of daylight, so they won’t be yawning at dawn. It’s also cracking at temperature control, keeping the snoozing room up to five degrees cooler in the day and one degree warmer at night. The best bit? Once your mates have left, you can convert the darkened chamber into a screening room – or pack it back into the wheeled carry bag and head for the nearest campsite. No cookout is complete without an ice cream after lunch. Van not coming around? Don’t leave your guests longing for the jolly jingle: fill the bowl of Cuisinart’s churner and you’ll have frozen loveliness in as little as 25 minutes. A 1.4-litre capacity should be enough to sate everyone at the table with ice cream or frozen yoghurt, while the alternative paddle allows you to blend soft fruits for a healthier sorbet option. And, though licking the lid is highly advisable, it’s also dishwasher safe. Whether trampolining at twilight or munching under the light of the moon, every rock garden needs a soundtrack. Enter the Sonos Move: no loner restrained by Wi-Fi or a power socket, the multi-room champ is now free to roam. Lift the Sonos from its charging base for 11 hours of wireless sound – and don’t worry about heading outdoors: the weatherproof Move can withstand a downpour. Stream your summer soundtrack via Bluetooth and Trueplay tuning will automatically adapt the sonic experience to suit your surroundings, while a rugged build and rich bass mean it can deal with drops of both kinds. Pubs are finally open again, but you don’t need to make a reservation to enjoy a freshly pulled pint: make your backyard a beer garden with the Philips PerfectDraft. Equipped with a real tap handle and a removable drip try, the home draught system keeps compatible six-litre kegs chilled at a constant 3°C and carbonated for up to 30 days – with an LCD display on the front indicating temperature, capacity and freshness And with more than 35 international beers on offer, the range is likely a lot greater what’s behind the bar at your local. Fatboy is famous for making brilliant things with ludicrous names. Thierry le Swinger changes none of that: a wireless LED lamp reminiscent of a large marshmallow, the Swinger works indoors and out, has three brightness settings and lasts for up to 42 hours between charges. But what makes Thierry really nifty are its mounting options. An integrated hook and bundled rope mean you can suspend it from a branch, parasol or patio roof, while the beech stand can be stuck in the ground to make it a freestanding garden lamp. Told you it was brilliant. Want a campfire feel while you cook for your buddies? Biolite’s burning basket will grill your dinner over logs or charcoal – without smoking out your neighbours. Equipped with an array of 51 air jets, the Firepit efficiently fans the flames without producing plumes on your patio. What’s more, in-built Bluetooth puts precise combustion control right at your fingertips: simply drop some grub and the grate and adjust the fan intensity from your phone. All sorted with supper? An integrated 10,400mAh battery pack can keep things crackling for up to 24 hours – though the cosy glow of the embers in the mesh belly should have you nodding off long before that. Love lamp like Brick Tamland? You’ll adore this upscaled version of the iconic AnglePoise Original 1227 – complete with engineer George Carwardine’s revolutionary spring, crank and lever mechanism. Originally commissioned by the Roald Dahl Museum as a tribute to the late author’s favourite writing lamp, the oversized shiner is thrice as big as the standard Available as a floor-standing or wall-mounted setup, the Outdoor edition features sealed housings and marine-grade stainless steel fittings – so it’ll illuminate your terrace without electrocuting next-door’s cat. Shipped in a series of standard shades, you can also specify the 1227 in a custom colour for an extra fee. Looking to give your garden party an edge? BBC guidelines once forbade employees from illuminating spaces solely with an Anglepoise lamp, believing it would encourage degenerate behaviour. https://www.stuff.tv/features/best-patio-gear/

Microsoft’s Bing AI just got a smart new feature, namely the ability to accept voice input on desktop PCs. Voice input was already supported on mobiles, but now you can engage with the Bing chatbot asking queries via a microphone attached to your desktop PC. What’s more, the chatbot can reply with its own voice response (as Windows Central reports). There are only a limited number of languages supported for voice input, mind you, at this stage. Those are as follows: English, French, German, Japanese and Mandarin.We can doubtless expect more languages to be covered in the future, as Microsoft builds out this feature.To use voice input, simply click the microphone icon in the Bing Chat box, and say your piece, then wait for the AI’s digitized voice response. The experience remains the same otherwise, as you might guess. Analysis: Voice of the future This is an important feature for the Bing AI, as it means that sessions with the chatbot feel like a more natural exchange – you’re talking, and the AI is replying with its voice. In other words, it’s more like a conversation than a search engine-like experience, which is Microsoft’s overall goal. With the facility being on mobile already, it was only a matter of time before it was ported over for desktop users. More broadly, voice has been an area Microsoft has focused on considerably – witness the swift progress with Voice Access in Windows 11 in recent times (and in-line dictation in Microsoft Word, for that matter). When Copilot lands in Windows 11 (supposedly testing will begin later in June), it’s easy to envisage that this infusion of AI will come with more voice-based controls, too. However, the next big move for the Bing chatbot will be its introduction to other browsers besides Edge (with official support for Chrome and other major browsers inbound, as opposed to third-party plug-ins which are the only option currently). https://www.techradar.com/news/microsoft-makes-bings-ai-chatbot-easier-to-talk-to-in-windows-11

A Reddit user reports that their BeQuiet Dark Power 13 1000W power supply has succumbed to the same 12VHPWR melting catastrophe as some RTX 4090s. The user revealed a picture of the 16-pin supported power supply, showing a fully melted connector on the power supply side. This suggests the possibility that there are still serious reliability issues that need to be ironed out with the new connector. Melting 16-pin connectors aren't anything new, especially on more power-hungry graphics cards like the RTX 4090. However, seeing a melted connector on the power supply is almost unheard of. This is especially true considering there were no adapters being used, since the Dark Power 13 features native support for 16-pin cables.Images show that the bottom row of pins on the connector itself (right next to the four 'sense' pins) was completely destroyed in the melting process making them barely recognizable compared to the upper row of unscathed pins. Likewise, the 16-pin power connector housed inside the PSU showed similar damage, revealing melted plastic along the bottom row of ports. However, this is one case of a 16-pin power connector burning up on the power supply end and should be taken with a grain of salt. Without multiple reports, it's impossible to discern how widespread the issue could be or if this is a one-off. "“This is a unique case and we already have reached out to the customer to learn more," Be Quiet told Tom's Hardware in a statement. "As our brand is known for highest quality standards, we treat this seriously and have initiated an investigation." The company added that customers should contact the company directly if it sees any issues. Echoes the series of RTX 4090 melting reports that have come up over the past year. Even though these reports do not surround damage on the power supply end, it's technically possible for the same damage to occur on both ends, since the GPU connector and power supply connector are the same. If this report is legitimate it could be the start of a new wave of 16-pin disasters as more people continue to adopt Gen 3 power supplies. Tom's Hardware has reached out to Nvidia, as well. An Nvidia spokesperson said we may not hear back for a few days due to a company closure. This issue couldn't have come at a worse time with more RTX 4090 16-pin connector melting reports still coming in. Nvidia claims that all of the 16-pin issues are related to user error, with the connector not being seated properly. But it's hard to believe that all of the errors were due to user error since some of these latest reports come from people who claim to be veteran system builders. Hopefully, this power supply issue with the 16-pin power connector does not extend to more users. But if it does, this could become an even more serious problem for the graphics card and power supply industries. Updated June 16, 9:13 a.m. ET with comment from Be Quiet! https://www.tomshardware.com/news/12vhpwr-connector-melting-psu-side

Sao Paulo (AFP) – A yellow-and-brown boa constrictor wraps itself around David de Oliveira Gomes's neck like a scarf, but the 15-year-old Brazilian with autism is fascinated, not afraid. For him, this is therapy. "His name is Gold. He's cold. He eats mice," Gomes tells his therapist at a treatment centre in Sao Paulo, gently holding the large snake as it slithers around him. That is exactly the kind of sentence his therapist, Andrea Ribeiro, is trying to elicit. She specialises in treating people with disabilities, autism or anxiety, using an unusual method: reptile therapy, which she says helps patients relax and improve their communication, motor skills and other abilities. "He's working on speech and memory formation," the 51-year-old language-speech therapist says of Gomes, sitting at a table with him and the large snake. Ribeiro has pioneered this method over the past decade at the treatment center, which features an open-air space where patients interact with lizards, turtles and a "jacare" -- a kind of alligator native to Latin America that is common in Brazil, including in the Amazon rainforest. The treatment is not scientifically proven. But "it's been medically demonstrated that when people come in contact with animals, it releases neurotransmitters such as serotonin and beta-endorphins that give a sense of pleasure and well-being," says Ribeiro. "That makes (patients) feel good and want to learn." The reptiles "enable us to achieve better, faster results," she told AFP. Step aside, dogs Ribeiro used to use dogs in her treatment sessions. But she found their constant attempts to play and interact made some patients uneasy, especially those with autism. So she turned to reptiles. It's a class of animals that makes many people squirm. But people with autism tend to approach them "without prejudice," she says: The animals spark their curiosity without making them uncomfortable. The reptiles, for their part, "are indifferent," she says. "They don't seek attention the way some mammals do." Ten-year-old Gabriel Pinheiro is petting a small alligator, trying to imitate Ribeiro's syllables by opening his mouth wide three times: "Ja-ca-re." "It's wet," he says, his eyes fixated on the creature from behind his glasses. The alligator's scales are "hard," its belly "soft," he says, as the therapist helps him work on opposites. He and Ribeiro then sing a song about the jacare to practice auditory memory skills. Pinheiro's mother, Cristina, credits four years of this therapy with helping improve his listening, communication and motor skills. "He's always happy when we come," she says. Reptilian massage Another patient, 34-year-old Paulo Palacio Santos, suffered severe brain damage in an accident that left him paralyzed and speechless. Ribeiro wraps his face with a thick snake, whose weight and cold temperature help reactivate Santos's swallowing reflex, she says. She then uses a smaller boa constrictor to work the muscles around his mouth. The handling of these species is regulated by Brazil's environmental authority, IBAMA. Ribeiro works side-by-side with biologist Beatriz Araujo, whose job is to monitor the animals' stress levels and ensure patients remain safe. There has never been an accident in 10 years of treatment, the center says. The reptiles, which are raised on site, are accustomed to human contact. No poisonous snakes are used. "I'm always here, just in case (an animal) reacts unexpectedly," says Araujo. "The dangers are the same as for close contact with any animal." https://dunyanews.tv/en/WeirdNews/731930-Snakes-as-therapy-animals-reptiles-help-heal-in-Brazil

