How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet. "Google likely alters queries billions of times a day in trillions of different variations. Here's how it works. Say you search for "children's clothing." Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for "NIKOLAI-brand kidswear," making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren't searching for at all. It's not possible for you to opt out of the substitution. If you don't get the results you want, and you try to refine your query, you are wasting your time. This is a twisted shopping mall you can't escape."
The latest video (YT) from Kurzgesagt, "We've scaled the complete timeline of our Earth's life into our first animated movie! Every second shows about a million years of the planet's evolution. Hop on a musical train ride and experience how long a billion years really is." Animation and music with occasional narration.
After less than five hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Sam Bankman-Fried of seven fraud and money laundering charges. The conviction followed a five-week-long trial which culminated in Sam Bankman-Fried himself taking the stand, only to appear evasive and sullen as he told prosecutors he couldn't recall many significant events from his time as FTX CEO.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 28, 2024, though scheduling could be affected by factors including whether the US decides to continue pursuing an additional five charges also set to be tried in March.
Today is Halloween, a day filled with chills, horrors, and Jamie Lee Curtis. An interesting aspect of horror movies is how often the roots of the horror lurk in the past. Michael Meyers had been in an asylum for decades before his infamous Halloween rampage. Midsommar represents a centuries old tradition. Barbarian is rooted in sins committed a generation prior. Freddy Krueger was the manifestation of the sins of our protagonists' parents. Hell, even Dracula is a menace that had been lurking for centuries before our story begins.
In honor of that, we're going to look at some code from Davide. Like so much classic horror, the seeds of this sin were planted many, many years before Davide arrived.
In 1991, Microsoft released their first version of Visual Basic. The language evolved until 1998, with the release of VB6. Mainstream support ended in 2005, extended support ended in 2008, but like true horror, VB6 has not truly died. The development tools continue to run on all 32-bit versions of Windows.
Back in those olden days, Davide's predecessors decided to implement an Enterprise Resource Planning system in VB6. It grew, and evolved, and became something that couldn't be controlled anymore- it was 2.5M lines of code. It entangled itself into the company, taking over every core business function, and rapidly becoming indispensible.
We can compare it to so many monsters of horror- the shapeshifting Thing, gradually replacing parts of the company with itself. The fungus from The Last of Us, taking over the brain of the company. We can compare it to The Blob, which may also be the most accurate description of the coding practices used in building it.
Here's some code that evaluates a formula entered by the users:
Option Explicit
Dim AA$(26)
Dim VV#(26) 'valori delle variabili
Dim B$(26)
Dim OP$(26)
Dim RANGO(26) As Integer
Dim P$(27)
Dim OPN#(2), COPN$(26)
Dim CV%
Public scrCtl As MSScriptControl.ScriptControl
Dim bCreated As Boolean ' gi� creato lo script control
Dim strUltCodart As String ' ultimo cod. articolo (per seganlazione su che articolo c'� una formula sbagliata)
Dim strUltFormula As String
Dim nEsito As Integer
Public Function FormulaControlla(strFormula As String) As Boolean
17000 Rem --- Input = FORMULA$, Output = AA$(__),CV%,OK%=1 se FORMULA$ non buona
Dim Formula$, f$, CP%, CN%, FLAGP%, c$, OK%, LX%, s%, A$, B$, AB%, BB%, BRANGO%, CRANGO$
FormulaControlla = True
'--- con l'introd. di msscript non controlla pi� niente ....
