Jan 19
Several New Jersey environmental groups are defending offshore wind development after seven dead humpback and sperm whales washed up along New York and New Jersey coasts in the past month.
Jan 19
Ransomware cyber-gangs made about $456.8 million in 2022. It sounds like a lot of money until you compare it to the record estimated profits from 2021: $765 million. All told, hackers managed to extort 40% less from their victims this past year, vs. the year before, according to a new report from Chainalysis published…
Jan 19
UK bill would ban videos portraying Channel immigrant crossings in a 'positive light'
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe UK government is still expanding the scope of its Online Safety Bill. Digital, Culture, Media and Sport secretary Michelle Donelan said in a statement that politicians will propose amending the bill to ban videos portraying Channel immigrant crossings by boat in a “positive light.” Those clips are “aiding [and] abetting” immigration law violations, according to Donelan. As with child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and terrorist content, internet platforms will have to pull crossing-related footage quickly.
The culture secretary detailed other significant proposed amendments. Senior company leaders could face prison time if they’ve “consented or connived” to ignore online child safety requirements. Platforms will also have to remove content that promotes LGBTQ conversion therapy practices. Violations of any aspect of the bill could lead to fines up to £18 million (about $22.3 million) or 10 percent of a company’s global turnover.
The amendments should be ready for a version of the bill reaching the House of Lords. The changes came after pressure from Conservative MPs like Natalie Elphicke, who serves Dover — a frequent landing site for illegal immigrants.
The alterations aren’t surprising given growing concerns in the country over the impact of illegal immigration, not to mention existing provisions in the bill for child safety. However, they add to the feature creep of a bill that has already been delayed several times. There have been concerns the Online Safety Bill might not pass before the next general election, due within two years.
The new provisions also won’t satisfy critics like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which already claim the measure amounts to censorship. They’re worried the bill will also hurt privacy by eroding protections for the use of end-to-end encryption. Whatever your stances on the issues, it’s safe to say the changes would further limit what UK residents are allowed to say online.
Jan 19
Madison Karrh’s booth at Summer Game Fest 2022 was on the far right side of the demo area, hugging a wall at the front of the small industrial space in downtown Los Angeles. Her game, Birth, was one of the first projects you’d see after grabbing a swag bag, but it was easy to overlook in a sea of neon pixels and mainstream names like Street Fighter, Cuphead and Sonic. Birth is a thoughtful game of bones, puzzles, loneliness and decay, rendered in earth tones and captivating, hand-drawn vignettes. In a Day of the Devs cluster at Summer Game Fest, the Birth booth was a bubble of respite from the fast action showcased on surrounding screens.
“Showing Birth at conventions feels like putting my whole, raw, beating heart on a table in front of a bunch of strangers and asking if it is enough for them,” Karrh told me a few months after Summer Game Fest.
Engadget
Birth is, essentially, a game about death. It’s an introspective experience with an entire city block to explore and small surprises in every scene, and it invites people to play with their deepest insecurities. Physics and logic puzzles are hidden in cafes, apartments and bookstores, each one welcoming players to engage with thoughts of mortality and loneliness. Build your own companion out of scattered bones and organs, peel back bandages to remove foreign objects from human limbs, interact with skeleton creatures, let your mind wander while organizing eyeballs, poke at all manner of decaying animal carcasses.
Nothing about Birth is harsh; from color palette to gameplay, this is an experience built for slow afternoons and sleepless nights. Even in the middle of a busy game convention, it’s a soothing way to play with terrifying topics.
“As humans, we know that we will die,” Karrh said. “Yet there is so much joy and art and love that gets created regardless of this looming fact. Maybe even because of it. I think about the limitations of mortality every day, and I want my portrayal of death and decay and loneliness to be as soft and gentle and genuine as possible.”
Half a year after Summer Game Fest, I still can’t get Birth off my mind. The themes are heavy, but the game is not, and this balance is a testament to Karrh’s eye for design and visual appeal. When it comes out on February 17th, Birth will be her third release on Steam, and her largest project to date.
“Day-to-day loneliness can be an embarrassing thing to admit to feeling,” Karrh said. “I hope the tender art style and the silly physics of the game make it feel more like having a contemplative, clumsy conversation with a friend.”