The manual BMW's days are numbered. BMW M's head of development Dirk Hacker confirmed as much in an interview with Top Gear, saying the M2 will likely be the last car from the brand to offer a stick shift and three pedals. "It's not only a decision of BMW, it's also a decision of the suppliers," Hacker told Top Gear when asked whether the manual will die with the current M2. "If you take a look around, you will see the future for manual gearbox suppliers will decrease. So I'm not sure we will have the possibility in the future—but in the future means six, seven years in forecast." Other manufacturers are taking a different path, bringing the manual experience into the electric era using synthetic gear shifts and engine sounds. Toyota confirmed this morning it's developing a performance EV with a manual transmission. But Hacker isn't keen on the idea for BMW. "I think it could be done, but we will not do that," he told Top Gear. This news jibes with what BMW M boss Frank van Meel said at an event last year, where he confirmed BMW would offer the stick shift until the end of the decade. A BMW North America spokesperson declined to comment on Hacker's plans, saying that the manual would continue to be offered on the current M2, M3, and M4. Hacker also said the dual-clutch transmission is a thing of the past for BMW M cars, touting the superior performance found in the eight-speed torque converter automatic from ZF. "The double clutch, from BMW M's point of view these days, it's gone," he told Top Gear. "It's now manual or automatic, and automatic electrified for the future . . . the automatic is better performing than the double clutch. In the M4 CSL it's faster-shifting and on the other side, we also use this automatic in the new M4 GTR race car." https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44212921/bmw-m2-last-manual-car/

Seven African leaders have travelled to Ukraine and Russia on a peace mission, hoping to work towards ending the war, which has badly affected living standards across the continent. The delegation from South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Congo-Brazzaville, Comoros, Zambia, and Uganda is meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. But the timing of the visit seems off. It comes just as Kyiv is launching its much-vaunted counter-offensive. So, what can this mission actually achieve? South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa offered no timeline or proposals when he made the announcement last month, joining a crowded field of would-be peacemakers that includes China, Turkey and the Pope. "What is the strategic thrust of this intervention?" asks Kingsley Makhubela, a South African risk analyst and former diplomat. "It's not clear. Is this a photo op by African heads of state?" The mission is an unusual burst of activism given Africa's largely hands-off approach to a conflict that many here see primarily as a confrontation between Russia and the West. It is also a rare attempt at diplomatic intervention outside the continent - a "welcome development" given Africa's growing demand to have a bigger voice at the UN and other international organisations, says Murithi Mutiga, Africa director at the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank. The man who has prepared the ground, Jean-Yves Ollivier, has talked about modest goals. He heads a UK-based organisation known as the Brazzaville Foundation, which focuses primarily on peace and development initiatives in Africa, although his long-standing links to Congo-Brazzaville's authoritarian leader have made him a controversial figure. Mr Ollivier has stopped commenting publicly about the trip since the dates became official. But in previously published interviews he has laid out his approach. He said the aim was to start talking rather than to resolve the conflict, to begin a dialogue on issues that do not directly affect the military situation and build from there. One of them is a potential swap of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war. The other is to try and find solutions to issues that matter to Africa, like grain and fertiliser. The war has severely restricted the export of grain from Ukraine and fertiliser from Russia, intensifying global food insecurity. Africa, which depends on imports of both, has suffered the most. Mr Ollivier said the African leaders would seek to persuade the Russians to extend the fragile agreement that allows Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea. And it will urge Kyiv to help find ways to ease restrictions on the export of Russian fertiliser currently being held up in ports. There are indications, however, that the leaders "seek to offer a more substantive deal between the two sides", says Mr Mutiga. US pressure on South Africa The delegation has been designed for breadth and balance, with members from different parts of Africa who have different views on the conflict. It includes four presidents, Egypt's prime minister, and representatives from Uganda and Congo-Brazzaville South Africa and Uganda are seen as leaning towards Russia, while Zambia and Comoros are closer to the West. Egypt, Senegal and Congo-Brazzaville have remained largely neutral. But recent developments in South Africa appear to be influencing the venture. Mr Ramaphosa's government has come under growing pressure from the US because of its alleged support for Russia's war. This centres on claims of an arms shipment to Moscow, which South Africa has denied. The Biden administration is waiting for the outcome of Pretoria's official investigation, but a bipartisan group of US lawmakers wants the White House to punish South Africa by reconsidering important preferential trade benefits. "I think [the mission] is now aligned with a need for South Africa to explain itself," says Alex Vines, director of the Africa Programme at London's Chatham House think-tank. Dr Vines says the Americans are no longer trying to make Africa choose sides in the conflict as they did when Russia first invaded Ukraine. Many African states have maintained a non-aligned position, a stance the US acknowledges is rooted in the history of the Cold War and does not necessarily mean support for Moscow. Washington now "advocates true non-alignment", he says, "hence the pressure on South Africa at the moment to prove that it's truly non-aligned". Mr Ramaphosa has been a driving force in getting the trip into shape, nailing it down with calls to Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky, and briefing UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Although neither Russia nor Ukraine have shown any interest in peace talks, both have an interest in this visit. Moscow has been cultivating influence in Africa as a counterweight to the West and is hoping to showcase that in a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg next month. Ukraine has been trying to catch up on African diplomacy from a standing start. It recently sent its foreign minister to the continent to plead its case and would welcome another chance to do so. The Ukrainians "will probably try to persuade the African mediators not to attend the summit", says Dr Makhubela. "The Russians want to show that they are not isolated. But their interests are… mutually exclusive. That's why this is going to create a dilemma for African heads of state as to whether they go to St Petersburg," he adds. Analysts see the summit as an important indicator of Africa's relations with Russia, but not an ideological one. "Africans are transactional in this," says Dr Vines, noting that the biggest worry of ex-guerrilla fighters in Mozambique he had spoken to recently was the cost of living because of "this distant European war". "It's not their war," he says. That is in fact one of the few advantages the African leaders could bring to the peace table as mediators, according to Mr Mutiga, should the parties ever decide to sit at it. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65916196

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Pat Cummins and Steve Smith have bought and sold houses for multi-billion dollars, while Marnus Labuschagne, who famously brought coffee beans to India during the recent tour, has set up his own coffee company. Here is what the Aussies are upto off the field Steve Smith The Australian may not have lucrative IPL deals like others anymore, but he has been very smart with his investments in the real estate business. Smith, who will feature in the Major League Cricket in the USA, sold their house for $12.4 million, which they bought in 2021 for $6.6 million. According to the report, two bidders were competiting for the house at the auction. The house features a pool, an entertainment terrace and a dining room completed with a bar and a games room, while the basement included a theatre room. A Sydney Morning Herald report says Smith racks up thousands of dollars per week by renting out his properties. For the record, Smith also owns a property in New York and plans to settle there after retirement. Pat Cummins The Australian captain is one of the stonger voices when it comes to raising awareness about climate change and like Smith prefers investing in real estate properties. Cummins, who donated a large sum to the people of India during the second Covid wave in 2021, bought a $9.5 million property in Sydney’s eastern suburb. It houses five bedrooms, a large backyard and a pool and sits on a 670 square metres block, with his wife Becky Boston being an interior designer, providing aesthetic touch. Cummins bought a cottage for $906,000 in 2019, and also purchased a three-bedroom apartment in Clovelly in 2013 for $1.3million. The opener has already revealed that he is in the November of his international career and has already lined-up a lucrative deal with Fox Sports that will see him switch over as a commentator. The left-hander has previously been commentating in the Big Bash and will start focussing on other formats as well going forward. Nathan Lyon The off-spinner, who sings the famous Under the Southern Cross in the team, has been taking sign language classes to help deaf cricketers. Lyon, who is an ambassador for Australia’s Inclusion teams, wants to mentor the deaf team after hanging up his boots so he is learning the sign language so that it helps with communication skills.“That’s one of my little projects away from cricket, actually trying to learn sign language,” the 119-Test veteran told News Corp in May last year. “We are lucky we have interpreters that come with us the majority of the time, but for me, it would be nice to be able to have a conversation and not need an interpreter. It’s something I’m struggling with, but I’m trying to get better at it. It’s a bit like being at school I guess,” he said. https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/know-the-life-style-of-australia-cricketers-real-estate-moghuls-coffee-king-potential-commentator-mentor-to-deaf-players-8666226/