Exit Function
'-------------------------
Formula$ = strFormula
17010 f$ = Formula$ + Chr$(0): CP% = 0: CN% = 0: CV% = 0: FLAGP% = 0: c$ = "": OK% = 0
17020 LX% = Len(Formula$)
17030 For s% = 1 To LX%
17040 A$ = Mid$(f$, s%, 1): B$ = Mid$(f$, s% + 1, 1)
17050 AB% = Asc(A$): BB% = Asc(B$)
17060 If A$ >= "0" And A$ <= "9" Then If (B$ >= "a" And B$ <= "z") Or B$ = "(" Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17230 Else CN% = CN% + 1: GoTo 17230
17070 If A$ = "*" Or A$ = "/" Or A$ = "+" Or A$ = "-" Then If B$ = "*" Or B$ = "/" Or B$ = "+" Or B$ = "-" Or B$ = Chr$(0) Or B$ = ")" Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17230 Else GoTo 17130
17080 If A$ = "(" Then If B$ = ")" Or B$ = "*" Or B$ = "/" Or B$ = "+" Or B$ = Chr$(0) Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17230 Else CP% = CP% + 1: GoTo 17130
17090 If A$ = ")" Then If B$ = "(" Or (B$ >= "0" And B$ <= "9") Or (B$ >= "a" And B$ <= "z") Or B$ = "." Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17230 Else CP% = CP% - 1: GoTo 17130
17100 If A$ >= "a" And A$ <= "z" Then If (B$ >= "0" And B$ <= "9") Or (B$ >= "a" And B$ <= "z") Or B$ = "(" Or B$ = "." Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17230 Else GoTo 17130
17110 If A$ = "." Then If Not (B$ >= "0" And B$ <= "9") Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17230 Else CN% = CN% + 1: FLAGP% = FLAGP% + 1: GoTo 17230
17120 OK% = 1: GoTo 17230
17130 '---- crea AA$ (__)
17140 If CN% = 0 Then GoTo 17180
17150 If FLAGP% > 1 Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17230
17160 CV% = CV% + 1: AA$(CV%) = Mid$(f$, s% - CN%, CN%)
17170 CN% = 0: FLAGP% = 0
17180 CV% = CV% + 1: AA$(CV%) = A$
17190 If A$ = "*" Or A$ = "/" Or A$ = "+" Or A$ = "-" Then GoTo 17200 Else GoTo 17230
17200 If A$ = "-" And c$ = "(" Or A$ = "-" And s% = 1 Then BRANGO% = 3 + 3 * CP%: CRANGO$ = Right$(" " + str$(BRANGO%), 2): AA$(CV%) = ">" + CRANGO$: GoTo 17230
17210 If A$ = "-" Or A$ = "+" Then BRANGO% = 1 + 3 * CP%: CRANGO$ = Right$(" " + str$(BRANGO%), 2): AA$(CV%) = AA$(CV%) + CRANGO$
17220 If A$ = "*" Or A$ = "/" Then BRANGO% = 2 + 3 * CP%: CRANGO$ = Right$(" " + str$(BRANGO%), 2): AA$(CV%) = AA$(CV%) + CRANGO$
17230 '---- ultima fase
17240 If OK% = 1 Then s% = LX%
17250 c$ = A$
17260 Next s%
17270 If CN% = 0 Then GoTo 17310
17280 If FLAGP% > 1 Then OK% = 1: GoTo 17310
17290 CV% = CV% + 1: AA$(CV%) = Mid$(f$, s% - CN%, CN%)
17300 CN% = 0: FLAGP% = 0
17310 If CN% > 0 Or FLAGP% <> 0 Or CP% <> 0 Then OK% = 1
17320 If OK% = 1 Then FormulaControlla = False Else FormulaControlla = True
End Function
Public Sub FormulaGenPolacca()
18800 Rem --- ROUTINE che, data la NOTAZIONE INTERA
18810 Rem --- GENERA LA NOTAZIONE POLACCA
18820 Rem --- Input = AA$(__), CV%, Output = P$(__)
Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, K As Integer, CONTA As Integer, MAXI%, l As Integer
Dim NUOVA%, KK%, M As Integer
18830 i = 0: j = 1: l = 0: K = 1: CONTA = 0: MAXI% = CV%
18835 If NUOVA% = 1 Then NUOVA% = 0: For KK% = 1 To 26: VV#(KK%) = 0: Next KK%
18840 For KK% = 1 To 26: B$(KK%) = "": OP$(KK%) = "": RANGO(KK%) = 0: P$(KK%) = "": Next KK%: P$(26) = ""
18850 Rem
18860 If CONTA > 0 Then CONTA = CONTA + 1
18870 i = i + 1
18880 If AA$(i) = "(" Or AA$(i) = ")" Then If i = MAXI% Then l = l + 1: OP$(l) = "T": RANGO(l) = 0: GoTo 18910 Else GoTo 18870
18890 If AA$(i) >= "a" And AA$(i) <= "z" Or Asc(AA$(i)) = 46 Or Asc(AA$(i)) > 47 And Asc(AA$(i)) < 58 Then If i = MAXI% Then B$(j) = AA$(i): l = l + 1: OP$(l) = "T": RANGO(l) = 0: GoTo 18910 Else B$(j) = AA$(i): GoTo 18870
18900 l = l + 1: OP$(l) = Left$(AA$(i), 1): RANGO(l) = Val(Right$(AA$(i), 2))
18910 If B$(j) <> "" Then P$(K) = B$(j): K = K + 1: j = j + 1