Madison Karrh
After Summer Game Fest, Karrh took Birth to Cologne, Germany, for Gamescom, the largest video game convention of the year. There, it was one of 130 games in the Indie Arena, sandwiched between sprawling adventures, city builders, sci-fi combat and metal music. Thousands of people streamed past her booth, some stopping to play for a few minutes and others lingering for an hour. Karrh never rushed players through their time with Birth, even though it meant fewer people ultimately got their hands on it.
“I was just so honored and smitten with the fact that people chose to spend so much of their time with my game in a sea of other delicious games,” Karrh said. “Birth doesn’t appeal to everyone, of course – I think the minimal, dark art style of my booth filtered out the humans who wouldn’t be interested. It is a slow, intimate game and I didn’t want anyone to feel rushed. People waited in line, people brought their friends back to show it to them. It felt like everyone was giving me a big giant hug.”
After Gamescom, Birth made its way to San Francisco for the Day of the Devs showcase in November. This was its fourth convention appearance of the year, adding a trip to London for WASD in April. Birth is a small game that’s been on a worldwide tour, and in the process it’s plucked Karrh out of her own isolated game-development hole. Even after Birth comes out – and even though it’s a single-player game that’ll likely be consumed by people sitting alone in dark rooms – this game represents true human connection for Karrh.
“I have lived most of my twenties in tiny studio apartments surrounded by other tiny studio apartments full of strangers,” she said. “As a solo game dev, I spend a lot of time sitting alone at my desk. It took me a very long time to accept that if I wanted to create as many games as I could, that I would need to spend a huge chunk of my life alone. I used to worry that I was wasting my life making games, and that I should be running around the city and kissing humans and falling in love. Fortunately, I have grown out of this insecurity and I think I have connected on a deep level with humans through making games.”
In the end, Birth is designed to be played solo, but it’s a game about the most universal shared experiences that humans have. In this sense, it’s impossible to truly play Birth alone.
“Loneliness is, oddly enough, a shared feeling,” Karrh said.
Jan 19
Russia Charges U.S. Citizen With Espionage, Gathering Intel ‘In The Biological Sphere’
Posted in: Today's Chili“The American is suspected of collecting intelligence information… directed against the security of the Russian Federation,” said the FSB security agency.
Jan 19
All The TV Shows I Faithfully Watched As a Kid, But Only For the Cool Vehicles
Posted in: Today's ChiliTo say I watched a lot of TV as a kid is an understatement. My brain is a more comprehensive resource on ‘80s and ‘90s TV shows than the Library of Congress, and while I probably couldn’t put my finger on a favorite genre when I was younger, looking back, it’s clear I endured countless shows—good, mediocre, and…
Jan 19
Some cars seem oddly well-suited to Uber (Toyota Prius, anyone?), but the company is now taking things a step further. Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi told guests at a Wall Street Journal event that his firm is now teaming up with car manufacturers to design EVs with ridesharing and deliveries in mind. Rideshare cars will ideally have lower top speeds to reduce costs, as well as passenger seats that face each other to promote conversations. Delivery vehicles, meanwhile, might have two or three wheels (to help navigate city streets) but loads of trunk space.
Khosrowshahi didn’t say which automakers were involved, or provide a timeline for when optimized EVs might be ready. Uber said in 2021 that it was partnering with Arrival on custom electric taxis, but that was before the startup scrapped its automotive projects in favor of vans.
Uber is no stranger to promoting electrified rides. The company launched Uber Green years ago, and lowered prices last spring. More recently, it expanded the option of hailing all-electric rides to two dozen US cities. The company has also made EVs more accessible to some drivers by making Tesla and Polestar cars available to rent through a deal with Hertz. This latest effort could further widen access by lowering the price of entry and speeding up deliveries.
The service is under pressure to transition to EVs quickly. Internally, it plans to go pure-electric in some regions by 2030, and in cities like London by 2025. Governments in Europe, the UK and North America will also ban sales of combustion engine cars as early as 2035. The more drivers willingly adopt EVs, the fewer headaches Uber is likely to encounter in the years ahead.
Jan 19
Jonathan Knight Says He Was Told NKOTB Would Be ‘Over’ If He Came Out As Gay
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe New Kids on the Block singer recalled the “horrible” experience of being outed after an ex-boyfriend sold photos to a tabloid.
Jan 19
The role-playing genre is as strong as ever, with exciting new titles hitting stores soon. These are the upcoming RPGs we can’t wait to play in 2023.
Jan 19
The 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe’s flagship trim, Calligraphy, comes with more than just a lovely set of aesthetics. This version of the vehicle is also turbocharged.
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