If you're here to learn one thing and one thing only, which is "does Armored Core 6 rip tremendous amounts of ass," I can save you reading the next 992 words. Yes. Yes it does. After a decade focused on making games about fragile human flesh, FromSoftware is reveling in putting you in control of 10 tons of steel loaded for bear with 200 missiles. During a presentation at Summer Game Fest, producer Yasunori Ogura said that the degree of mobility you'll have traversing these large, vertical environments "is an experience unique to mech action games and cannot be reproduced with a human character." It's kind of an adorable way to describe an action game. "You can only do this with mechs" has big "14-year-old showing you their model Gundam" energy, or, like, "70-year-old bachelor explaining why building model trains is the last pure hobby left to modern men." I was delighted. Could you make a game like this with Superman or something? Sure, he even used some big guns one time. But would Armored Core be even 1% as cool with a guy flying around instead of a mech? C'mon. The mech's boosters are by themselves already my favorite graphical flourish of the year, with pairs of white hot flames flickering on its back and ankles as it moves. Smaller jets burst to life on the shoulders as it strafes left or right. Smoke hisses out of each nozzle during a moment's pause. If only a mech could star in the kind of game FromSoftware has created, then only an army of absolute mecha nerds could have created suits that look and move like these do. Our aim is to create a new mech action game by the current FromSoftware, which combines the fundamental fun aspects of the Armored Core series with the design philosophy of recent FromSoftware action games," Ogura said via translator. "That is the tactile feel of the action, map and situation design, and battle design where there's room for ingenuity and a sense of challenge." The maps in Armored Core 6 really are the most immediate differentiator from past games in the series: in the Armored Cores of old, missions would typically only last 2-3 minutes, throwing you straight into combat from beginning to end. Here they're clearly longer, though still nothing like the hours-long fortresses and zones of the Souls games. Missions now have checkpoints, and your mech is equipped with an Estus flask-like repair item that makes taking damage slightly more forgiving. Individual battles can be skill checks without missions in their totality turning into grueling all-or-nothing endurance runs. Arrmored Core 6 (Image credit: Bandai Namco) The factory FromSoftware showed us in its Summer Game Fest demo was dense with trusses and cranes and spewing smokestacks. I'd praise the verticality of the area, but honestly the place just sprawled in all directions, making me wonder whether missions will still be linear in environments of this size, or if we can expect as many hidden and alternate paths as a typical Souls level. Even if it's mostly just window dressing, the screenshot community is going to lose its mind cranking this game to 8K on PC and capturing it from every angle. Strike vector There is at least opportunity now to choose your angle of attack. In the old games enemies would immediately know where you were and start firing when you came into range, but Armored Core 6 is bringing in a bit of stealth. I do not want to oversell how sneaky you can be in 10 tons of steel with rockets attached to it: there is no crouching in tall grass, but you can jet up to a high perch, survey a half dozen enemy mechs puttering around beneath you, and launch a surprise missile volley before you dive in for a finishing blow with your energy blade. Sekiro is by far the closest analog of any modern FromSoftware game: there's an intense speed here, an emphasis on precisely timed dodges (of missiles and lasers rather than swords and spears) and the ability to stagger enemy mechs by building up their "impact gauge" with successive hits. They'll take more damage while staggered, presenting an opening to swoop in and slash them in half. Assuming you even have an energy blade equipped to your mech. You're never without a sword in Sekiro, but in Armored Core 6 you could be running around with dual rifles or forgo hand weapons entirely for the heaviest rocket and missile launchers your shoulders can bear. Customization looks just as deep as it's traditionally been in the series, letting you swap out weapons, arms and legs and cores and other modules. If you're as much of a tinkerer as I am, you may be thrilled to hear that if you die mid-mission, you can swap out parts before starting again at a checkpoint. If the battle ahead clearly calls for a different type of build, you can react to that without having to scrap the whole mission. A year after the open-ended roleplaying of Elden Ring and three years after the precision of Sekiro's swordplay, games we awarded scores of 90 and 92, it feels almost silly to fixate on whether the action in Armored Core 6 will deliver. That would be like asking whether Miles Davis will nail his solo. Who's left doubting, at this point? Armored Core 6 assembly Anyway, I can already tell Armored Core 6 has the goods. In the hands of FromSoftware's demo player it was just as exciting in real time as it was in that April trailer. More, actually, because with the camera locked to a player's real perspective, you could tell just how much control he had over his mech as it dodged in all directions, jetted along the ground and danced between missiles, bullets and sword swipes within seconds. There's a lot I still want to know—how long and open-ended missions will really be, whether we'll see a return of classic Armored Core's 1v1 battle arena as a side activity, and if FromSoftware is going to sneak in a twist, like Souls-style multiplayer invasions. But the robots, as expected, rip tremendous amounts of ass. Armored Core is back https://www.pcgamer.com/the-action-in-armored-core-6-cannot-be-reproduced-with-a-human-character-said-fromsoftware-and-the-demo-proved-it/

Truecaller is reintroducing support for call recording on its po[CENSORED]r caller identification app for smartphones. The feature was previously available on Android smartphones, but was discontinued after Google cracked down on apps using an API designed for accessibility features to record calls. Now users on either an iPhone or an Android smartphone can record calls, thanks to a workaround. However, the feature will be only accessible to Premium subscribers, according to the company. Users will also have access to an AI-backed feature that generates transcripts of calls. In a recent blog post, Truecaller announced the introduction of call recording support on iOS in the US. Once a call is recorded, it will be accessible in the Truecaller app, allowing users to listen, rename, delete, or share the recorded files. This feature will be available to users with a Truecaller Premium subscription. Just like other third-party recorder apps on iOS, Truecaller has to work around Apple's limitations, and the app manages this by dialling a recording line that you must merge with an incoming call. When the call ends, the user will be notified that the recording is ready, according to the company. For incoming calls, users will have to dial the recording line followed by the contact and then merge the calls. Why Truecaller Is Bringing Its Caller ID Service to Apps Like WhatsApp While the company's website does not list call recording as a feature available for Truecaller on Android, a Forbes report states that Android users who have set Truecaller as their default dialler app will be able to seamlessly record a call with the press of a button. On the other hand, users who prefer the built-in dialler, such as Google's Phone app, will see a floating recording button that will start recording the call. The company will also allow users to see searchable transcripts of their call recordings — this feature will roll out to users in the US over the coming weeks. To inform the other user that an ongoing call is being recorded, Truecaller will play a beep while the call is being recorded. This is similar to the call recording experience on the inbuilt Google Phone app on many Android phones that plays a message alerting the other user when call recording begins and ends. Truecaller Just Launched This New Feature for iPhone Users While the call recording feature for iOS and Android is currently available in the US, it is expected to roll out to other regions soon. A Truecaller spokesperson confirmed to Gadgets 360 that call recording for iOS and Android would roll out to users in India soon. The feature will be accessible to users with a Truecaller Premium subscription, according to the company. https://www.gadgets360.com/apps/news/truecaller-call-recording-ios-android-premium-plan-how-it-works-4122746#pfrom=topstory

toolbar along the bottom that contains buttons for things such as chat, achievements, guides and a web browser, so they can all be quickly accessed. It’s similar to the Game Bar in Windows 11 (which you can open by pressing the Windows key +G on your keyboard. You can also customize which elements appear in the in-game overlay, and these settings will carry over regardless of which game you play. You can now pin windows from the overlay to appear on-screen while you’re playing. This could be really handy for putting up guides to help you through a tricky part of a game, or – as Valve suggests – you could use it to multitask, such as playing a video or podcast while you game. The in-game overlay also comes with two brand-new features. The first is the Game Overview panel, which gives you a load of easily-glanceable information about the game you're playing, including achievements, progress, news and more. Valve has also added a new Notes feature, which allows you to type out quick notes and thoughts, or paste images, while playing. This could prove really helpful for keeping track of puzzles within a game, or for creating a ‘to-do’ list to ensure you get the most out of the game. These notes are synced, so you can see them on any PC you use Steam on – and that includes the Steam Deck, which is a nice touch. Steam Deck improvements While the main focus of this update is on improving the PC experience of Steam, Valve has also done some background work on improving the user experience on its handheld console, the Steam Deck. Code is now more commonly shared between the Steam desktop client, Big Picture mode and the Steam Deck, and Valve promises that this will mean that any changes and updates made to the desktop client will now appear on the Steam Deck more quickly. It should work the other way around as well, and Valve has noted that the controller configurator feature of the Steam Deck, which is one of the best tools included with the handheld, can now also be used by the desktop version of Steam (via the in-game overlay), making it easier to configure gamepads connected to your PC. Background work introducing hardware acceleration to Mac and Linux versions of Steam has also been included, so gamers on those platforms should get an experience that’s more in-line with the Windows version, which again is welcome. So far the changes appear to have been warmly received by Steam users, and the update should be rolling out right now. For more info, check out Valve’s video highlighting the changes below: https://www.techradar.com/news/steam-gets-a-huge-free-update-on-pc-and-its-good-news-for-steam-deck-too