18920 If l = 1 And i = MAXI% Then GoTo 19020
18930 If l = 1 Then GoTo 18850
18940 If RANGO(l) > RANGO(l - 1) Then CONTA = CONTA + 1: GoTo 18850
18950 If CONTA = 0 Then P$(K) = OP$(l - 1): K = K + 1: RANGO(l - 1) = 0: GoTo 19020
18960 For M = 1 To CONTA + 1
18970 If M = l Then M = CONTA + 1: GoTo 19010
18980 If RANGO(l - M) = 0 Then GoTo 19010
18990 If RANGO(l) > RANGO(l - M) Then GoTo 19010
19000 P$(K) = OP$(l - M): K = K + 1: RANGO(l - M) = 0
19010 Next M
19020 If OP$(l) = "T" Then P$(K) = OP$(l) Else GoTo 18850
19030 '
End Sub
Public Function FormulaValutaPolacca() As Double
19500 Rem --- ROUTINE che, data la NOTAZIONE POLACCA
19510 Rem --- CALCOLA il VALORE DELLA FORMULA
19515 Rem --- Input = P$(__), Output = RISULTATO#,ERRORE%=1 se Division by zero
Dim K As Integer, ERRORE%, OPR$, Q%, NO%, R As Integer, ABC$, RIS#, Risultato#, X$
19520 FormulaValutaPolacca = 0: K = 0: ERRORE% = 0
19530 K = K + 1
19540 If P$(K) >= "a" And P$(K) <= "z" Or Asc(P$(K)) = 46 Or Asc(P$(K)) > 47 And Asc(P$(K)) < 58 Then GoTo 19530
19550 OPR$ = P$(K): P$(K) = "": Q% = 1: While P$(K - Q%) = "": Q% = Q% + 1: Wend: COPN$(2) = P$(K - Q%): P$(K - Q%) = ""
19560 If OPR$ <> ">" And OPR$ <> "T" Then NO% = 1: Q% = 2: While P$(K - Q%) = "": Q% = Q% + 1: Wend: COPN$(1) = P$(K - Q%): P$(K - Q%) = "" Else NO% = 2
19570 Rem-----
19580 For R = 2 To NO% Step -1
19590 If Not (COPN$(R) >= "a" And COPN$(R) <= "z") Then OPN#(R) = Val(COPN$(R)): GoTo 19610
19600 ABC$ = COPN$(R): OPN#(R) = FormulaAssegna(ABC$)
19610 Next R
19620 Rem-----
19630 Rem-----
19640 If OPR$ = "T" Then RIS# = OPN#(2): GoTo 19710
19650 If OPR$ = ">" Then RIS# = -OPN#(2): GoTo 19700
19660 If OPR$ = "*" Or OPR$ = "x" Then RIS# = OPN#(1) * OPN#(2): GoTo 19700
19670 If OPR$ = ":" Or OPR$ = "/" Then If OPN#(2) <> 0 Then RIS# = OPN#(1) / OPN#(2): GoTo 19700 Else Risultato# = 0: ERRORE% = 1: GoTo 19730
19680 If OPR$ = "+" Then RIS# = OPN#(1) + OPN#(2): GoTo 19700
19690 If OPR$ = "-" Then RIS# = OPN#(1) - OPN#(2)
19700 Rem-------
19710 If OPR$ = "T" Then GoTo 19720 Else X$ = str$(RIS#): P$(K) = Right$(X$, Len(X$) - 1): GoTo 19530
19720 Risultato# = RIS#
19730 FormulaValutaPolacca = Risultato#:
19740 If ERRORE = 1 Then MsgBox "Attenzione: Divisione per 0 nella valutazione della formula.", vbCritical, bsTtlErr
End Function
Public Function FormulaAssegna(ABC$) As Double
19800 Rem --- assegna i valori alle variabili operatori -------
19801 Rem --- input ABC$ , globale vv#() output VV# -------
Dim NN%, BVV#
19810 NN% = Asc(ABC$) - 96
If NN% = 1 Or NN% = 2 Or NN% = 3 Or NN% = 11 Or NN% = 14 Then
BVV# = VV#(NN%): FormulaAssegna = BVV#: GoTo Fine
End If
19830 If VV#(NN%) <> 0 Then
BVV# = VV#(NN%): FormulaAssegna = BVV#: GoTo Fine
End If
19860 BVV# = CDbl(InputBox("Inserire il valore della variabile <" + ABC$ + "> =", "Richiesta valore parametro", "0"))
19880 VV#(NN%) = BVV#
19900 FormulaAssegna = BVV#
Fine:
End Function
Public Sub FormulaChiama(strFormula As String)
Dim bOk As Boolean
Dim Risultato#
30200 Rem --- CALCOLO QUANTITA' (da FORMULA$)
30205 '
30210 bOk = FormulaControlla(strFormula): If bOk = False Then Risultato# = 0 Else FormulaGenPolacca: Risultato# = FormulaValutaPolacca
End Sub
The only glimmer of hope is the first line- at least they used Option Explicit, which makes variable declarations required (instead of just creating a variable anytime you use one). Everything else is horror. VB6 did not require line numbers, which implies that either the developer responsible cut their teeth in older versions of BASIC, or worse: this code started its life in an older version of basic. Or, possibly even worse: the developer couldn't imagine flow control without GoTo, because there are a lot of them.
