mi Jason Kenney is Canada's least popular premier -- some caveats may apply By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 06:22:25 +0000 David J. ClimenhagaJason Kenney is Canada's least popular premier. When you add in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he's also Canada’s least popular first minister. I'm not going to belabour this point, but Jason Kenney is Canada's least popular premier. Actually, I am going to belabour the point. I'm just not going to provide a lot of smarty pants analysis. That's because while we can speculate, it's too soon to say why Jason Kenney is Canada's least popular premier, or what that might mean. Unfortunately, there are caveats. Far too many. As far as we can tell, Jason Kenney is Canada's least popular premier. Maybe there's a less popular premier in Atlantic Canada, because the Campaign Research Inc. poll that indicates how unpopular Kenney is doesn't include the Maritimes or Newfoundland. But who can imagine any Atlantic premier being less popular than Kenney? So I'm just going to keep on saying Kenney is Canada's least popular premier until somebody proves otherwise. How unpopular is Kenney? Well, Kenney has both the lowest approval rating of any first minister about which the Toronto-based pollster asked questions in its monthly omnibus poll and the highest disapproval rating of any premier on the list. Mind you, another caveat, the Alberta sample appears to be pretty small, tiny even, a mere 181 souls out of the 2,007 who responded to the firm's online panel on May 1 and 2. And, in this province, who knows why people might disapprove of the guy? Still, even with all those qualifiers, it's nice to be able to say that Jason Kenney is Canada's least popular premier, and considerably less popular than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to boot! The poll was published yesterday under the heading COVID-19/Coronavirus Study, so you might have missed it. The bit about Jason Kenney being Canada's most unpopular premier is buried rather deep, starting down on page 36 of the explanatory slide show. It's one of those online panel thingies, so all of the usual negative caveats about that apply too. Just the same, according to Campaign Research, Canada's three most popular premiers are Quebec's Francois Legault with an 83-per-cent approval rating and 13 per cent disapproving, Saskatchewan's Scott Moe (80 per cent/16 per cent), and British Columbia's John Horgan (73 per cent/13 per cent). Ontario's Doug Ford was fourth (76 per cent/17 per cent). I suppose because they're a Toronto pollster, Campaign research threw in Toronto Mayor John Tory (75 per cent/17 per cent). In fairness, though, Toronto's population is more than twice those of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and a bit larger than both combined, so fair's fair. Plus Campaign Research added the prime minister (65 per cent/29 per cent). Canada's second-least popular premier, according to this, was Manitoba's Brian Pallister (51 per cent/37 per cent). And then came Kenney, in a distant last place with an approval rating of 44 per cent, and a disapproval rating of 48 per cent, the only leader on the list with a higher disapproval rating than approval rating. Have I read too much into this? Almost certainly. But who cares? It's just nice to be able to say … Jason Kenney is Canada's least popular premier. David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, is a journalist, author, journalism teacher, poet and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions at The Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. This post also appears on his blog, AlbertaPolitics.ca. Image: Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta/Flickr Full Article
mi Justin Trudeau should lift Canada's economic sanctions now By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 00:09:19 +0000 Ken StoneOn March 23, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to G20 leaders: "I am encouraging the waiving of (economic) sanctions imposed on countries to ensure access to food, essential health supplies, and COVID-19 medical support. This is the time for solidarity not exclusion ... Let us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our interconnected world." At the same time, AP News reported, ambassadors of eight countries currently affected by economic sanctions -- namely, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Nicaragua, China, Russia and North Korea -- petitioned the secretary-general for "the immediate and complete lifting of those measures to enable nations to respond to the coronavirus pandemic." Regrettably, so far the wealthy and powerful countries of the world haven't heeded the secretary-general's call to loosen the screws on the weaker and poorer ones. They also ignored a similar appeal by Pope Francis in his Easter address. On the contrary, President Trump actually weaponized the pandemic by instituting further sanctions on both Iran and Venezuela, countries already targeted for regime change. In Canada, however, two peace groups, the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War and le Mouvement Québécois pour la paix, sent an open letter signed by 100 prominent Canadians to Trudeau asking him to lift all of Canada's economic sanctions now. Unknown to most Canadians, Trudeau's government maintains economic sanctions regimes against 20 countries of the world, including nine African countries. In fact, under the Harper government in Ottawa in June 2013, Canada co-ordinated economic sanctions for the U.S.-led coalition of countries participating in the regime change operation against Syria. Similarly, under the Trudeau government, Canada helped lead the Lima Group in organizing multilateral sanctions against Venezuela. Canada typically applies five types of sanctions: arms embargoes, asset freezes, import-export restrictions, financial prohibitions and technical assistance prohibitions. Not all sanctioned countries feel the full weight of all five. However, some countries do: Iran, Syria, North Korea and Libya. The effect on the targeted country is crippling. The first result is usually a drastic decline in its currency's value, which translates into ordinary people being unable to put food on the table for their children. Then follow other crises for working people: unemployment due to closing markets for the country's exports and the inability to get spare parts; inability to receive payments from relatives abroad because the international banking system excludes the targeted country; the closing down of whole industries, such as tourism, because access to credit cards or even air access to national airports, as in the case of Syria, is turned off by the sanctioners. Supporters will point out that sanction regimes generally exclude food and medical supplies. However, international trade requires financing through banks which are subject to penalties in the U.S., for example for trading with Iran, even though the participating bank may be domiciled in a country that has lifted its sanctions on Iran. This practice by the U.S. is called extraterritoriality. Some have likened economic sanctions to acts of war and compared them to sieges of medieval towns in which the besiegers hope to make life so difficult for the besieged that they rise up against their feudal lords and open the gates. The comparison isn't far off since the brunt of sanctions aren't felt so much by the targeted countries' ruling elites but rather their civilian populations. A monstrous example was the decade of UN sanctions against Iraq between the First and Second Gulf Wars. Between 1992 and 2000, 500,000 Iraqi children perished from lack of food and medicines. But Madeleine Albright, former U.S. secretary of state in the Clinton administration, famously quipped that it was "worth it." It was worth it to Albright because sanctions were part of U.S. foreign policy to soften up Iraq in preparation for the Anglo-American invasion and occupation of 2003 which continues today. Notably, coercive economic