Intel announced today that it is overhauling its consumer CPU branding for the first time in 15 years, resulting in a simplified naming scheme that looks somewhat similar to AMD’s Ryzen naming scheme. Intel’s new approach focuses on its ‘Core’ branding and splits the chips into ‘Core’ and ‘Core Ultra’ tiers. It also drops the ‘i’ from the i3, i5, i7, and i9 chip identifiers and no longer refers to its processors with a generation moniker, like ‘13th-Generation.’ It also includes new badges, all of which we’ll cover more below. These changes begin with the Meteor Lake processors that come to market later this year but don't apply retroactively to existing chips. Intel’s announcement comes after the new chip naming scheme emerged a month ago when new ‘Ultra’ badged processors were listed in processor benchmarks on a public database. Intel’s latest rebranding follows other retoolings of its public image, such as changing the iconic Intel logo and jingle, with the latter receiving more than a fair bit of negative feedback. Intel has also recently discarded other Intel hallmarks, like the Pentium and Celeron brands that were once household names. That change also wasn’t well received. Intel says the Meteor Lake chips are “an inflection point for design, manufacturing, and architecture and delivers significant advances for our company and customers,” and that the changes are the result of customer requests to simplify its brand.Intel will now split its future chip generations into two tiers, 'Core’ mainstream models and ‘Core Ultra’ premium chips, with the latter indicating a higher tier of performance. Intel has also dropped the generation designator from its brand name, but you can still easily decode that from the product number; for example, the ‘13’ in 13900K indicates the chip is a 13th-Generation model, and that portion of the naming scheme will remain consistent with the coming generation. Perhaps the biggest outward change is the decision to drop the ‘i’ from the Core i3, i5, i7, and i9 lines. Here's a mockup of how the old branding would have looked for the coming 14900K chips, and a few examples of how it will look under the new official scheme: OLD: Intel 14th-Generation Core i9-14900K Processor NEW: Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 14900K NEW: Intel Core 9 Processor 14900K AMD: Ryzen 9 7950X As you can see, Intel also includes the word 'processor' in the product name, which is technically already present in the current branding scheme even though absolutely no one uses it in common usage -- even Intel doesn't use it in external communications. However, now Intel inexplicably injects the word between the family designator (Core 9, Core Ultra 9, for instance) and the model number instead of at the end of the name. We asked Intel's brand team about this, and they said they 'prefer' for the term 'processor' to be used, but that the real focus is on the 'Core' and 'Core Ultra' branding. Given that even Intel itself doesn't use the existing 'processor' designator in common usage already, we doubt that the new superfluous 'processor' portion of the branding will catch on. Here's another mockup, but this time of how the branding will look in common usage: OLD: Intel 14th-Generation Core i9-14900K NEW: Intel Core Ultra 9 14900K NEW: Intel Core 9 14900K AMD: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X Make no mistake, this will probably be the most common usage you'll see in reviews and in general reporting. As you can see, without the superfluous 'processor' injected in the brand string, Intel's new mainstream chip branding is very similar to AMD's Ryzen branding. Yes, the Core Ultra-branded parts will have an extra bit of 'Ultra' to differentiate, but the new scheme feels very Ryzen-esque without the 'i' in Core i9. Intel hasn’t confirmed yet, but we do know from a mountain of external evidence that its next generation of chips will have two swim lanes — processors based on Meteor Lake, a totally new 3D-stacked design with a new microarchitecture, and the Raptor Lake Refresh models, which use the same design and microarchitecture as the currently-shipping processors but have extra tuning to improve performance. We spoke with Intel’s branding team and asked if the new Core Ultra branding will apply to the newer Meteor Lake models while the refresh models will fall under standard Core branding, and/or if the overclockable K-series processors would be confined to Ultra-branded products only. Intel didn’t confirm that only Meteor Lake chips would only be marked as Core Ultra but did say that tier ‘represents the latest innovations’ and that they would share more details soon. That means it is at least a rational assumption. However, the representatives did say that overclockability (K-series) isn’t a requirement for a chip to be branded as Core Ultra. It is certainly a bold yet questionable decision to remove the branding that hearkens back to when Intel had a near-monopoly on the market and was the unquestioned performance leader for over a decade. The perception that Inte is diluting the hard-fought brand recognition built during those years is obviously going to be questioned, regardless of the focus panels and market studies that Intel tells us it used to study the matter. Intel’s branding change will certainly be confusing for those that have become accustomed to the naming scheme over the last 15 years, but Intel tells us this change is designed to improve brand recognition with mainstream audiences that aren't tech-savvy. In fact, Intel feels that the 'Core' branding is already, well, the core of its brand equity, so it thinks dropping the 'i' sharpens focus on the 'Core' brand. Today, Intel and AMD are more closely matched than we’ve seen over the last decade. AMD’s Ryzen processors did temporarily catapult the company back into an unquestioned leadership position, but Intel’s 13th-Generation Raptor Lake restored Intel’s overall lead with the best blend of performance and value for the bulk of the desktop PC market. Yes, AMD's Ryzen 7000 still holds the overall gaming lead with its premium lineup of X3D parts, but they carry a premium that relegates them to the highest-end systems, so they aren’t for most users. That makes the timing of Intel’s rebranding even more confusing. It certainly isn’t uncommon for an underdog to adopt a similar branding scheme as the incumbent, often to leverage the better-known product branding from the dominant player to further their own brand — that’s exactly what AMD did when it launched its Zen-powered processors with a very familiar Intel-like Ryzen 3, 5, 7, and 9 scheme. In fact, AMD even adopted a very similar motherboard chipset branding to Intel, too. Intel is certainly back on the upswing in the desktop PC market, but the optics of discarding the familiar 'i' portion of the brand equity it has built over 15 years will be sure to generate plenty of criticism. Though it probably wasn't intentional, some will also insist this looks like AMD's branding scheme for Ryzen. Intel says it isn't sharing all of the details of the new branding scheme yet, and its slides indicate that it is still in the decision-making process on some of the details. That seems a bit dubious, given the proximity of the Meteor Lake launch later this year. In either case, we'll learn more about the branding scheme when Meteor Lake arrives later this year. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intels-new-core-ultra-branding-drops-the-i-looks-like-amds-ryzen

However, one example captures the weird balance of cool and disturbing more than most. You can go into an AI generator and instruct it to show what people would look like as different kinds of animals, or what the animals would look like as people. A render of a human mantis that looks pretty cool. Credit: Reddit / @u/seva98 As is often the case with AI images, some ideas clearly work better than others. There are some genuinely interesting-looking images here, though one in particular really doesn't seem to have worked at all. Usually, AI-generated images of people fit into an uncanny valley of looking almost real. But something usually doesn't feel right, whether it's a weird-looking hand, or the face being almost there, but not quite. In this case, however, where the input to the generator has been to create animals as people, it seems to have worked rather well. Perhaps, because they're not trying to be too human, the outcome proves to be more effective. One picture in particular, of what appears to be a mantis-human hybrid, looks like something that you could see in a sci-fi adventure movie. Others also look like weird alien species you might expect to encounter on adventures in the TARDIS or Starship Enterprise. It makes a change from cardboard prosthetics. Another image shows a mixture between a human and a fish, and again it actually looks surprisingly cool. It's a bit like Star Wars concept art, or inspiration for an adventure game in the stars. Some don't work as well... Credit: Reddit / @u/seva98 Some don't work as well... Credit: Reddit / @u/seva98 Others however, do not work so well. The AI image of a tortoise man literally just looks like the head of a balding middle-aged man mounted on a tortoise's body. And one seemed to take the brief in the completely wrong direction. You might expect a human-rhinoceros hybrid to be bipedal with rhino-like features. It could have big shoulders, a horn, a gruff demeanour something like the alien Judoon featured in Doctor Who. There's a precedent is what I'm saying. So it's deeply perplexing that for the human rhino the AI seemed to just give up. Rather than any connection, it just made an image of a rhino, but with a human superimposed over the back legs. Taken the wrong way it could look a little unf ortunate, frankly.Clearly AI is a very hit and miss game. Though I won't deny, there are some genuinely interesting results here. Nonetheless, AI should still be treated with some caution. The designs have to draw on existing artwork to create the images, and at times have even sparked copyright rows as what they create looks a bit too close to an artist's work. It's certainly interesting, but best used as inspiration rather than an end in itself. https://www.unilad.com/technology/ai-controlled-drone-kills-human-operator-simulation-407613-20230602

Volkswagen announced that the short-lived Arteon is heading for the chopping block as the company realigns its focus on higher-volume models. Sales figures for the Arteon have been on a downward trend in recent years, with Volkswagen selling 5537 in 2021 and only 1742 in 2022. The manufacturer confirmed to Car and Driver that 2024 will be the final model year for the Arteon. Volkswagen will soon be short one large hatchback. The manufacturer announced today that the short-lived Arteon four-door is scheduled for a visit to the gallows, and confirmed to Car and Driver that 2024 will be the final model year. The announcement comes in conjunction with Volkswagen's Accelerate Forward program, which sees the company refocusing its efforts on becoming a more efficient and more profitable company. According to Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer, that means focusing on a smaller number of high-volume vehicles, while removing low-volume vehicles such as the ArteonDebuting in the U.S. in 2019, the Arteon has never enjoyed big sales figures in our market. A general lack of enthusiasm by American shoppers has all but killed the full-size sedan segment domestically, with only a few competitors remaining. According to sales figures from VW, the Arteon has been on steep downward spiral for the last two years. The manufacturer sold just 5537 Arteons in 2021 and only 1742 in 2022. Compare those figures to the over 375,000 and 300,000 total vehicles sold by Volkswagen in the U.S. for each respective year, and the decision to discontinue the model becomes crystal clear.At this point, Volkswagen hasn't announced any direct replacement for the Arteon. We know the electric ID.7 is headed for the U.S., and that could be viewed as a sort of replacement for both the Arteon and the discontinued Passat mid-size sedan. Despite its high sticker price, we've always held the Arteon in good light. On top of that, we'll simply be sad to see the full-size sedan market shrink even further. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44198813/volkswagen-arteon-discontinued/

