INPEX selects IBM to manage operation critical apps in Australia

At a time when the world is piecing itself back together,
There are those who want to rip it apart again.
Teddy Lupin is about to learn how powerful his godfather truly is.

After some discussion with the applied math research groups here at UCLA (in particular the groups led by Andrea Bertozzi and Deanna Needell), one of the members of these groups, Chris Strohmeier, has produced a proposal for a Polymath project to crowdsource in a single repository (a) a collection of public data sets relating to […]

Emmy Nominee Leslye Headland to write, produce, and serve as showrunner for new untitled Star Wars series for Disney+.

Get behind-the-scenes peeks from the production of The Mandalorian with personal photos from Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and many more.

My favorite board game as a child in the early 1980s was Clue. Put the clues together, use your deduction skills, and solve the mystery before anyone else. Aha, now you’ve got it! Aren’t you the smart one! Board games have come a long way since then, with increasing complexity in structure and mechanics; deduction games are no exception. If you liked Clue as a child, you’ll probably love Cryptid.

Released by Osprey Games, Cryptid is a deduction game designed by Hal Duncan and Ruth Veevers. Players take on the role of cryptozoologists searching for an unidentified cryptid (an animal that people claim exists, but which has yet to be verified) in North America.

The geographic search area in Cryptid is comprised of six modular board tiles, which are arranged in rows of two tiles each stacked to form a 2x3 grid, which looks like this:

Because the boards can be rotated and moved around, this results in around 46,000 different board set-ups. There are five terrain types possible for each hexagonal space: water (blue), mountain (gray), forest (green), swamp (purple), or desert (yellow). These colored spaces are clustered and liberally distributed all over the board. The geography also includes cougar territory (outlined with red) and bear territory (outlined with a dashed black line). Finally, there are structures placed within the territory- standing stones and abandoned shacks - which can be blue, white, green, or black. A deck of cards is provided to guide players in arranging the boards and selecting clues to be used in the game. Each time Cryptid is played, a new card is selected from the deck. One side of the card has a picture depicting how the boards should be arranged and the other side has, based on player count (3, 4, or 5), an assigned clue from the player clue books given the arrangement.

Players can also use the Cryptid app to generate the maps and clue assignments. Using the deck of cards or the app, the game designers have carefully assigned each player only one piece of information from a set of 24 clues, such as “The habitat is within one space of forest” (this is for the normal game; the advanced game allows negative information such as “The habitat is not within one space of forest.”, which pushes the set of clues to 48). These pieces of information, when coupled with the constructed game board, result in only one possible space for the cryptid to be located, out of 108 spaces. The seemingly innumerable variations and possible combinations are truly dizzying. Cryptid is a game that would be difficult to create and implement outside of the modern computing age - I’m certain the designers used an algorithm to generate all the possible combinations.

At the start of the game, each player chooses a space on the board where, according to their clue, the Cryptid could not be located, and places a cube on that space. This action is repeated one more time, so that every player has 2 cubes on the board before the game begins. Over the course of the game, players take turns selecting a space on the map and then either (1) asking another player whether, according to that player’s clue, the Cryptid could be located there, or (2) initiating a search to indicate they think the Cryptid is likely there. If asking another player, the player who is to answer does so by placing a cube in the space (if it can’t be there) or by placing a circle in the space (if it could). If the player answers with a cube, then the asking player must also place a cube somewhere on the map to share information with others. If a search has been initiated, the player places a circle in the space and then the player to the left of the player whose turn it is places either a cube or circle in the space to indicate the possibility of the Cryptid’s presence. If a cube is placed, the searching player must place a cube on the board as when they are asking, and the turn ends. If a circle is placed, the next player in line, going clockwise, places either a cube or circle, and so on. If all players place a circle on the space, the searching player has found the Cryptid and won the game. Otherwise, play continues with the next player’s turn.