measures are not levelled against U.S. client states, no matter the enormity of their crimes. Israel, which turned Gaza into the world’s largest open air prison and is annexing the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia, which wages a bloody war on Yemen and murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, don't worry about sanctions. Under international law, economic sanctions are acts of war. That's why the UN charter restricts the power to level sanctions exclusively to the UN Security Council. That also explains why Canada's unilateral sanctions against 19 countries are illegal. Only in the case of North Korea are Canada's regime of a full spectrum of coercive measures explicable under international law. While Trudeau tries to play the competent caring leader in his daily COVID-19 press conferences, he cannot ignore the damage he is doing to the efforts to fight the novel coronavirus in 20 of the world's poorest countries, and indeed to the global effort. Ken Stone is a longtime peace, social justice, labour, anti-racist and environmental activist-resident in Hamilton, Ontario. He is treasurer of the Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War and executive member of the Syria Solidarity Movement. Image: CanadianPM/Video Screenshot/Twitter Full Article
mi Jason Kenney calls Elizabeth May, Yves-François Blanchet 'un-Canadian,' accuses them of 'blaming the victim' By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 05:49:23 +0000 David J. ClimenhagaNow that Premier Jason Kenney has declared it "un-Canadian" to say oil is dead, I wonder if it's OK to admit Alberta's fossil fuel industry is on the ropes? Probably. Kenney said as much himself in a remarkable rant yesterday directed at the parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois and the former leader of the Green Party of Canada. But if you don't want to be accused of un-Canadian activities, you'd better make it clear none of these troubles are the fault of anything that's ever been done by any Alberta government, except perhaps the NDP's, and especially not by the United Conservative Party Kenney leads. There is acceptable speech in Alberta, you see, and it doesn't include saying that oil is done like dinner, which is probably not true just yet, but is nevertheless a position that can be argued in respectable company almost anywhere else in the world, including a number of countries known for producing what Kenney rather sophomorically calls "dictator oil." As has become his practice lately, Kenney took over Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw's daily COVID-19 briefing in Edmonton yesterday afternoon for the sustained blast of gaslighting he directed at Yves-François Blanchet and Elizabeth May. Blanchet had dared to suggest at a news conference Wednesday that oil "is never coming back" (uttered en francais, bien sûr) and that Ottawa's bailout package should really be directed at "something which is more green." May, for her part, opined at the same event that "oil is dead." Specifically, the MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands told the media: "My heart bleeds for people who believe the sector is going to come back. It's not. Oil is dead and for people in the sector, it's very important there be just transition funds." This may be wrong, but outside Alberta I doubt it sounds like a stab in the back or a curb-stomping. Nevertheless, that is what sent Kenney over the edge, in a calculated sort of way, responding to a set-up question provided by Calgary Sun political columnist Rick Bell, who can be counted on to get the first question at one of Hinshaw's frequently hijacked news conferences. "I just think it's deeply regrettable that we would see national political leaders piling on Albertans and energy workers at a time of great trial for us," Kenney said piously, opening what appeared to be a carefully rehearsed answer. "This is the opposite of leadership. Leaders should be seeking to bring us together, not to divide us." This is a bit of an irony, of course, coming from a premier who has been ginning up an Alberta separatist threat for months while denying the oil industry had anywhere to go but up, but let's just take it as a lesson in gaslighting 101. In his remarks, Kenney trotted out benefits he said have been conferred on Quebec by Alberta's oil industry, noted the province's equalization complaints, blamed "predatory actions" by OPEC countries that "want to dominate the world with dictator oil," reminded Quebeckers they like to drive cars and go on airplane trips, and totted up the medical equipment recently sent by Alberta to other provinces. Having said it in English, he said it over again in French. Tsk-tsking and shaking his head, Kenney declared, "I would say to Mr. Blanchet and Madam May: Please stop kickin' us while we're down!" "These attacks on our natural resource industries are unwarranted, they are divisive, they're, I believe, in a way, un-Canadian at a time like this. It's like blaming the victim!" (Italics added for emphasis. And, yes, Kenney really said that.) Premier Kenney also took particular umbrage at Blanchet's remark that Quebec receives a string of insults from Alberta -- although anyone who has paid attention to political discourse in this province for the last half century would have trouble refuting the claim. After the news conference, backup was provided in columns filed by Bell and his Postmedia colleague Don Braid. Bell pronounced Blanchet and May to be "the Bobbsey Twins of B.S." and the "deluded duo," and accused them of choosing "to kick Alberta when we're down" and indulging "in a little curb-stomping." Braid, the Dinger's bookend of acceptable oilpatch opinion, charged them with "the foulest kind of cheap shot," to wit, saying "Alberta's oil and gas industry should be left prostrate in the dust with no help from the federal government." Well, there you have it: the debased state of political discourse in Alberta in the plague year 2020. It's not reassuring. David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, is a journalist, author, journalism teacher, poet and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions at The Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald. This post also appears on his blog, AlbertaPolitics.ca. Image: Screenshot of Government of Alberta video/YouTube Full Article
mi Reclaiming Mother's Day as a day to oppose war and injustice By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 19:27:46 +0000 Brent PattersonMother's Day is this Sunday, May 10. What is sometimes forgotten at this time of the year is that Mother's Day has its roots in the feminist struggle against militarism and war. Slate reports, "The women who originally celebrated Mother's Day conceived of it as an occasion to use their status as mothers to protest injustice and war ... In 1870, after witnessing the bloody Civil War, Julia Ward Howe -- a Boston pacifist, poet, and suffragist who wrote the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" -- proclaimed a special day for mothers to oppose war." Her original proclamation for the day states, "From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, 'Disarm, disarm! The sword is not the balance of justice.' Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession." National Geographic adds, Howe "promoted a Mothers' Peace Day beginning in 1872. For Howe and other antiwar activists ... Mother's Day was a way to promote global unity after the horrors of the American Civil War and Europe's Franco-Prussian War." And Jacobin magazine's Branko Marcetic notes, "At its 1874 anniversary, participants sang songs and read papers, including one calling for the abolition of standing armies and war armaments and the creation of a system for universal peace arbitration." While Mother's Day was recognized officially in the United States in 1914, the message behind the day appears to have been largely lost by 1917. Time reports, "When the United States joined World War I in 1917, and the war propaganda machine revved up, the burst of patriotism came with a renewed appreciation for mothers. Women were hailed both for raising the soldiers who were on the front lines and for the work they were doing on the home front, such as running fundraisers for the Red Cross. Mother's Day was a way to thank these women for their service." Over the past 100 years, the day has become increasingly commercialized and sentimentalized. It has been estimated that Canadians spend about $492 million on flowers, cards and gifts for Mother's Day each year. Imagine if even a fraction of that was spent on challenging patriarchy, militarism, weapons and war. This Mother's Day, let us work to reclaim the radical origins of the day, challenge war and militarism, and strive to deepen our understanding of the intersectionality between feminism, social justice, care for Mother Earth and peace. Brent Patterson is the Executive Director of Peace Brigades International-Canada. This article originally appeared on the PBI-Canada website. Follow @PBIcanada @CBrentPatterson on Twitter. Image: bravenewfoundation/Video Screenshot/YouTube Full Article