We all are well are that a healthy diet and lifestyle can positively impact our overall well-being. But this benefit also extends to our reproductive health. A prominent benefit of a good diet is improved sperm quality. So, for couples trying to conceive, or men who are looking to optimise their fertility, it is important to incorporate some modifications in their daily life. As such, dietitian Kanupreet Arora Narang took to Instagram to share some tips to enhance sperm quality and increase the chances of conception. But before that, let’s take a closer look at factors that determine sperm quality. How is sperm quality determined? Sperm quality depends on various factors, including quantity, movement, and structure. Fertility is most likely high if semen discharged in a single ejaculation contains at least 15 million sperm per millilitre. Sperms must have the ability to swim through a female cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes. And a typical sperm must have oval heads and long tails which propel them.However, sperm quality can be hampered by an unhealthy lifestyle including increased alcohol consumption, smoking and drug use. Experts stress that these substances can damage sperm DNA, reduce sperm count and impair sperm motility. Additionally, obesity and stress are also connected to decreased sperm quality, as they imbalance hormone levels. An unhealthy diet devoid of essential vitamins and minerals can also deteriorate sperm health. Now, to the main part. Here are some easy ways to boost male fertility, according to Kanupreet:Zinc is one of the best nutrients for sperm health and testosterone production. It not only improves sperm quality but also increases sperm density. One can include fish, cashew nuts, and seeds in their diet, which are rich sources of zinc. Concurring, Dr Malav Modi, Urologist, Bhatia Hospital, Mumbai said, “Zinc is necessary to produce testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, which plays a vital role in sperm production (spermatogenesis). It is also involved in the synthesis of enzymes and proteins required for the energy metabolism of sperm cells as well as in the formation of the outer layer (acrosome) of the sperm, which plays a role in penetrating the egg during fertilisation. Adequate zinc levels can contribute to improved sperm motility.Omega 3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation. They also work to decrease the number of sperms with DNA damage. Foods like fish, walnuts, chia seeds and hemps seeds are great sources of Omega 3. Agreeing to this, Dr Modi said, “Omega-3 fatty acids also exhibit antioxidant effects. They can help reduce oxidative stress and protect sperm cells from damage caused by free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can harm cells and DNA. It is believed that omega-3 fatty acids help maintain the fluidity and flexibility of the sperm cell membrane, which is essential for sperm motility (movement) and the ability to penetrate the egg for fertilisation.” It helps in mitochondrial production and improves sperm quality. Coenzyme Q10 also provides cell with energy. fish, cashew nuts, and seeds in their diet, which are rich sources of zinc. Concurring, Dr Malav Modi, Urologist, Bhatia Hospital, Mumbai said, “Zinc is necessary to produce testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, which plays a vital role in sperm production (spermatogenesis). It is also involved in the synthesis of enzymes and proteins required for the energy metabolism of sperm cells as well as in the formation of the outer layer (acrosome) of the sperm, which plays a role in penetrating the egg during fertilisation. Adequate zinc levels can contribute to improved sperm motility.” Omega 3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation. They also work to decrease the number of sperms with DNA damage. Foods like fish, walnuts, chia seeds and hemps seeds are great sources of Omega 3. Agreeing to this, Dr Modi said, “Omega-3 fatty acids also exhibit antioxidant effects. They can help reduce oxidative stress and protect sperm cells from damage caused by free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can harm cells and DNA. It is believed that omega-3 fatty acids help maintain the fluidity and flexibility of the sperm cell membrane, which is essential for sperm motility (movement) and the ability to penetrate the egg for fertilisation.” It helps in mitochondrial production and improves sperm quality. Coenzyme Q10 also provides cell with energy. Similarly, Dr Modi said that CoQ10 is involved in the energy production process within the mitochondria of cells, including sperm cells. “Sperm motility requires a significant amount of energy, and CoQ10 plays a vital role in generating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency of cells. By enhancing ATP production, CoQ10 may help improve sperm motility, allowing them to swim more effectively and increase the chances of successful fertilisation,” he said. Veggies and fruits veggies and fruits Vegetables and fruits are rich in antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and various phytochemicals. (Source: Freepik) More colours you add with fruits and veggies, more the micronutrients you will get, which are required for good sperm quality. Adding to this, Dr Modi noted that vegetables and fruits are rich in antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and various phytochemicals. “These antioxidants help neutralise harmful free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, which can damage sperm cells and affect their quality and function. By including a variety of colorful vegetables and fruits in your diet, you can enhance your antioxidant intake and support sperm health.” Proteins Proteins are required for development and nourishment of cells. Sources are legumes and meats like chicken and fish are good sources of protein. Further explaining the function of protein in improving sperm quality, Dr Modi said that protein is made up of amino acids, which are the building blocks of cells, including sperm cells. “Hormones such as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and testosterone play crucial roles in sperm production and maturation. Protein is necessary for the synthesis and regulation of these hormones. By providing the necessary amino acids, protein helps maintain proper hormone levels, which in turn can support optimal sperm production,” he informed. Smoking and drugs are a big no These substances damage sperm health. Additionally, Dr Modi said that smoking and drinking have been associated with lower sperm count, reducing the overall number of sperm cells in semen. They can also impair sperm motility, making it more difficult for sperm to swim and reach the egg for fertilisation. ALSO READ | Sperm donation: From process to benefits, all your questions answered Avoid stress Stress leads to the increased production of steroid hormones like glucocorticoids, which further leads to the reduction of testosterone levels. This, in turn, hampers sperm production. In a similar vein, Dr Modi mentioned that chronic stress can disrupt hormonal balance, increase inflammation, and contribute to oxidative stress, all of which can affect sperm quality and fertility. Concluding, the expert said, “A healthy balanced diet, exercise, less stress, avoiding toxins like nicotine, alcohol and avoiding frequent steams and saunas can promote sperm health.” https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/sperm-quality-male-fertility-improvement-tips-8662343/

Gusty winds and heavy rains are lashing parts of north-west India and southern Pakistan ahead of a fierce cyclone's landfall on Thursday. More than 170,000 people have been evacuated so far. Forecasters have warned that Cyclone Biparjoy - which means "disaster" in Bengali - could destroy homes and crops in its path. The landfall process is expected to start after 18:00 local time (12.30 GMT). The cyclone is set to hit near the Jakhau port between Mandvi in Gujarat and Keti Bandar in Pakistan's Sindh province. Pakistan's disaster management agency has warned of storm surges as high as 3-4m (10-13ft) along the coastline from Karachi to Gujarat. Alok Pandey, the official in charge of relief operations in Gujarat, said on Thursday that the cyclone's intensity had reduced but that wind speeds were still expected to be at "very dangerous" levels of around 110-125 km/h at the time of landfall. The state's health minister, Rushikesh Patel, asked people to avoid travelling. "Our aim is to ensure zero casualties," he said. At least seven deaths were reported amid heavy rains in India this week. The victims included two children crushed by a collapsing wall, and a woman hit by a falling tree while on a motorbike, AFP newsagency reported.In Pakistan, the storm is expected to strike the coast of Sindh province. Authorities have already evacuated 81,000 people from the south-eastern coast and set up 75 relief camps at schools. Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman said that Karachi, the province's largest city with a po[CENSORED]tion of more than 20 million, was not under immediate threat but emergency measures were being taken. Meteorologists warned that high tides could inundate low-lying areas along the coasts. Several parts of coastal Gujarat have witnessed heavy rains and high-speed winds since Wednesday. Ahead of the cyclone's landfall, heavy rains and strong winds were reported in Mandvi. Local media outlets shared videos that showed debris flying amid heavy rains in parts of the state. Gujarat state officials said that 94,000 people had been evacuated from coastal areas so far. Several train services have been suspended in Gujarat, while the ports of Kandla and Mundra - two of India's largest - have stopped operations, authorities said. Fishing has been suspended along the Gujarat coast, while fishermen in Pakistan's coastal region have also been warned to stay off the water. Eighteen national disaster relief teams and 12 state disaster relief teams have been deployed in key areas of Gujarat for relief work. They will focus on ensuring that essential services remain unaffected or at least restored soon, depending on how strong the cyclone is. The India Meteorological Department expects Biparjoy to "fall in intensity" after crossing.Cyclones, also known as hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the Northwest Pacific, are a regular and deadly phenomenon in the Indian Ocean. Rising surface temperatures across the Arabian Sea in recent years due to climate change have made the surrounding regions even more vulnerable to devastating storms. Cyclone Tauktae in May 2021 was the last severe cyclone that struck in the same region. It killed 174 people. The evacuations for Biparjoy have brought back grim memories from 25 years ago when another cyclone hit the Gujarat coast, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Official figures put the death toll at around 4,000 but unofficially, locals say the number is much higher. "We have seen cyclones in the past, but this time it looks very bad," says 40-year old Abbas Yakub, a fisherman sheltering at a primary school in Mandvi. He is among 150 people at the temporary shelter. "Our home is right at the coast, waves already touched our house yesterday morning. We don't know what we will go back to," he says. At another shelter - a school shielding around 300 people - the youngest inhabitant, Ishaad, is just three days old. His mother Shehnaz, says she is anxious about their future. "If anything happens to my house, how will I manage with my baby? What will I go back to?" https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65911739

