Month: August 2024
‘A Crisis Entirely of Humanity’s Making’: UN Chief Issues Climate SOS on Trip To Pacific
Pacific island nations are in “grave danger” from rising sea levels and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late,” the UN chief has warned during a visit to Tonga. From a report: The UN secretary general, AntÃnio Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific and listen to the science” as he released two new reports on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most important annual political gathering. Sea-surface temperatures in the south-west Pacific have risen three times faster than the global average since 1980, according to a regional report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and released on Tuesday. It also found that marine heatwaves in the region had roughly doubled in frequency since 1980 and become more intense and longer-lasting.
The report said 34 mostly storm or flood-related “hydrometeorological hazard events” in the south-west Pacific last year led to more than 200 deaths and affected more than 25 million people. In a second report published on Tuesday, the UN’s climate action team warned that the climate crisis and sea-level rise were “no longer distant threats,” especially for the Pacific’s small island developing states. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded with high confidence in 2021 that the global mean sea level was rising at rates unprecedented in at least the last 3,000 years as a result of human-induced global warming.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Pacific island nations are in “grave danger” from rising sea levels and the world must “answer the SOS before it is too late,” the UN chief has warned during a visit to Tonga. From a report: The UN secretary general, AntÃnio Guterres, urged the world to “look to the Pacific and listen to the science” as he released two new reports on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most important annual political gathering. Sea-surface temperatures in the south-west Pacific have risen three times faster than the global average since 1980, according to a regional report compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and released on Tuesday. It also found that marine heatwaves in the region had roughly doubled in frequency since 1980 and become more intense and longer-lasting.
The report said 34 mostly storm or flood-related “hydrometeorological hazard events” in the south-west Pacific last year led to more than 200 deaths and affected more than 25 million people. In a second report published on Tuesday, the UN’s climate action team warned that the climate crisis and sea-level rise were “no longer distant threats,” especially for the Pacific’s small island developing states. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded with high confidence in 2021 that the global mean sea level was rising at rates unprecedented in at least the last 3,000 years as a result of human-induced global warming.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Mark Zuckerberg regrets not pushing back on Biden’s COVID “pressure” campaign
Facebook is “ready to push back” on government takedown requests, Meta CEO says.
Enlarge / Mark Zuckerberg. (credit: Bloomberg / Contributor | Bloomberg)
After years of bickering with the Biden administration about vaccine misinformation, Mark Zuckerberg has now accused the White House of “repeatedly” pressuring Facebook for months “to censor certain COVID-19 content” in 2021 that Facebook supposedly would not have taken down without pressure.
In a letter to the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Monday, the Meta CEO claimed that senior officials from the Biden administration “expressed a lot of frustration” when Facebook pushed back on certain content removal requests. According to Zuckerberg, the Biden administration didn’t just want misinformation taken down, but also “humor and satire.”
“Ultimately, it was our decision whether or not to take the content down, and we own our decisions, including COVID-19 related changes we made to our enforcement in the wake of this pressure,” Zuckerberg wrote, taking accountability for his platform’s actions.
Is open source AI possible, let alone the future? Find out at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024
Some believe open source AI is a way to break out of the familiar proprietary software quagmire that the technology has predictably fallen into. Hugging Face’s Irene Solaiman and AI2’s Ali Farhadi will discuss this complex issue on a panel at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 — taking place in San Francisco from October 28-30. AI may
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Some believe open source AI is a way to break out of the familiar proprietary software quagmire that the technology has predictably fallen into. Hugging Face’s Irene Solaiman and AI2’s Ali Farhadi will discuss this complex issue on a panel at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 — taking place in San Francisco from October 28-30. AI may […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Pizza Tower has surprise dropped for Nintendo Switch
The beloved platformer Pizza Tower is finally playable on Nintendo Switch, as revealed at the company’s Indie World event. As a matter of fact, it’s one of those surprise drops, so the game’s available right now.
It’s about time the title is on a Nintendo console as, well, it feels like a Nintendo game. Pizza Tower is a frantic 2D sidescroller that cribs a whole lot from the Wario Land franchise and, to a lesser extent, Mario and Sonic games.
You play as a balding chef named, and this is real, Peppino Spaghetti. The game tasks you with scaling the titular tower to fight a sentient pizza that is kind of like the Bowser of Italian food. The game was largely designed by someone named McPig and the soundtrack was created by a high school student. It’s an indie game miracle!