mi After the COVID-19 pandemic, older generations should reflect on the need for climate action By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 19:58:28 +0000 EnvironmentThe COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a cornucopia of reflections about what is to be learned from it. One of the issues around which this has been the case is climate change. There are a few ways in which climate change is linked to reflections on the pandemic. One of these links is seeing the pandemic and where there has been relative success in dealing with it as a good case study in the value of scientific advice over politics. The wish is that as a result science might regain a more secure foothold in the debate around climate change. This is generally coupled with a reflection on the extent to which the pandemic might have been even better prepared for and dealt with had early generic warnings about the likelihood of a pandemic been heeded, and also if warnings about the actual pandemic had been acted on earlier than they were at the beginning of 2020. The hope is that this lesson in the consequences of not heeding warnings will rub off on the climate change debate, if not on the most committed climate change deniers. Another link between the pandemic and climate change is one less reflected on, although I did see at least one article on it, and that is the whole issue of inter-generational ethics that arises. The lock downs associated with COVID-19 tended to be justified on two grounds: One was containing the spread in such a way as to prevent health-care systems from being overwhelmed, and the other had to do with containing the spread of the virus for the sake of the those who were most likely to die from it, namely the elderly, an argument certainly borne out by the statistics even if it is the case that some younger people seem, for reasons yet to be determined, very vulnerable. And so it was that multitudes of young people have had to put their lives and dreams on hold in order to safeguard the lives of many who are much older than them. Young people have mostly willingly and without complaint acceded to the moral imperative and practical wisdom of sacrificing things like their personal, educational, athletic, travel, financial and/or employment hopes for the greater good, specifically for the older generation in their society. Other groups, like frontline health-care workers, and those newly classified as working in essential jobs, like grocery store workers, have also been asked to make a disproportionate sacrifice. But that is for another article on how their real value has been revealed -- and how that value should be recognized in the post-pandemic world (better wages for one thing). Unfortunately, the link between the demands on the young in the pandemic containment strategy and the debate on climate change manifests itself in observing, so far, the unwillingness of populations, and their governments, to demand a reverse moral imperative from older citizens when it comes to sacrifices they might make for the sake of younger and future generations. What are older citizens prepared to sacrifice to safeguard the quality of the lives younger citizens will lead in the coming decades, by substantially reducing our carbon footprint, and seriously dealing with other environmental challenges? One could argue that, in the case of Canadians, the population has done its part by electing a majority of MPs committed to action on climate change, only to be let down by a government that wants to have its cake and eat it too on climate change by imposing a carbon tax and buying a pipeline. Nevertheless, as we emerge on the other side of the pandemic, hopefully sooner rather than later, it seems to me that there will be a new opportunity for moral reflection on what the generations owe each other. Of course right-wing politicians are always claiming to be worried about passing on fiscal debt to the next generation. But passing on an environmental deficit is a much more real and serious issue. Part of the moral logic of pandemic containment has been asking one generation to sacrifice for another. It seems only fair then that the political debate about climate change should at some point soon become much more focused on what the older generation can do for the younger generation. Demanding real action from their political leaders, even if it means locking down or at the very least winding down lifestyles that have become ingrained would be a good start. And for those who can afford it, showing a willingness to pay higher taxes to build the infrastructure of a sustainable and livable future would also be in order. Bill Blaikie, former MP and MLA, writes on Canadian politics, political parties and Parliament. Image: John Englart/Flickr COVID-19Climate Hope 2020Bill BlaikieMay 8, 2020Will there be a silver lining to this pandemic?During this pandemic, the planet is getting a deserved rest. But once lockdowns are lifted, we must restore biodiversity, reduce emissions and shift from an economy that promotes endless growth.Bailing out on the old normalWith grim economic prospects forecast as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, campaigns have launched to rebuild the economy differently.After this Earth Day, let's never go back to normalWith the same solidarity and collective action that we used to fight this virus, we can build a better future for everyone, and for the planet on which we all depend. Full Article
mi Ignoring plea from UN, Justin Trudeau refuses to lift sanctions on poor nations during pandemic By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 20:38:28 +0000 Politics in CanadaThese days, any national leader not actively urging their citizens to drink disinfectant is managing to look (relatively) good on the world stage. Certainly, compared to the neurotic leadership south of the border, Justin Trudeau has emerged as a steady hand on the tiller, quickly providing Canadians with a wide economic safety net and behaving like an adult in the crisis. So it's all the more disappointing that, out of the limelight, he's doing a great deal to make the situation worse during this pandemic for some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. I'm referring to the prime minister's decision to ignore a plea last month from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres -- and the Pope -- for nations to lift sanctions against other nations in order to help some of the weakest and poorest countries cope with the coronavirus crisis. That sounds like a reasonable request, under the circumstances. Indeed, even if we don't care about the world's vulnerable people, helping them deal with the crisis is in our interests too. As the UN leader noted: "Let us remember that we are only as strong as the weakest health system in our interconnected world." Yet Canada, ignoring the plea from the UN's highest official, continues in the