Every time a new Mortal Kombat arrives I think it might be the one that is so freaking gross I can't stomach it anymore. MK1 threatened to be that game when Netherrealm trotted out a montage of body mutilating fatalities to show off its latest skin shredding tech, but playing it at Summer Game Fest, the gore didn't give me that same ick. It's just punctuation. In Mortal Kombat, every sentence ends with a big red❗and the only thing this game has to say is: This is going to be the best year for fighting games ever. Mortal Kombat 1 is more polished than a crystal skull, almost as if Netherrealm could have just made a fighting game in its sleep and used the bulk of the last few years to focus on flair. The detail on these faces? Johnny Cage's cakes? The way two fighters square off in a short cutscene that masks loading, before flowing seamlessly into the fight? Mirror sheen. Personally, though, I'd give it all up for my stupid-ass goofball create-a-character in Street Fighter 6's story mode, which has me running around town fighting random weirdos with cardboard boxes on their heads. We don't know much about Mortal Kombat 1's story mode yet, but so far it looks like it's doing more of what the last three MK games have done: remixing the series' convoluted lore in fun new ways, with cutscenes gradually creeping up on Hollywood CG-level realism.Maybe there's some surprise freedom hiding away in MK1's story somewhere, but my bet is it'll mostly be cutscenes interspersed with fights again. I'd be pregaming disappointment about that if Street Fighter 6 wasn't already here with a radically different experience: one where I can give Chun Li a can of sardines and hope it makes her like me. Why choose one or the other when we can have both? These two landing just months apart has echoes of November 2004, when Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 were pulling FPS games in such different directions they threatened to tear the genre's arms off. This time we're getting a pair of fighting games from teams at the peak of their craft—an absolute feast of fists. A platter of punches. A banquet of beatdowns. A quiche full of K.O.s. (If you can't tell, I'm ready for lunch.) The point is, fighting game players would be eating good this year even if Street Fighter 6 and Mortal Kombat 1 were all we had to chew on. But 2023 has even more in store for us. There's indie newcomer Diesel Legacy: The Brazen Age, which features a rare 2v2 format for four simultaneous players. It has some really nice toon shaded art and an unusual take on 2D for a fighting game, with three "lanes" for players to bounce between. The lanes bring in some of the sidestepping footsies and special attacks you'd normally expect from a 3D fighter. The mayhem can feel a bit more like Street Fighter than Super Smash Bros. at times, but Diesel Legacy is made by fighting game industry veterans and controls much like Street Fighter. Then there's the looming presence of Tekken 8. We don't know if it will arrive in 2023, but chances seem pretty damn good—Bandai Namco is running a network test in July. PC Gamer's resident Tekken superfan Mollie Taylor has been gearing up for the new Tekken era by competing in Tekken 7 tournaments, which are still going strong. Tekken 7 was a smash success in 2017, and it's continued selling for 6 years. It passed 10 million sales in December, making it the best-selling Tekken game ever; all told Tekken has sold even more copies than Street Fighter, even. But the buzz around Street Fighter 6 has been on another level than anything we've seen from fighting games on PC. On Steam, Street Fighter 6 peaked with 70,000 simultaneous players at launch, dwarfing Tekken 7's 19,000 in 2017 and doubling Mortal Kombat 11's 35,000 in 2019. The PC has had other breakout fighting games in its history: in 2018 Dragon Ball FighterZ launched to 44,000 simultaneous players, which crushed the record at the time. All of these games are on consoles too, of course, where they typically have more players. But earlier this year Capcom switched one of its tournaments from PS4 hardware to PC; it seems entirely possible we'll see the PC become the default platform for competitive play in the future. Where people play fighting games aside, though, it's just a delight to see so much excitement for them. I can't overstate how much Street Fighter 6's adventurous story mode and its modern controls option are going to appeal to people who always assumed Street Fighter wasn't for them. Mortal Kombat and Tekken are both the kinds of games that people will buy on the strength of their ridiculous graphics alone, but of course they've got more than that going on. MK1's Kameo system is a clever way to integrate some of the depth of a tag fighter while adding more nuanced control over how your AI partner jumps in with an assist; Tekken 8's adding multiple systems that reward aggressive play and a new control type for inexperienced players. Capcom, Bandai Namco and Netherrealm are definitely going to sell more fighting games in the next 12 months than at any time in fighting game history. Has there ever been a better year in fighting game history, though? Maybe I'll give the nod to 1995, which included a dizzying number of games including Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Soul Edge, Street Fighter Alpha, and Tekken 2—a standout variety pack of a year. Honestly though, if you pore over FightersGeneration's timeline, it starts to look like there's never really been a bad year for fighting game players, even as the genre weathered its least po[CENSORED]r periods. I have a feeling once 2023 fully sinks in and we see how many new people have jumped into the ring, the next few are really going to take us for a ride. https://www.pcgamer.com/this-is-almost-certainly-going-to-be-the-best-year-for-fighting-games-ever/

EU lawmakers agreed on Wednesday to changes in draft artificial intelligence rules proposed by the European Commission in a bid to set a global standard for a technology used in everything from automated factories to bots such as ChatGPT. The lawmakers will now have to thrash out details with European Union countries before the draft rules become legislation. "AI raises a lot of questions – socially, ethically, economically. But now is not the time to hit any 'pause button'. On the contrary, it is about acting fast and taking responsibility," EU industry chief Thierry Breton said.The biggest issue is expected to be facial recognition and biometric surveillance where some lawmakers want a total ban while EU countries want an exception for national security, defence and military purposes. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday backed a proposal by some artificial intelligence executives for the creation of an international AI watchdog body like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Generative AI technology that can spin authoritative prose from text prompts has captivated the public since ChatGPT launched six months ago and became the fastest-growing app of all time. AI has also become a focus of concern over its ability to create deepfake pictures and other misinformation."Alarm bells over the latest form of artificial intelligence – generative AI – are deafening. And they are loudest from the developers who designed it," Guterres told reporters. "We must take those warnings seriously." https://www.gadgets360.com/internet/news/ai-eu-regulations-european-commission-artificial-intelligence-draft-bill-4121011

Tired of writing emails from your phone? Google’s AI-powered Help Me Write tool for Gmail is coming to Android and iOS to help you draft replies in no time. Since Google I/O 2023, Google has been releasing a bunch of in-development AI tools such as its updated Google Bard chatbot and Help Me Write, its new writing assistant. Help Me Write was previously only available to enrolled Workspace testers on desktop, but now those users will be able to use it in the Gmail app on their smartphone. This hopefully points towards a wider rollout soon. Help Me Write works in two main ways. It can edit an email you’ve already written – for example, it can shorten it if it’s too wordy, make it more sound more formal, or insert emojis to create a more casual vibe with the ‘I’m feeling lucky’ option. Alternatively, if you’re in a rush you can provide the tool with a quick prompt and it’ll draft the whole thing for you. You can then edit it yourself, or use the same refinements (see image below) as before to tweak the length and tone. In testing we’ve found the AI is generally better as an editor than a writer, but if you’ve got to draft a bunch of replies to tedious emails, then letting the AI take over the bulk of the work can be a major time-saver. To get started with Help Me Write on Android or iOS you’ll need to download the Gmail app and sign into the account that has access to the Workspace prototype. Then, when you next compose an email you should see a Help Me Write prompt appear in the bottom right corner of your screen. The update is steadily rolling out, so even if you’re signed up for Workspace Labs you might not yet see the Help Me Write option in Gmail on mobile yet. To get access to Help Me Write and some other AI tools it’s working on you’ll need to sign up for the invite-only Google Workspace Labs and get approval. To request this, make sure you’re logged into your Google account on your browser of choice and go to the official Workspace Labs sign-up page. After reading through some details you’ll find some consumer acknowledgments that you’ll need to check off before you can hit ‘Submit’. Do this and you’ll be signed up to Workspace Labs. As the tools are only in beta don’t expect them to be perfect – we’d recommend reading any AI-written emails before sending them off in case you find any huge errors. You’ll also find that the AI currently uses US English – so if you’re living in a region that uses 'colour' instead of 'color' or calls aubergines 'eggplants', you might find you have to correct the AI a fair bit. If you want to try out some other powerful AI tools, check out our guide to the best ChatGPT alternatives. https://www.techradar.com/news/hate-writing-emails-gmail-will-soon-do-it-for-you-on-ios-and-android