The components in Cryptid are well constructed. The modular boards are sturdy cardboard and the wooden pieces (five colors for each of the possible players, and pieces for the standing stones and abandoned shacks in four colors) are high quality. The artwork is functional, and I would have liked to see more detail put into the shacks and stones, but because this game is one-step away from an abstract deduction game, the artwork isn’t the focus. The real focus is on the critical thinking aspect of the game, which is where it really shines. Every single time I played this game over the past six months, I watched my opponents, both on their turns and between their turns, quietly furrowing their brows and cycling between examining the board and examining the set of possible clues, as they frantically tried to deduce which clue belonged to which player, based on the cubes and circles presently laid out on the board. That’s because once you have discerned what each player’s clue is, you just need to find the one spot on the map that satisfies all of them, and you’ve won the game.

A big debate around our gaming table was whether to allow players to take notes during the game. My husband drew a big advantage over others during a game in which we house ruled that notes were ok. That isn’t surprising since he has a PhD in statistics. Once you reduce Cryptid to a math problem on paper, the more adept mathematicians will likely pull into the lead. After that, I came out strongly against note taking and remain in the no notes camp still today. Of course, your experiences and preferences may vary. If you’ve a whole crowd of math gurus, having a “math off” might be fun for you.

Cryptid is subject to a significant amount of analysis paralysis. It never seemed to bother any of the players around our table though, because while the active player is deep in analytical though, so are the rest of the players. It isn’t as though you spend the time between your turns twiddling your thumbs growing impatient. In fact, it’s nice to have the time to work out what your next move is going to be while the other players are taking their turns.

Cryptid is not my favorite board game. My top picks in the category all provide rich theming, a deep narrative, and detailed artwork. That’s just my personal bias toward those types of games. But Cryptid is my favorite abstract game. I can’t think of a single abstract game that outshines Cryptid. It’s worthy of a spot in any serious gamer’s collection.

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Publisher: Osprey Games
Players: 3-5
Actual Playing Time (vs the guideline on the box): 60 minutes
Game type:  deduction

Rating:

Jenni’s rating scale:
OUI: I would play this game again; this game is ok. I probably would not buy this game myself but I would play it with those who own it and if someone gave it to me I would keep it.
OUI OUI: I would play this game again; this game is good. I would buy this game.
OUI OUI OUI: I LOVE THIS GAME. I MUST HAVE THIS GAME.
NON: I would not play this game again. I would return this game or give it away if it was given to me

The Solutions to the Climate Crisis No One is Talking About

Both our economy and the environment are in crisis. Wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few while the majority of Americans struggle to get by. The climate crisis is worsening inequality, as those who are most economically vulnerable bear the brunt of flooding, fires, and disruptions of supplies of food, water, and power.

At the same time, environmental degradation and climate change are themselves byproducts of widening inequality. The political power of wealthy fossil fuel corporations has stymied action on climate change for decades. Focused only on maximizing their short-term interests, those corporations are becoming even richer and more powerful — while sidelining workers, limiting green innovation, preventing sustainable development, and blocking direct action on our dire climate crisis.

Make no mistake: the simultaneous crisis of inequality and climate is no fluke. Both are the result of decades of deliberate choices made, and policies enacted, by ultra-wealthy and powerful corporations.

We can address both crises by doing four things:

First, create green jobs. Investing in renewable energy could create millions of family sustaining, union jobs and build the infrastructure we need for marginalized communities to access clean water and air. The transition to a renewable energy-powered economy can add 550,000 jobs each year while saving the US economy $78 billion through 2050. In other words, a Green New Deal could turn the climate crisis into an opportunity - one that both addresses the climate emergency and creates a fairer and more equitable society.

Second, stop dirty energy. A massive investment in renewable energy jobs isn’t enough to combat the climate crisis. If we are going to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must tackle the problem at its source: Stop digging up and burning more oil, gas, and coal.

The potential carbon emissions from these fossil fuels in the world’s currently developed fields and mines would take us well beyond the 1.5°C increased warming that Nobel Prize winning global scientists tell us the planet can afford. Given this, it’s absurd to allow fossil fuel corporations to start new dirty energy projects.