midst of the pandemic to impose sanctions on 20 nations, including Lebanon, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Nicaragua and Yemen. While Canada's sanctions are typically aimed at punishing the regimes running these countries, the impact of the sanctions falls primarily on ordinary citizens, according to Atif Kubursi, professor emeritus of economics at McMaster University. Kubursi, who also served as a UN under-secretary-general and has extensive UN experience in the Middle East and Asia, says the impact of Canada's sanctions on the people in these countries is devastating. While the sanctions often appear to be directed exclusively at military items, they frequently end up being applied to virtually all goods -- including spare parts needed to operate machinery in hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, notes Kubursi, who signed a letter from prominent Canadians to Trudeau requesting the lifting of sanctions. For instance, if a Syrian businessman wants to buy Canadian products, he has to open an account for the transaction. But Kubursi says the Canadian government instructs Canadian banks not to allow such accounts for the purposes of trade with Syria -- no matter how benign the Canadian product may be, or how urgently it might be needed in Syria. For that matter, Ottawa's sanctions prevent Canadians from using our banks or financial services to transfer money to Syria -- for instance, to family members living in Syria. The impact of sanctions, while always painful, is particularly deadly during the pandemic, when even advanced nations have struggled to obtain life-saving equipment. While Canada's sanctions mostly date back to the Harper era or earlier, the Trudeau government has generally maintained them and even added new ones against Venezuela. Ottawa's sanctions appear primarily aimed at appeasing the U.S., which ruthlessly enforces sanctions against regimes it wishes to destabilize or overthrow. Washington also punishes countries and companies that don't co-operate with its sanctions. Ottawa's willingness to fall in line behind Washington is reflected in the fact it doesn't impose sanctions against U.S allies Saudi Arabia or Israel, despite Saudi Arabia's brutal murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi and Israel's illegal occupation of the West Bank. Even Israel's announcement that it plans to annex the West Bank in July has produced no sanctions or criticism from Canada. Trudeau's decision to continue sanctioning 20 nations seems quite out of sync with the spirit of the times, when it's hard to find a TV commercial that doesn't proclaim the sentiment that "we're all in this together." That spirit of international togetherness has been amply demonstrated by Cuba, which sent Cuban doctors to Italy to help its overwhelmed health care system and has offered similar medical help to First Nations in Canada. When 36 Cuban doctors arrived in Milan last month, a grateful Italy thanked them and Italians at the airport cheered. Meanwhile, Canada, in the spirit of the international togetherness, rebuffs Cuban doctors, ignores the UN and imposes sanctions on some of the world's poorest nations. Linda McQuaig is an author and journalist. This column, which appeared in The Toronto Star, is based on research from her new book The Sport & Prey of Capitalists. Image: CanadianPM/Video Screenshot/Twitter COVID-19Justin TrudeauLinda McQuaigMay 8, 2020Justin Trudeau should lift Canada's economic sanctions nowTrudeau cannot ignore the damage he is doing to the efforts to fight the novel coronavirus in 20 of the world's poorest countries by maintaining sanctions.The fury of the virus, the folly of war"End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world. It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now," United Nations Secretary General António Guterres said on March 23.Pandemic prompts United Nations call for global ceasefireSeventy countries have heeded the UN secretary-general's call to come together to fight COVID-19. If we can give up war during a pandemic, why can't we give it up permanently? Full Article
mi Cyberpunk 2077 News Coming June 11 By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 17:20:44 GMT The official Twitter account for Cyberpunk 2077 has teased new information on the game will be released on June 11 via "Night City Wire." CD Projekt RED global community lead Marcin Momot in a followup tweet that "Stuff will be shown!" GET READY!📺 pic.twitter.com/eqQ3hMCOmA — Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) May 5, 2020 Stuff will be shown! pic.twitter.com/XzgQLH0w9P — Marcin Momot (@Marcin360) May 5, 2020 Here is an overview of the game: In the most dangerous megacity of the future, the real you is not enough. Become V, a cyber-enhanced mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant — the key to immortality. Customize your cyberware and skillset, and explore a vast city of the future obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. The choices you make will determine the story and shape the world around you. Cyberpunk 2077 will launch for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC on September 17. A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443392/cyberpunk-2077-news-coming-june-11/ Full Article Analysis Charts Industry
mi PGA Tour 2K21 Announced, More Information Coming May 14 By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 17:57:41 GMT Publisher 2K Games and The Golf Club developer HB Studios have announced PGA Tour 2K21 and released a teaser trailer for the game. Platforms and a release date were not announced, however, more information on the game will be released on May 14. Visit the official website here. View the teaser trailer below: A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443403/pga-tour-2k21-announced-more-information-coming-may-14/ Full Article Analysis Charts Industry
mi Fortnite Tops 350 Million Registered Players By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 18:43:02 GMT The official Twitter account for the hugely popular free-to-play battle royale game, Fortnite, announced the game now has over 350 million registered players. In April, players spent over 3.2 billion hours in game. Epic Games plans to "the party going with our Party Royale Premiere LIVE on May 8 at 9pm ET." It will feature Deadmau5, Steve Aoki and Dillon Francis. The Party Royale will last an hour and take place on the big screen at the Main Stage. If you miss the Party Royale it will be rebroadcasted on May 9 at 2pm ET. Fortnite now has over 350 million registered players! In April, players spent over 3.2 billion hours in game. 🙌🥳Let’s keep the party going with our Party Royale Premiere LIVE on May 8 at 9PM ET featuring @DillonFrancis @steveaoki @deadmau5: https://t.co/H18c3UgBL1 pic.twitter.com/Cgt3r7LXQO — Fortnite (@FortniteGame) May 6, 2020 Read an overview of the Party Royale below: Let’s get ready to party! The Party Royale Premiere arrives on Friday, May 8, at 9 PM ET.Dillon Francis, Steve Aoki, and deadmau5 are coming to Party Royale with back-to-back-to-back sets LIVE on the big screen at the Main Stage. Hit the dance floor, chill with friends, or jump into activities in Party Royale. No RSVP Necessary If you can’t make it right at 9 PM ET, you can still catch the rest of the live show as long as you join before it ends at 10 PM ET. Bring on the Encore If you're still busy, don’t worry — the Party Royale Premiere will return for a rebroadcast. On May 9 from 2 PM to 3 PM ET, you can catch the full show once again at the Main Stage.And just like the first airing, you can still jump in during the show. Party Favors The Party Royale Premiere also has a party favor. Anyone who logs into Fortnite from Friday, May 8 at 6 PM ET to Monday, May 11 at 10 AM ET will get the new, music-reactive Neon Wings Back Bling for free! Perfect for wearing at the show.Beyond the Main Stage Shows at the Main Stage are just some of the many attractions at Party Royale. In this new experimental and evolving space, there are many things to do and places to explore. For example: take on aerial obstacle courses at Skydive Rift, participate in boat races at Fishsticks’ Boat Race, and grab items at The Plaza such as the new Paint Launcher.There are no weapons or mats in Party Royale — it’s all about just hanging out and having fun. No Sweat. All Chill. Let’s Party! Fortnite is available on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows PC, iOS, and Android. A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443407/fortnite-tops-350-million-registered-players/ Full Article Analysis Charts Industry