AMD published a blog yesterday highlighting the importance of having sufficient VRAM for 1440p gaming. The short summary is that it suggests you need 12GB or 16GB to get the most out of 1440p gaming. It's an interesting take, because we still don't have AMD RDNA 3 architecture GPUs with 12GB or 16GB of VRAM. We're specifically talking about the Navi 32-based parts, the RX 7800 (XT) and RX 7700 (XT), which at this point are long overdue, leaving the previous generation parts to vie for a place on the best graphics cards. There are reasons for AMD to not launch another series of GPUs yet, of course. Like the absolute bloodbath that's taking place in sales of dedicated graphics cards right now — the last quarter saw the lowest number of units sold in decades. Ouch. Previous generation AMD RX 6000-series GPUs are still sitting in warehouses and on retail shelves, even at greatly discounted prices. It's all reminiscent of the RX 500-series parts sitting around at rock bottom prices back in 2018–2019, and in fact that surplus wasn't resolved until the 2020 GPU shortages finally wiped out stock of every GPU. At the same time, AMD would have ordered wafers and planned for the launch of new Navi 32 GPUs well over a year ago. There are probably chips sitting around, just waiting for a perceived good time to launch. AMD can try to play the waiting game, but, at some point, it's going to need to push out the new generation Navi 32 GPUs. Currently, AMD has the RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT, originally priced at $999 and $899 but now selling for around $950 and $780. The next step down for the RX 7000-series is a massive plunge all the way down to the RX 7600 and its $269 launch price. Everything in between and even below the RX 7600 is still being serviced by previous generation parts — one of the biggest complaints about the RX 7600 was that it only matched the existing RX 6650 XT in performance while costing $40 extra. AMD surely knew this was a problem, but what else could it do? Price the RX 7600 any lower and sales of RX 6650 XT and below would either falter, or those GPUs would need to drop even lower in pricing. Then potential buyers would be right back to the same dilemma: Pay more for the latest generation architecture and features with often similar performance, or pay less for a previous generation card? If you really need/want AV1 support, that's the biggest draw right now for AMD's RX 7600. Except, our video encoding testing shows that AMD's quality still trails Nvidia and Intel. Maybe the additional compute offered by RDNA 3 will start to be a factor in more games and applications going forward, but so far the GPUs seem to be landing well short of their theoretical potential. But let's get back to Navi 32. What we've heard about Navi 32 and the upcoming RX 7800- and 7700-class GPUs is pretty straightforward. They'll use chiplets, just like Navi 31 and the RX 7900-class GPUs. The MCDs (Memory Controller Dies) will be the exact same as on the 7900 XTX/XT, but the GCD will be different. Instead of up to 96 Compute Units (CUs) and support for six MCDs, Navi 32's GCD (Graphics Compute Die) will top out at 60 to 64 CUs and four MCDs. It will also be around 200 mm^2 in size, compared to the 300 mm^2 Navi 31 GCD. AMD will then launch at least two variants. The top solution will be the complete GCD with four MCDs, giving the RX 7800 (or RX 7800 XT) support for 16GB of GDDR6 memory with a 64MB Infinity Cache. A trimmed down GCD will drop one of the MCDs and come with 12GB of GDDR6 and 48MB of Infinity Cache as an RX 7700 (possibly XT). One interesting tidbit is that RDNA 3 likely won't ever offer a configuration with 10GB of memory and a 160-bit interface. That's what the vanilla RX 6700 10GB uses, and it would require one of the MCDs to only connect to a single GDDR6 chip. Perhaps it's not impossible, but the RX 6700 always felt like a bit of an afterthought, and in a crowded GPU market where sales are faltering, having fewer SKUs would be better than pushing out in between products — save those for a brighter future when PC and component sales start picking back up. When will AMD finally launch these Navi 32-based GPUs? There are hints it could happen in the July–August timeframe, just in time for the back-to-school season. AMD and its partners would also like to clear out as much of the RX 6800/6700/6600-series inventory as possible in the meantime. Articles highlighting the importance of 12GB VRAM for 1440p gaming may help in that endeavor, but for cards that are now past their two years old mark, it's becoming an increasingly tough sell. Maybe we'll get some great Prime Day deals on the RX 6800/6700 series to help move things along. The current prices on RX 6000-series GPUs are good, but they've gone back up over the past month or so (since the launch of the RX 7600, RTX 4070 and RTX 4060 Ti). Except Fathers' Day deals are also a thing, and right now, RX 6950 XT starts at $579, RX 6800 XT starts at $469, and RX 6800 starts at $459. (The RX 6800 XT is the best value out of those, if you're wondering.) Meanwhile, the RX 6750 XT starts at $359, the fractionally slower RX 6700 XT goes for $309, and the RX 6700 10GB costs $279. If you want an AMD card with 10GB or more VRAM, those are your only options outside of the significantly more expensive (and faster) $779 RX 7900 XT and $959 RX 7900 XTX. You might be wondering: If the RX 6000-series parts already generally fill in the mainstream to high-end price bracket, why does AMD even need RDNA 3 alternatives? The answer is efficiency as well as a desire for new product names. OEMs and system integrators love having something new to sell, rather than a two-year-old RX 6800 XT as an example. But let's quickly talk efficiency. Nvidia paid the TSMC piper and has delivered exceptional efficiency from its RTX 40-series GPUs and the 4nm TSMC 4N node. AMD's RDNA 3 GPUs are on a newer process node from TSMC as well, at least for the GCDs, utilizing TSMC N5, opting to stick with N6 for the MCDs for cost saving reasons. Here's a look at the current and previous generation GPUs from AMD and Nvidia, sorted by performance per watt at 1440p: Nvidia takes the top five spots in efficiency with its five new Ada Lovelace RTX 40-series GPUs. It's a safe bet that the RTX 4060 will join its siblings near the end of this month, if rumors about its release date are correct. Meanwhile, AMD's RX 7900 XTX/XT are a clear step ahead of the previous generation RTX 30-series and RX 6000-series parts, with the RX 7600 in the middle of that mix as well. In short, Nvidia already has a big lead in market share, it now has a significantly more efficient architecture, and it also has extra features like DLSS, Frame Generation, and AI computational power at its disposal. AMD needs to close the gap, and RDNA 3 mainstream to high-end GPUs would at least be more competitive than the previous-generation RDNA 2 offerings. And there's good news, in that Navi 32 has apparently been pictured. Twitter user Hoang Anh Phu posted the above image today, with some additional AI upscaled variants. Some wondered if that was AMD Instinct MI300, but we did some Photoshopping and scaling to match the size of the MCDs to AMD's existing Navi 31. The results are pretty conclusive in that the Navi 32 GCD looks to be around 210 mm^2, compared to 300 mm^2 on the Navi 31 GCD — that's in line with previous speculation of an approximately 200 mm^2 die size. Obviously, the scaling and skewing of the Navi 32 photo isn't as nice as the high resolution photograph we took of a Navi 31 die. The MCD sizes aren't exactly the same either, so we could easily be off on the Navi 32 GCD size by 5% or so. But the rest of the photo does match what we'd expect from the future Navi 32 GPU. Given that photos of Navi 32 are now leaking, it's a safe bet that we'll see GPUs based on the chip sooner rather than later. We don't have exact details on model names or the release date, but we've previously heard from AMD CEO Lisa Su saying "mainstream" RDNA 3 chips would be here before July. Was the RX 7600 the only GPU she was referring to? Perhaps, but a July or August launch of 7700-class and 7800-class parts would still make a lot of sense, timing-wise. Will the new GPUs be substantially better than the existing RX 6000-series Navi 21/22 parts? Based on what we've seen with other RDNA 3 GPUs, we'd anticipate a 60 CU RX 7800 part to land at roughly the same performance as the existing RX 6800 XT, while a 48 CU RX 7700 variant would end up closer to the RX 6800 than the RX 6750 XT. Even if the new parts are slightly faster than that projection, they'll need equally attractive pricing if they're going to attract buyers. We should find out more within the next month or two, if all goes as expected. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/when-will-amd-launch-rx-7700-7800

The dogs were removed and taken to a vet for treatment after the Scottish SPCA attended at the couple's home in January 2022 following complaints to the charity's helpline. A Glasgow couple who neglected their dogs and allowed them to waste away have been banned from keeping animals for six years. Chantelle Margaret Angela Crossan, 24, and Liam McLachlan, 23, were investigated over the condition of Staffordshire bull terrier Kenzo and cane corso-cross Tyson. Three-year-old Kenzo was found to be underweight, with her hips and spine visible. Five-month-old Tyson was emaciated, with his ribs visible and hip bones and spine showing prominently beneath his fur. His skin was also described as dry and flaky, with some hair loss around his legs and face. The dogs were removed and taken to a vet for treatment after the Scottish SPCA attended at the couple's home in January 2022 following complaints to the charity's helpline. One witness had reported hearing noises coming from the property which sounded like the dogs were fighting. A separate report raised concerns over the pets' weight. Scottish SPCA chief inspector Laura McIntyre said: "Both dogs were immediately taken to be examined by a vet who confirmed that Kenzo was very underweight and that no injuries or underlying conditions were evident. "Tyson was emaciated. His legs had very little muscle and his groin had thin, taught skin as there was so little tissue due to his malnutrition. "He had hair loss on both thighs which was attributed to his malnutrition. He had mild redness in his right ear and one of his testicles was not fully developed. Advertisement "Due to the absence of any injuries or obvious underlying conditions, the vet's opinion was that this low body condition was due to chronic underfeeding and negligence." The Scottish SPCA said the vet estimated that it would have taken at least three months for the dogs to get to this condition. CI McIntyre said: "This has been exacerbated in the case of Tyson as he was such a young puppy and would have needed extra nutrition to maintain condition and to develop appropriately. "The long-term effects of malnutrition at this stage may still impact him in the future." Crossan and McLachlan admitted failing to obtain appropriate pain relief and veterinary treatment for their underweight pets. The pair pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court last month and were sentenced on 7 June. As well as the six-year ban, Crossan was ordered to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work and McLachlan 120 hours. CI McIntyre welcomed the ban but said the Scottish SPCA would have liked it to be longer. She said: "We are pleased that both Crossan and McLachlan have been banned from owning or keeping animals but, given the level of neglect, we would have liked it to be for a longer period of time." https://news.sky.com/story/glasgow-couple-banned-from-keeping-animals-after-allowing-dogs-to-waste-away-12901544

Altering its course, Toyota has announced heavy investments in EV production, including three new batteries and entirely reworked production lines. Solid-state batteries as well as NCM Monopolar technology with a claimed 621 miles of range make up the future of Toyota's BEVs. In the footsteps of Tesla, Toyota will employ giga casting as well as autonomous production lines overseas, while the company simultaneously builds a North American battery research facility in Michigan. Toyota hasn't exactly jumped on the electric vehicle bandwagon. With one dedicated EV crossover on the market and a few new hybrid models, it's loosely keeping up with broad industry standards while remaining wedded to the hybrid sector it pioneered. In fact, the brand lost its former CEO and public EV skeptic, Akio Toyoda, earlier this year in a corporate restructuring focused on electrification, replacing Toyoda with former Lexus branding officer Koji Sato. The months since Sato's appointment have been markedly different, as Toyota softens its EV stance and even hints at an impending new electric architecture. But Toyota is taking it one step further this week, confirming an overhaul of its electric-vehicle production and parts processes. Unveiling a sort of technology road map, Toyota confirms it will launch a more durable, energy-dense nickel cobalt manganese lithium-ion battery by 2026, with 621 miles of range and a fast-charge time of 20 minutes. These bZ4x-adjacent NCM batteries will be reserved for performance vehicles or high-end luxury models, though Toyota has a plan for its lower-end units as well. Using the bipolar structure battery (found in the Japanese-market Aqua and Crown hybrid vehicles), Toyota will expand this LFP technology to new BEV models, with the company claiming a 20 percent increase in cruising range and a 40% reduction in cost compared to the current bZ4x. EV enthusiasts can also expect a high-performance version of Ni-series bipolar lithium-ion batteries, indicating the possibility of low-cost, high-performance EVs to come from Toyota. These batteries will feature a high-nickel cathode, increasing range by 10 percent while lowering costs 10 percent, and are set for practical use by 2028. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a44189478/toyota-ev-plans-solid-state-batteries/