However, forget all of that. Gameplay is where Pizza Tower shines. The movement feels perfect so the platforming is, simply put, S-tier. It’s been polished to a Nintendo-like sheen, which is quite a feat for a high schooler and someone who goes by the moniker McPig. There are tons of fully-realized abilities and a dedication to speed pulled straight from Sonic. Also, Peppino can’t die, allowing for insane platforming experiments.
In other words, this is one heck of a game and now it’s on a Nintendo console. That’s gotta be quite a thrill for the development team.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/pizza-tower-has-surprise-dropped-for-nintendo-switch-152859625.html?src=rss
The beloved platformer Pizza Tower is finally playable on Nintendo Switch, as revealed at the company’s Indie World event. As a matter of fact, it’s one of those surprise drops, so the game’s available right now.
It’s about time the title is on a Nintendo console as, well, it feels like a Nintendo game. Pizza Tower is a frantic 2D sidescroller that cribs a whole lot from the Wario Land franchise and, to a lesser extent, Mario and Sonic games.
You play as a balding chef named, and this is real, Peppino Spaghetti. The game tasks you with scaling the titular tower to fight a sentient pizza that is kind of like the Bowser of Italian food. The game was largely designed by someone named McPig and the soundtrack was created by a high school student. It’s an indie game miracle!
However, forget all of that. Gameplay is where Pizza Tower shines. The movement feels perfect so the platforming is, simply put, S-tier. It’s been polished to a Nintendo-like sheen, which is quite a feat for a high schooler and someone who goes by the moniker McPig. There are tons of fully-realized abilities and a dedication to speed pulled straight from Sonic. Also, Peppino can’t die, allowing for insane platforming experiments.
In other words, this is one heck of a game and now it’s on a Nintendo console. That’s gotta be quite a thrill for the development team.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/pizza-tower-has-surprise-dropped-for-nintendo-switch-152859625.html?src=rss
Balatro gets new decks inspired by The Witcher, Vampire Survivors, Dave The Diver, and Among Us in a free update today
Balatro’s latest free update adds new The Witcher, Vampire Survivors, Dave The Diver, and Among Us decks.
LocalThunk has released a free update for its roguelike card game Balatro, featuring decks inspired by The Witcher, Vampire Survivors, Dave The Diver, and Among Us.
The announcement kicked off today’s Nintendo Direct IndieWorld Partner Showcase, where it was revealed that the free Balatro: Friends of Jimbo update is now available across all platforms, which includes PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.
From the gameplay trailer, which you can see below, it looks like each new deck included in the free update will feature themed cards inspired by their respective collaborations.
For instance, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt deck includes cards with designs based on the series’ main characters, Geralt of Rivia and Yennefer of Vengerberg. It seems that the Vampire Survivors, Dave The Diver, and Among Us decks will also feature characters and locations drawn from their games, too.
LocalThunk also seemed to tease that additional Balatro collaborations will arrive in the future, as the end of the trailer hints, “That will do… for now”, suggesting even more to come.
Balatro launched earlier this year and is a roguelike card game inspired by poker with satisfying deckbuilding mechanics, boss battles, an in-depth campaign mode with eight difficulties, as well as challenge and seeded runs.
“Combine valid poker hands with unique Joker cards in order to create varied synergies and builds,” the description reads. “Earn enough chips to beat devious blinds, all while uncovering hidden bonus hands and decks as you progress. You’re going to need every edge you can get in order to reach the boss blind, beat the final ante, and secure victory.”
It’s among Steam’s most popular games of 2024 and is sitting at an “Overwhelming Positive” rating with over 41,140 reviews.
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Scandal ‘Tore Apart’ Michigan State Football. A New Coach Leads the Long Climb Back.
The program slipped from Rose Bowls and playoff appearances to next to nowhere. Now, the Spartans are digging their way up in a supersized Big Ten.
The program slipped from Rose Bowls and playoff appearances to next to nowhere. Now, the Spartans are digging their way up in a supersized Big Ten.
Which N.F.L. Rookies Thrived in August?
The draft’s No. 1 pick Caleb Williams shined for the Chicago Bears in preseason.
The draft’s No. 1 pick Caleb Williams shined for the Chicago Bears in preseason.
The Man Behind Michigan’s Scouting Scheme Recounts His Abrupt Exile
Connor Stalions offers his side of the story in a new Netflix documentary. But he’s not a victim or a credible narrator, a columnist for The Athletic writes.
Connor Stalions offers his side of the story in a new Netflix documentary. But he’s not a victim or a credible narrator, a columnist for The Athletic writes.