mi Paris Games Week 2020 Cancelled Due to Coronavirus Pandemic By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 15:27:30 GMT Paris Games Week 2020 organizer SELL announced it has cancelled this years event due to concerns over the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The event was set to run from October 23 to 27. Read the message from SELL below: Dear players, It is with great emotion that we have made the difficult decision to cancel Paris Games Week, initially scheduled from 23rd to 27th October and which would have marked our 10th anniversary. The current context and the necessary anticipation of both the technical and logistical complexities of an event such as Paris Games Week have led us to cancel this edition. This year should have been special, with a line-up full of new releases, and an anniversary edition which we were thrilled to celebrate with you. We are going to work with all the industry players to enable us all to live our passion. We are already preparing next year’s edition and are looking forward to seeing you again. Our Very Best Regards, The Paris Games Week Team A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443416/paris-games-week-2020-cancelled-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic/ Full Article Analysis Charts Industry
mi Dirt 5 Announced, Coming to Xbox Series X, PS5, PS4, Xbox One By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 17:09:48 GMT Codemasters during the latest Inside Xbox event announced Dirt 5 for the Xbox Series X. The game will also launch for the PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. It will release in October 2020. View the announcement trailer below: Read an overview of the game via Xbox below: Fresh out of the box from the latest Inside Xbox, myself and the whole Codemasters team are delighted to reveal Dirt 5 to the world (but especially you), launching this year on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X. For a while now, our dedicated development team in Cheshire, UK has been under the hood of this machine, turning a concept into reality. Well, gaming reality. You get what I mean. That concept? To make the boldest, bravest, most stylish off-road racing game ever made, where intense, competitive action is just the beginning of what blows you away in Dirt 5. To the uninitiated who may not be clued up on the legacy of Dirt, let’s go for a drive, all the way back to 1998, when Colin McRae Rally brought the world of off-road racing into gaming and into the mainstream. With the series morphing into Dirt in 2007, it’s delivered high-impact extreme racing ever since – most recently through the brutal, ultra-realistic Dirt Rally 2.0. This time around with Dirt 5, we’re doing things a little… differently. Take a peek at our announce trailer, first revealed exclusively during Inside Xbox, and you’ll see what we mean – from the stunning locations, to the epic racing, to the variety of vehicles and surfaces. We’re putting you behind the wheel of incredible off-road machines, in iconic real-world settings, to race through dynamic routes and extreme conditions. But don’t forget the concept. All that racing action is only part of the story. We wanted to go bigger, in all possible ways. Take Career, which hands you a deep story-based mode with a star-studded cast, led by the legendary Troy Baker and Nolan North. These legendary voices of gaming, and some familiar names from the car culture world, lay out a story with decision-based changes and a proper narrative to get your teeth into. There’s the franchise’s deepest livery editor and in-race Photo Mode, where you can show off your creative side. Then you’ve got the 12-player multiplayer action with playful objective-based modes, the four-player split-screen for offline frolics with your pals, and even more brand new features we’ll be revealing more on soon… I’m basically listing stuff at this point, but there’s so much going on here! And not to forget: Everything we’re laying out here is raised up a notch through the, quite frankly, intimidating power of Xbox Series X. The team here has made use of the tools to create an unprecedented level of graphical fidelity and optimized performance. What does that mean for you in Dirt 5? Constant action, greater potential in gameplay, and seeing every spec of mud kick up and splat onto your windscreen. Ah, bliss. Before I leave you, I wanted to give you a pro tip; a little pocket of knowledge to store away until Dirt 5 bursts onto the scene this Autumn. When you jump into this game, forget the norm. Forget expectations. Forget the ‘regular’ way of playing. Dirt 5 dares you – and rewards you – for being creative, stylish, and sometimes for being a straight-up lunatic. A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443421/dirt-5-announced-coming-to-xbox-series-x-ps5-ps4-xbox-one/ Full Article Analysis Charts Industry
mi Switch Shipments Reach 55.77 Million Units as of March 31, Animal Crossing: New Horizons Sells 12 Million By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Thu, 07 May 2020 17:49:57 GMT Nintendo has released its latest hardware and software figures for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS through March 31, 2020. Shipments figures for the Nintendo Switch reached 55.77 million units, while the Nintendo 3DS hit 75.77 million units shipped. As for lifetime software 356.24 million Switch games have been shipped and 383.11 million 3DS games. For the quarter Nintendo shipped 3.28 million Switch units and 45.59 million Switch games, as well as 0.07 million 3DS units and 0.89 million 3DS games. Nintendo forecasts it will ship 19 million Switch units in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021. Here are the top 10 best-selling Switch first-party titles: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 24.77 million Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 18.84 million The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 17.41 million Super Mario Odyssey – 17.41 million Pokemon Sword / Pokemon Shield – 17.37 million Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! – 11.97 million Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 11.77 million (first 11 days) / 13.41 million (first six weeks) Splatoon 2 – 10.13 million Super Mario Party – 10.10 million New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 6.60 million Nintendo also shared the sales figures of more games: Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 6.33 million Super Mario Maker 2 – 5.48 million The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – 4.38 million Fire Emblem: Three Houses – 2.87 million Ring Fit Adventure – 2.73 million Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX – 1.26 million Astral Chain – 1.08 million Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order – 1.08 million Nintendo in a separate report revealed sell-in figures for the Nintendo switch. For the 2020 fiscal year Nintendo sold 21.03 million Switch consoles, which is a 24 percent increase over the 16.95 million sold the previous year. Software sales for the fiscal year jumped 42.3 percent to 168.72 million games sold. Nintendo also revealed sell-through sales in three major regions for the 2020 fiscal year. In North America sales for the Switch were 7.67 million units, a 20 percent increase. In Europe, sales increased 19 percent to 5.37 million units, and in Japan sales jumped 33 percent to 5.06 million units. A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443417/switch-shipments-reach-5577-million-units-as-of-march-31-animal-crossing-new-horizons-sells-12-million/ Full Article Analysis Charts Industry