The head of Radio New Zealand has apologised for publishing what he called "pro-Kremlin garbage". A journalist has been placed on leave after it was discovered several online stories about the war in Ukraine had been altered in favour of Russia. Chief executive Paul Thompson said about 250 stories had already been forensically reviewed since staff were alerted on Friday. Sixteen stories have been edited and thousands more are to be scrutinised. "It is so disappointing. I'm gutted. It's painful. It's shocking," he told RNZ's Nine to Noon programme. "We have to get to the bottom of how it happened." Mr Thompson announced there would be an external review of the organisation's editing processes. The journalist in question claims to have been editing news agency copy published on the RNZ website for years. RNZ - which is publicly funded - said the 16 articles in question had been republished with corrections, either with the inclusion of more voices or the removal of descriptions with pro-Russia slants. These include: Multiple references to the 2014 protests in Ukraine's Maidan square as a "coup". Those student-led rallies in the capital Kyiv were originally meant to pressure the country's then pro-Vladimir Putin leader, Viktor Yanukovych, to sign an association deal with the EU. The rallies grew larger, leading to Mr Yanukovych being ousted; Multiple references to supposed "neo-Nazi military groups" that are fighting against Russia. At the start of Moscow's invasion, Mr Putin said one of his aims was to "denazify" Ukraine. A piece that said Russia annexed Crimea only after a referendum - but Russia's occupation of Ukraine's southern peninsula is not recognised by Ukraine and the wider international community; A story saying the current New Zealand administration pushed the country into providing non-combat support for Ukraine and its allies, which includes military training and humanitarian aid. Mr Thompson has apologised to listeners, readers, staff and the Ukrainian community. "It's so disappointing that this pro-Kremlin garbage has ended up in our stories," Mr Thompson told Nine to Noon. "It's inexcusable." Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark tweeted that she expected better from the public broadcaster. "Extraordinary that there is so little editorial oversight at Radio New Zealand that someone employed by/contracted to them was able to rewrite online content to reflect pro-Russia stance without senior staff noticing," she wrote. RNZ's website is one of the most viewed news sources in New Zealand https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65881980

High cholesterol can either be due to genetic issues or lifestyle habits. It is essential to know this because the course of remedy for high cholesterol greatly depends on its nature. “High cholesterol is both a genetic issue and a lifestyle disease for some patients; there is some genetic abnormality which predisposes them to high cholesterol levels like familial hypertriglyceridemia. They have their high cholesterol level because of a genetic problem and whatever they do, their cholesterol remains high,” says Dr Sanjeev Chaudhary, Director - Cardiology, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Gurugram. “And in most of these patients, lifestyle modification cannot result in normal cholesterol. So those patients with the genetic predisposition to high cholesterol will continue to have high cholesterol until unless they take medicines,” he adds. High cholesterol can be due to either genetic predisposition or dietary issues. A genetic defect in chromosome 19 leads to familial hypercholesterolemia. It's either homozygous (defect found in both parents' genes) or heterozygous (defect in only one parent's gene) in nature, explains Dr Bharat Vijay Purohit, Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist & Director of Cath Lab, Yashoda hospitals, Hyderabad. Heart health: 5 factors that worsen cardiovascular health in visibly healthy, young people In case of homozygous hypercholesterolemia, cholesterol deposits on elbow knee joint (xanthomas) or around eyelids (xanthelasma) or around iris in eye(corneal arcus) are seen in childhood, Dr Purohit adds. Homozygous hypercholesterolemia, which means you have two sets of the faulty genes-one from each parent, increases the risk of developing heart diseases early. In this case, it gets difficult for the body to remove the LDL or the low density lipoprotein cholesterol. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/high-cholesterol-is-it-a-genetic-disorder-or-a-lifestyle-problem-experts-explain/photostory/100982616.cms?picid=100982673

If you ask everyone in the room to describe their perfect vision for a Star Wars game, you're gonna get a lot of answers. Many would, I wager, basically describe Star Wars Jedi: Survivor with its lightsaber power fantasy, memorable characters, cool force powers, and satisfying stormtrooper amputation. My pitch would sound a lot closer to the game that Ubisoft announced yesterday at the Xbox Games Showcase, Star Wars Outlaws—a sandbox action game starring a Solo-like scoundrel-for-hire on the lawless planets of the Outer Rim. No, it's not the Mandalorian game that I was quietly crossing my fingers for, but a completely new character instead: Kay Vess, a young outlaw getting her start in the criminal underworld. Outlaws takes place in the gap between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. For those who haven't kept up perfectly with the barrage of Star Wars stories lately, that places Outlaws something like a decade after Jedi: Survivor and a few years before The Mandalorian. It's developed by Massive, the Ubisoft Sweden branch that's also making Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, previously made The Division 1 and 2, and in more ancient times, the 2007 RTS World in Conflict.I got an early look at the demo that (I suspect) was just shown during the Ubisoft Forward stream and jotted down some key observations:Outlaws' planets are much bigger than the planets Cal Kestis jumps around in Jedi: Survivor—big enough that Kay Vess crosses them on her trusty speeder It's a third-person shooter with an emphasis on stealth. You can go loud, but Ubi suggested avoidance is often a better option There's cover, stealth takedowns, and even a bit of climbing. Starcharted? You take jobs for and against various factions in the galaxy, and when you take actions against them, you'll lose reputation for that faction Kay's blaster is her primary weapon and it has different modes: I spotted a "focus" mode that was more accurate but appeared to shoot slower Bigger blasters, like the one Kay's critter companion fetches for her, are powerful but can only be used for a limited time Unlike the Jedi series, you actually fly your ship around the galaxy in Outlaws. It sounds a bit like No Man's Sky and Starfield—dogfights, resource gathering, and jumps through hyperspace to other planets In the demo Kay picks a dialogue choice that angers a corrupt Empire officer and instantly makes her wanted, but it's not clear how often these conversational choices will come up in Outlaws The ship flying sure was a surprise for me. It looked like the process of taking off and entering space was automatic, so you probably can't fly close to the ground like in No Man's Sky, but Ubi says space exploration is a big part of Outlaws (something of a theme at not-E3 this year)—there are secrets to find in the void, and space combat varies from "intimate dogfights" to larger scale battles. The brief dogfight between Kay and a swarm of TIE Fighters wasn't as impressive as the ground game. The fight played out like a Star Wars: Squadrons mission set to easy mode with cannons that seemed hard to miss with and returning volleys from the TIE Fighters that barely made a scratch So maybe space won't be where the best action is, but one moment in the demo has me wondering if Outlaws' combat goes deeper than a typical third-person shooter: Kay is caught sneaking around a restricted area by a guard but, instead of a fight kicking off immediately, Kay puts her hands up as the guard approaches, giving her the chance to quickdraw her blaster and shoot first. Was this a special scenario for the demo, or will every one of my scrapes begin with headshotting a poor bandit who thought I was truly surrendering? Either way it looks fun, though maybe not the 20th time it happens. Ubi didn't have much to say about the story, but they did allude to it involving a big heist. I am enjoying Kay so far, though. She's optimistic and capable, but hardens up around folk she doesn't trust (which in this game is most people). Kay's partner, ND-15 (or was it 12? Whatever) didn't appear in the demo much, but it's clear he isn't your typical servant droid: he schemes and swashbuckles to the beat of his own drum. My only worry about Outlaws is that if the whole game is essentially what we saw—sneaking, shooting, driving, flying—then it will have only scratched the surface of what I want from an open-world Star Wars game. I hope Kay can also do some of the quieter actions that made Arthur Morgan such a convincing protagonist in Red Dead 2. Let me greet locals, polish my blaster, people-watch from a bench, charge my speeder's battery(?), eat a meal. Probably too much to ask from the "first open-world Star Wars game" ever, but it's a nice thought. Star Wars Outlaws is coming sometime in 2024. https://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-outlaws-looks-like-the-best-thing-ubisoft-has-made-in-years/

After the Union health ministry dismissed reports of a data breach on the CoWIN platform, cyber security firm CloudSEK has said that threat actors do not have access to the entire portal nor the backend database. "Based on matching fields from Telegram data and previously reported incidents affecting health workers of a region, we assume the information was scraped through these compromised credentials," CloudSEK said in a report on Monday after an independent analysis. On March 13, a threat actor on a Russian cybercrime forum advertised for compromised access on the CoWIN portal of the Tamil Nadu region, it said. After an analysis, CloudSEK said, it was discovered the breach was that of a health worker and not really of the infrastructure. The content displayed on the screenshot matches with the Telegram bot mentioned in the media as follows -- the name of the individual, mobile number, identity proof, identification number, and the number of doses completed. "Furthermore, there are numerous healthcare worker credentials accessible on the dark web for the CoWIN portal. However, this issue primarily stems from the inadequate endpoint security measures implemented for healthcare workers, rather than any inherent weaknesses in CoWIN's infrastructure security," the report said. Asserting that the CoWIN portal was completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy, the Union health ministry on Monday dismissed as "mischievous" the claims of a data breach on the platform and said the matter had been reviewed by the country's nodal cyber security agency CERT-In. In a statement, the ministry also said that an internal exercise had been initiated to review the existing security measures. "With reference to some alleged CoWIN data breaches reported on social media... the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) immediately responded and it does not appear that the CoWin app or database has been directly breached," said Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar. In its statement, the health ministry said there was no basis for the reports alleging the breach of data from the CoWIN portal, a repository of all data of all those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country. "It is clarified that all such reports are without any basis and mischievous. The Co-WIN portal of the health ministry is completely safe with adequate safeguards for data privacy," it had said. CERT-In, in its initial report, has pointed out that the backend database for the Telegram bot was not directly accessing the APIs of the CoWIN database, according to the statement. https://www.gadgets360.com/internet/news/threat-actors-dont-have-cowin-portal-backend-access-database-cybersecurity-cloudsek-4117685