Even as fossil fuel companies claim to be pivoting toward clean energy, they are planning to invest trillions of dollars in new oil and gas projects that are inconsistent with global commitments to limit climate change. And over half of the industry’s expansion is projected to happen in the United States. Allowing these projects means locking ourselves into carbon emissions we can’t afford now, let alone in the decades to come.

Even if the U.S. were to transition to 100 percent renewable energy today, continuing to dig fossil fuels out of the ground will lead us further into climate crisis. If the U.S. doesn’t stop now, whatever we extract will simply be exported and burned overseas. We will all be affected, but the poorest and most vulnerable among us will bear the brunt of the devastating impacts of climate change.

Third, kick fossil fuel companies out of our politics. For decades, companies like Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and BP have been polluting our democracy by pouring billions of dollars into our politics and bankrolling elected officials to enact policies that protect their profits. The oil and gas industry spent over $103 million on the 2016 federal elections alone. And that’s just what they were required to report: that number doesn’t include the untold amounts of “dark money” they’ve been using to buy-off politicians and corrupt our democracy. The most conservative estimates still put their spending at 10 times that of environmental groups and the renewable energy industry.

As a result, American taxpayers are shelling out $20 billion a year to bankroll oil and gas projects – a huge transfer of wealth to the top. And that doesn’t even include hundreds of billions of dollars of indirect subsidies that cost every United States citizen roughly $2,000 a year. This has to stop.

And we’ve got to stop giving away public lands for oil and gas drilling. In 2018, under Trump, the Interior Department made $1.1 billion selling public land leases to oil and gas companies, an all-time record – triple the previous 2008 record, totaling more than 1.5 million acres for drilling alone, threatening multiple cultural sites and countless wildlife. As recently as last September, the Trump administration opened 1.56 million acres of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, threatening Indigenous cultural heritage and hundreds of species that call it home.

That’s not all. The ban on exporting crude oil should be reintroduced and extended to other fossil fuels. The ban, in place for 40 years, was lifted in 2015, just days after the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement. After years of campaigning by oil executives, industry heads, and their army of lobbyists, the fossil fuel industry finally got its way.

We can’t wait for these changes to be introduced in 5 or 10 years time — we need them now.

Fourth, require the fossil fuel companies that have profited from environmental injustice compensate the communities they’ve harmed.

As if buying-off our democracy wasn’t enough, these corporations have also deliberately misled the public for years on the amount of damage their products have been causing. 

For instance, as early as 1977, Exxon’s own scientists were warning managers that fossil fuel use would warm the planet and cause irreparable damage. In the 1980s, Exxon shut down its internal climate research program and shifted to funding a network of advocacy groups, lobbying arms, and think tanks whose sole purpose was to cloud public discourse and block action on the climate crisis. The five largest oil companies now spend about $197 million a year on ad campaigns claiming they care about the climate — all the while massively increasing their spending on oil and gas extraction.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans, especially poor, Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, already have to fight to drink clean water and breathe clean air as their communities are devastated by climate-fueled hurricanes, floods, and fires. As of 2015, nearly 21 million people relied on community water systems that violated health-based quality standards. 

Going by population, that’s essentially 200 Flint, Michigans, happening all at once. If we continue on our current path, many more communities run the risk of becoming “sacrifice zones,” where citizens are left to survive the toxic aftermath of industrial activity with little, if any, help from the entities responsible for creating it.

Climate denial and rampant pollution are not victimless crimes. Fossil fuel corporations must be held accountable, and be forced to pay for the damage they’ve wrought.

If these solutions sound drastic to you, it’s because they are. They have to be if we have any hope of keeping our planet habitable. The climate crisis is not a far-off apocalyptic nightmare — it is our present day.

Australia’s bushfires wiped out a billion animals, California’s fire season wreaks more havoc every year, and record-setting storms are tearing through our communities like never before. 