mi Infinite: Beyond The Mind (NS) By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 14:52:44 GMT In a gaming era rife with flashy, bombastic AAA software, there’s definitely still a place for classic button-mashing brawlers. Ditching the cinematic bells and whistles, these are games that get straight to the point, pummelling you with pure gameplay and near-constant action. Developer Emilie Coyo and Blowfish Studios superbly tap into that late-80s gaming feel with their thrilling action romp, Infinite: Beyond the Mind. Along with the recent renaissance of Streets of Rage, games like this remind one just how appealing this forgotten genre once was. Comparisons to the old TMNT games, Final Fight, and Double Dragon tend to be dredged up soon after being dropped into the action. At the same time, the game adds a bit of depth with some platforming level design to keep you on your toes. A few imperfections and simplicities hold it back from reaching the lofty heights of those gems, to be sure. Regardless, Infinite mostly succeeds in emulating retro beat ‘em ups at their peak. As you might expect with a 3 hour, pixelated button-mashing sprint, the story is marginal and cliche at best. You play as one of two women who have discovered the ability to use special powers. This has made them the target of a tyrannical Kingdom and its sorcerer queen, Evangelyn. The queen sends forth her brigades of pesky, heat-packing troops, bots, and artillery, which you must dash and slash your way through. These enemies range in terms of behaviors, as well as offensive and defensive prowess. Most, however, take the form of fairly stock military men wielding various weapons running the gamut from pistols to machine guns to grenades. There’s also a boss fight waiting for you after each multi-level biome, which proves exciting without being ridiculously tough. Playing as either Tanya or Olga, you’ll be given mostly the same palette of moves - and it's a limited one, to be sure. Your basic jump can be extended into a double jump, which you’ll sometimes need in order to hop across some tough-to-reach platforms. Additionally, you can perform a dash move, which drains a meter displayed beneath your health bar. Dashing is fun, satisfying, and also quite useful. You can use it to dodge mid-air projectiles, evade tough spots, leap across vast gaps, and flash through deadly lasers. You’re also able to roll, which is akin to a ground-level version of this dash. Your offensive abilities are a bit more limited, as they basically amount to frequent close-range slashing. However, with a full meter, you’ll eventually unlock more powerful, bullet-deflecting slashes while airborne. You can bust out an explosive, screen-wiping special move a couple of times per stage, too. Given the rarity of upgrades, the speed of your character, and lack of offensive moves, Infinite: Beyond the Mind tends to stress speed and survival over sheer firepower. Wailing on tons of foes in a short time will occasionally net you extra lives, and you’re rewarded with higher scores when knocking out a stage quickly. The majority of baddies can be slain with your close-range slash move in just a couple of hits. Still, you’ll usually want to measure their behaviors, rather than marching in while mindlessly button mashing. These anticipatory moves will help you dodge their projectiles and live to fight another day. Though you’ll stumble upon health and extra life pickups at times, these are scarce - as are the checkpoints, which only kick in at the conclusion of each “area.” The game further adheres to this unforgivable NES style by allowing you to save only at the end of each multi-area stage, granting you only a few lives and a short health bar in the process. This grind-it-out showdown is even tougher with the “expert” difficulty setting, as your health bar is even shorter and the ability to save is stripped away. Basically, you’ll want to be sharp, especially on the highest difficulty. As you power through the 16 stages (each of which contains 2 or 3 bite-sized areas plus a boss), more competent and dangerous foes start showing up. You’ll come upon certain enemies covering in trenches, popping out of trucks, or posted up on high platforms. You’ll even run into tough vehicles and machinery like helicopters and robots. It certainly adds to the difficulty, while keeping feelings of repetition at bay. One neat little inclusion is the ability to occasionally match this firepower by way of saddling up in a stationary tank. While inside, you can mow down waves of incoming troops all around you for a short time. Similarly, you’ll also be forced into static survival portions sans the tank, which can amp up the intensity quite a bit. There are even a couple of flying and scrolling areas to mix things up. In general, the game walks that tightrope nicely in terms of difficulty - at least on its default setting. It can seem a bit chaotic at first with the breadth of projectiles from multiple areas, especially since you can only answer with close-range hits. Still, Infinite becomes far simpler once you’ve taken your lumps a couple of times and get a feel for the baddies and the stage layout. It’s easier when you’re prepared to handle that incoming tank or chopper, or can anticipate that electric wall or falling platform. Rarely did I feel like my deaths were anything but my own fault. With that said, the Double Dragon-esque push backs that sometimes knocked me into pits didn’t exactly feel just. The control method makes a difference in tightening things up and offering a smoother experience. I wouldn’t typically stress opting for a D-pad-laced Joy-con, but in this case the improvement is vast. Seriously, if you’re inclined to make the most out of the game, consider shelling out for the HORI D-Pad left Joy-con. Infinite is still suitable when mashing the standard directional buttons, for the record, but there’s a level of swiftness and precision with the D-pad controller that meshes perfectly with the fast-paced, NES-style experience. Tanya/Olga seem to genuinely move around quicker and more sharply. Another addition that’s both helpful and enjoyable is simultaneous co-op. In true Final Fight fashion, two players can kick some butt at once, doubling both the fun and efficiency in combat. Playing with separate Joy-cons isn’t always the most comfortable or intuitive, but the added offense makes up for some of that. Any real blemishes of this game mostly boil down to nitpicks, and major flaws are few and far between. There’s the aforementioned prominence of push-backs while getting hit, but only rarely do these coax catastrophic death plummets. Also, while the environmental detail and layering is nice, it can sometimes be tough to make out just where you can jump and where you can’t. Jumping onto ladders to climb can also be a somewhat spotty, finicky endeavor, though these aren’t abundant at least. Infinite: Beyond the Mind won’t blow any minds with its (literal) straightforward gameplay and brevity. Nonetheless, it makes for a fun, delightful throwback to the side-scrolling brawlers of decades past. This tight, undiluted action gameplay is complemented by a charming pixel-art-meets-anime style and appealing synthetic tunes. The 16-bit sprites add some retro character, though they’re really put to good use with the multi-layered backgrounds and colorful, vibrant biomes. These range from military bases to industrial furnaces to ice tundras. Overall, Infinite is a captivating action sidescroller that early 90s brawler fans, in particular, should get a kick out of. It’s a short and fairly basic experience, but worth checking out at just 10USD. Play with a friend or use a D-pad attachment to really get the most out of this already enjoyable romp.Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443401/infinite-beyond-the-mind-ns/ Full Article Analysis Charts Industry
mi Gabber Eleganza & HDMIRROR chase euphoria on ‘Frozen Dopamina’ By www.factmag.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 13:00:34 +0000 The world according to two of the scene’s most dedicated rave architects. Gabber Eleganza and HDMIRROR make a formidable duo on their new collaborative track ‘Frozen Dopamina’, which arrives with a video capturing the world at its most euphoric. The track is taken from The Real Life, a new collaborative release from the two producers […] The post Gabber Eleganza & HDMIRROR chase euphoria on ‘Frozen Dopamina’ appeared first on FACT Magazine. Full Article Video Gabber Eleganza sticky4 HDMIRROR Live From Earth Klub
mi Here's a peek at Dwarf Fortress's upcoming non-ASCII maps By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 15:28:22 +0000 As part of its eventual launch on Steam, daunting simulation Dwarf Fortress has been planning a big visual overhaul. “Now with graphics!” Bay 12 proclaim on the store page. In a new little update, they’re giving us a look at what the generated world maps will look like with these non-ASCII pixels—though, yes, you’ll still […] Full Article PC Game News Bay 12 Games Kitfox Games
mi Apex Legends is adding a horde mode-looking PvE mission next week By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 19:06:54 +0000 Season 5 of Respawn Entertainment’s hero-based battle royale kicks off next week and it looks like they’re doing more than just blowing up the map. This new Apex Legends trailer shows off what appears to be a horde mode PvE quest initiated by the newest Legend of the bunch: Loba. It looks like you’ll be […] Full Article PC Game News Electronic Arts Respawn Entertainment
mi Monster-fighting action game Scarlet Nexus is coming to PC By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 20:48:08 +0000 This anime-style action game about fighting off the creatively-named “others” was one of the many trailers we peeped during Xbox’s big reveal real yesterday. Bandai Namco have announced that Scarlet Nexus is actually coming to PC as well, so we’ll get to do a bit of monster butt-kickin’ too. Is that an evil bouquet of […] Full Article PC Game News Bandai Namco Bandai Namco Entertainment Bandai Namco Studios
mi SIM swapping and poor web security may put millions of people at risk By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 22 Jan 2020 17:20:14 +0000 A review of two-factor authentication methods, which involve websites sending confirmation texts to your phone, has found that millions of people may risk having their online accounts hacked Full Article
mi Don't Miss: Escape the deep, explore mind and body and meet van Gogh By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 29 Jan 2020 18:00:00 +0000 This week, watch nail-biting drama as researchers escape an underwater lab, discover physical intelligence – humans' most essential ability – and visit Vincent van Gogh Full Article
mi US military face recognition system could work from 1 kilometre away By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Sat, 15 Feb 2020 10:00:46 +0000 The US Special Operations Command is developing a portable face-recognition system designed to identify people 1 kilometre away. It could also be used by law enforcement Full Article
mi Don't miss: Emotional veg, antique innovations and spooky maths By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 12 Feb 2020 18:00:00 +0000 This week, hide behind the sofa from mind-altering plants, listen and learn from technologies past and find out how the world is underpinned by numbers Full Article
mi Gold-coated fabric that emits own light could be ultimate safety gear By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 04 Mar 2020 16:00:04 +0000 Clothes that light up by themselves could be a high-tech replacement to high-visibility gear worn by cyclists and construction workers Full Article
mi Gamifying hate: How alt-right extremists recruit and mobilise online By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 04 Mar 2020 18:00:00 +0000 Julia Ebner infiltrated the hidden forums that extremists use. Her experiences lay bare how they hijack social media and video games to spread hate – and how to beat them Full Article
mi Robot with origami leaves can follow the sun like a real plant By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Mon, 09 Mar 2020 20:00:27 +0000 A robot can recreate the mechanism plants use to transport water to bend itself towards the sun and open its leaves like a real plant Full Article
mi To make smartphones sustainable, we need to rethink thermodynamics By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 11 Mar 2020 18:00:00 +0000 The data centres servicing our beloved digital devices gobble huge amounts of electricity. A new way to think about heat and energy could help us meet growing demand without burning through the world's resources Full Article
mi Artificial leaves made from aluminium could keep windows frost-free By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 12:00:49 +0000 In winter, the veins of leaves don’t get completely covered in frost. Mimicking this effect could be the best way to create ice-resistant surfaces Full Article
mi Death researcher on pandemics and our fascination with dying By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:00:00 +0000 Pandemics of the past can teach us about the current one, says John Troyer, who studies how we use technology to alter the experience of death Full Article
mi How DeepMind's artificial intelligence is reinventing the eye exam By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Tue, 31 Mar 2020 12:28:15 +0000 Join Pearse Keane to find out why the NHS is collaborating with AI company DeepMind and how deep learning could transform ophthalmology Full Article
mi Microrobots made from pollen help remove toxic mercury from wastewater By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 01 Apr 2020 08:00:10 +0000 Pollen has a natural tendency to adsorb mercury and forms the basis of a new class of tiny robots that speed through toxic water to purify it Full Article
mi Deepmind AI can understand the unusual atomic structure of glass By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Mon, 06 Apr 2020 16:00:06 +0000 Glass has an unusual atomic structure that resembles a liquid frozen in place, making it hard to predict how it will behave. DeepMind has developed an AI capable of doing so, which may also be able to predict traffic jams Full Article
mi Resident Evil 3 review: A glimpse into post-pandemic fiction By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Tue, 07 Apr 2020 13:50:29 +0000 The video game Resident Evil 3 was in development long before the coronavirus outbreak, but it holds up a mirror to the strange times we live in today Full Article
mi The US Navy patented a device to make laser ‘ghost planes’ in mid-air By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 22 Apr 2020 06:00:58 +0000 The US Navy is researching how to use lasers to form plasma into 2D or 3D infrared images of aeroplanes that can distract heat-seeking missiles Full Article
mi Microwaved bamboo could be used to build super-strong skyscrapers By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 16:41:38 +0000 Bamboo is a renewable material that when microwaved becomes stronger by weight than steel or concrete – which could make it ideal for constructing buildings, cars and planes Full Article
mi Robot with pincers can detect and remove weeds without harming crops By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 29 Apr 2020 17:07:03 +0000 A robot that uses artificial intelligence to find and remove weeds could eventually be used as an alternative to chemical insecticides Full Article
mi MIDI 2.0: The code that will define the future of sound has arrived By www.newscientist.com Published On :: Wed, 06 May 2020 18:00:00 +0000 Four decades ago, we introduced a standard way of encoding digital sound. Its first ever upgrade could lead to new genres of music and ways of experiencing sound Full Article