Scientists tell us we have 10 years left to dramatically reduce emissions. We have no room for meek half-measures wrapped up inside giant handouts to the fossil fuel industry. 

We deserve a world without fossil fuels. A world in which workers and communities thrive and our shared climate comes before industry profits. Working together, I know we can make it happen. We have no time to waste.

I have been extremely neglectful about posting! Probert turned 6 on Halloween and everyone else is doing great! Here's a picture of Probert in his new crate that Dan magically found in the garbage on the exact same day that I was going to buy Probert a new crate! Look how much he loves it! :)

An epic arc reaches its pulse-pounding conclusion as Ken and Robin confront the wonder and terror of the Sno-Voyageurs Cookbook! (And also talk the system matters debate, Profumo Affair and 1911 Ark of the Covenant expedition)

As the coronavirus pandemic has forced us to break out of our normal sports and fitness routines, these innovators -- and professional athletes -- are making the most of their time at home with creative takes on the games and workouts we know and love.

Posted by: cyberghostface

 

NSFW for gore

( Scans under the cut... )

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Posted by: laughing_tree



Expect evil ravens, hipsters performing pun-magic and John getting drunker than you’ve ever seen him before. Fun. -- Si Spurrier

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Hey.  This isn’t a real post but I thought you might enjoy. Recently the Yorkshire Museum had a curator battle where they challenged museums to post the #creepiestobject in their collection on twitter.  And it was fantastic and a million … Continue reading →

It's a new month, and that usually means I'm supposed to write a monthly update on the progress with Kandria. Thinking about that though made me feel very depressed because I realised that I hadn't really done anything at all for the game, all of April.

I can blame however much I want of that on the quarantine and university stress, or whatever else, but it won't change the fact that there has not been much progress on any front. While I have been slacking a lot, it's not like I haven't been working at all - plenty of time has gone into Courier, after all.

When I had this realisation yesterday, I tried my best to push myself to work on the game any way I could, but I failed to find anything that I could actually convince myself to do. That isn't to say that there aren't things to do; god forbid there's a tonne of things! Tuning combat, drawing animations, writing the UI, fixing dialogue, starting on enemy AI, optimising performance - just to name a few. And yet, despite the breadth and depth of things to do, there was absolutely nothing that looked appealing to me.

This kind of feeling is nothing new to me. It's a creative block, and happens more often that I'd like to admit. It's also why I often don't like to start long running projects, because I'm afraid of a creative block that would ruin it. The worst part about the creative block is that there's no remedy for it. You just get stuck in a rut, and it sucks a whole lot for a completely unpredictable amount of time. Often what I end up doing, whether consciously so or not, is switching to another project and just working on that.

So far that project has been Courier, but that's at its end and I'm also starting to feel burnt out on it, too. I don't have any other projects queued up that I'd like to tackle, or new ideas on what to do at the moment, so I'm just... stuck.

I suppose the right thing to do in this situation is to take it easy and not fret too much over it, since that's often one of the many factors causing the block. I've never been good at actually doing that, though. Maybe I should try to take a break from programming in general? I don't know.

You may be wondering why I'm writing this all to begin with. Well, partly I feel like I promised to do monthly and weekly updates, and I really hate to break that promise without notice. Another part is that I just feel like I owe you the discretion to tell you what's going on with me. I'm very thankful for the email replies and general responses I've gotten for Kandria so far, I really am! Because of that genuine interest, I feel all the more pressured not to disappoint. Since I have nothing to show though, I thought the only proper course of action is to just be open and direct about it. So I'll just say it again: aside from updating the public demo, no progress has been made at all.

Maybe it would help me to have a more open discussion about this topic in general, instead of just it being me telling you that I'm in a bad place. So please, let me know: have you been in similar situations before? What helped you deal with them? Is there something in Kandria I could try to focus on that you, personally, would like to see?

You can reach me at shinmera@tymoon.eu.

The Worst Things For Sale is Drew's blog. It updates every day. Subscribe to the Worst Things For Sale RSS!