mi Pandemic Robots Deployed in Singapore Parks to Remind Humans of Their Own Mortality By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 13:00:26 +0000 As well as announcing reminders to stay away from each other, the robots also estimate how many people are in the park at any given time. Full Article
mi Zens Comes Closest to Delivering the Wireless Charger Apple AirPower Promised to Be By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 18:00:59 +0000 It delivers almost all the functionality Apple promised, with a steep Apple-like price tag to match. Full Article
mi Despite Record Streaming Subscriptions, Disney Is Tiptoeing Around the Cinema Drama – For Now By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 20:00:05 +0000 As a very ugly standoff develops between legacy cinemas and legacy studios, Disney appears to be playing its cards close to its chest. Full Article
mi Boba Fett is Reportedly Coming to The Mandalorian By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 08:00:19 +0000 Boba Fett has been on Lucasfilm’s to-do list for a while now. Full Article
mi Google Duo Courts the PG Crowd With Addition of 'Family Mode' By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 09:00:04 +0000 Google has been folding in a score of updates to help delineate Duo from the dozens of other video chat services available. Full Article
mi Teenager Accused of Leading Ring of 'Evil Geniuses' on £19.3 Million 'Cybercrime Spree' By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 10:00:17 +0000 The hacker in question hasn't even graduated high school yet. Full Article
mi Bioluminescent Waves Draw Crowds to California Beaches By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 13:00:15 +0000 It’s quite the spectacle, but the light show is leading people to be less than cautious about social distancing. Full Article
mi Top-Secret Space Plane Set to Launch on Not-So-Secret Science Mission By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 15:00:51 +0000 X-37B? Sorry, I thought you said your name was X Æ A-12. Full Article
mi QAnon Nuts Euphoric Over Latest Turn in Michael Flynn’s Legal Case By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 00:16:00 GMT Photo Illustration by Lyne Lucien/The Daily Beast/GettyRoy “Captain Roy D” Davis has devoted much of the last three years to the QAnon conspiracy theory, writing books pitching the concept to new fans and getting his car repainted with an enormous “Q” on the hood. Through it all, he’s been utterly convinced that former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn—a central figure to much of the Q community—was the victim of an anti-Trump cabal orchestrated by the leaders of the deep state. He corresponded with other Flynn supporters following his legal case, and donated proceeds from one of his books to Flynn’s legal fund. So when Davis saw on Thursday that the Justice Department would drop its charges against Flynn for lying to the FBI, Davis was euphoric.“He’s a hero of mine,” Davis said. “I wouldn’t do all of these things just out of the blue.”Read more at The Daily Beast. Full Article Politics
mi One Family’s Frantic Search to Get the Drugs to Combat COVID-19 By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 01:22:40 GMT Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast/GettyMarissa Guale is like all too many Americans right now. Her husband and father of her two children, Raul, is on a ventilator in a hospital on Long Island, fighting for his life while sick with COVID-19. Raul, a 34-year-old nurse, likely caught the disease while working in a nursing home. When the National Institutes of Health announced an emergency use authorization for the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir, Marissa scrambled friends and family on Facebook to figure out how to get access for Raul, emailing hospital administrators, senators, and doctors. They pressed the Guale family’s case for a potentially lifesaving treatment on social media to anyone who would listen.Her confusion about where and how to get access to the drug isn’t unique. All over the country, families, doctors, and hospitals are wondering how to get the drug and on what basis it’s being distributed. The Trump administration, which is in charge of allocation, hasn’t published any guidance on how it’s making decisions about the scarce supplies of the drug.So who decides which hospitals get remdesivir? And what’s the most ethical way to prioritize access?Read more at The Daily Beast. Full Article U.S. News
mi Rosie O’Donnell Reveals She’s Helping Michael Cohen With His ‘Spicy’ Trump Tell-All Book By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 08:58:46 GMT Photo Illustration by The Daily BeastOn Friday afternoon, I had a fun, wide-ranging conversation with Rosie O’Donnell, the renowned comedian, daytime TV host, philanthropist, and Trump Enemy No. 1. The occasion for our talk was I Know This Much Is True, an HBO miniseries premiering May 10 which sees the A League of Their Own star flex her dramatic muscles like never before as Lisa Sheffer, a no-nonsense social worker at a mental health facility housing Thomas Birdsey (Mark Ruffalo).Over the course of our chat—which will run Monday, May 11—we touched on not only the show (she is excellent) but Trump’s years-long vendetta against her, the Tara Reade allegations, and the untimely death of SMILF amid claims of misconduct against creator and star Frankie Shaw. Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Full Article Entertainment
mi This Coronavirus ‘Alarmist’ Looks Pretty Good Right Now By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 09:14:30 GMT Photo by Bergmann Zwerdlin. Courtesy Eric Feigl-Ding“HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.” That’s how epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding began a since-deleted 14-tweet thread on Jan. 25 warning about the “thermonuclear pandemic level bad” infectiousness of the coronavirus that broke out in Wuhan, China.The first confirmed U.S. case had been announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) days earlier outside Seattle. But the disease was not widely understood to be a potentially nightmarish pandemic. Many infectious disease experts had been ignored despite warning for years that the U.S. was not prepared for a seemingly inevitable health crisis. Feigl-Ding, a visiting scientist at Harvard’s Department of Nutrition, wanted to help ensure their message was heard.Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Full Article U.S. News
mi COVID Bailout Cash Goes to Big Players That Have Paid Millions To Settle Allegations Of Wrongdoing By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 09:16:43 GMT GettyBy Rachana Pradhan and Fred Schulte | Kaiser Health NewsThe Trump administration has sent hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic-related bailouts to health care providers with checkered histories, including a Florida-based cancer center that agreed to pay a $100 million criminal penalty as part of a federal antitrust investigation.At least half of the top 10 recipients, part of a group that received $20 billion in emergency funding from the Department of Health and Human Services, have paid millions in recent years either in criminal penalties or to settle allegations related to improper billing and other practices, a Kaiser Health News review of government records shows.Read more at The Daily Beast. Full Article U.S. News
mi Lockdown warning: Tory MP Baker 'gravely concerned' at coronavirus economic damage By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2020 15:23:00 +0100 THE CORONAVIRUS lockdown is now causing serious damage to the UK's economy, Tory MP Steve Baker has warned - stressing he was now "gravely concerned" at the situation Full Article
mi State Pension top up: Can you top up missed National Insurance contributions? By feedproxy.google.com Published On :: Sat, 09 May 2020 14:12:00 +0100 STATE PENSIONS are calculated by National Insurance contributions - but can you top up any missed years? Full Article