While this code was clearly originally written in Italian, the fact that it's in another (natural) language isn't what makes the code impossible for me to understand. The code itself is cryptic and complicated enough that I don't want to decipher it, for fear that solving this puzzle invites Cenobites to tear me apart.
Davide adds: "The woeful part of the story is that it actually works most of the time."
True horrors lurk in this world, nightmares that we can't hope to escape, legacy code that needs to be maintained, and lies in wait for vulnerable developers. Once ensnared in the grasp of this monster, can any developer truly hope to escape?
And finally, for a bonus story of technological horrors, I told a creepy campfire tale about Thomas Midgley, Jr. on stage this weekend. Pardon the cellphone video. The Man Who Sold the World.
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I just took the VVIQ test that was linked on the Reddit r/aphantasia forum, and apparently I have hyperphantasia?
A few weeks ago, I shared the following image on Instagram:
It’s a scale for measuring how people visualize objects in their heads. I’m between 4 & 5, which means I have a condition called aphantasia. Marco Giancotti recently wrote about this for Nautilus; he underwent an MRI scan to test what was going on in his head:
A few seconds pass, then a synthetic female voice speaks into my ears over the electronic clamor: “top hat.” I close my eyes and I imagine a top hat. A few seconds later a beep tells me I should rate the quality of my mental picture, which I do with a controller in my hand. The voice speaks again: “fire extinguisher,” and I repeat the routine. Next is “butterfly,” then “camel,” then “snowmobile,” and so on, for about 10 minutes, while the system monitors the activation of my brain synapses.
For most people, this should be a rather simple exercise, perhaps even satisfying. For me, it’s a considerable strain, because I don’t “see” any of those things. For each and every one of the prompts, I rate my mental image “0” on a 0 to 5 scale, because as soon as I close my eyes, what I see are not everyday objects, animals, and vehicles, but the dark underside of my eyelids. I can’t willingly form the faintest of images in my mind. And, although it isn’t the subject of the current experiment, I also can’t conjure sounds, smells, or any other kind of sensory stimulation inside my head. I have what is called “aphantasia,” the absence of voluntary imagination of the senses. I know what a top hat is. I can describe its main characteristics. I can even draw an above-average impression of one on a piece of paper for you. But I can’t visualize it mentally. What’s wrong with me?
And here’s a good video explanation of it too, from an artist who has aphantasia:
Like a lot of people, I wasn’t even aware that I visualized things differently than others — I assumed that everyone saw extremely ghostly images of objects in their mind’s eye, more like the ideas of things than the things themselves. It wasn’t until I was talking to my daughter a few years ago about how the characters in a movie looked nothing like the ones she’d pictured in her head from reading the books that I realized that she’s got a vibrant, full-color movie going on in her head when she reads and I was like EXCUSE ME?
Aphantasia is sometimes described as a deficiency or even a disability, but I don’t think of it that way at all. I believe my brain works pretty well, thank you very much, even though I can’t close my eyes and see the faces of my kids. And it’s not as straightforward as the simple scale above, at least in my case.
I can’t picture what a room would look like with a different sofa or rug (I just have to buy it and cross my fingers that it looks good when it arrives) or what a sweater would look like on me without actually trying it on (making online clothes shopping difficult). But I also have a weirdly visual memory. In college, I would remember things for tests and papers based where they were written in my notebook (lower right-hand corner of the left-hand page) or appeared in the textbook (on the right-hand page, under the blue illustration). I can’t see it in my brain, but I can see the idea of it and remember what was written there. (I told my daughter this and she said she can do this too, but for her, she pictures herself sitting at her desk in biology class with her notes open in front of her and she can then recall what was written in certain places. It is fascinating to talk about this stuff with her!)
Anyway, on Insta I asked people where they are on the apple scale and the responses were super interesting, so I’m opening up the comments on this one so we can chat about it.
As Elon Musk’s Twitter continues to gleefully collapse before our eyes, overtaken by racist images, trash ads, and verified users sharing disinformation, dedicated posters who have had enough have jumped on to a few different lifeboats. Dril is on Bluesky, your mom probably has a Threads account, and many sickos including us at 404 Media are getting used to Mastodon.
But none of these are as interesting or fun as SANANDREAS.TXT, a Grand Theft Auto V mod created by modding collective 2girls1comp, which has emerged as an unexpected Twitter alternative. The mod allows anyone who installs it to write a text message that will float anywhere they can reach on GTA V’s sprawling game map, San Andreas, which is modeled after Los Angeles and Southern California. Anyone who has the mod installed can also see the floating text messages written by other players.
2girls1comp was founded by Marco De Mutiis and Alexandra Pfammatter. “San Andreas has become this map, which is filled with text, but you have no idea who wrote what and when,” De Mutiis told me on a call. “It's a very weird spatial experience through the map, when you get like half a conversation and you don't know who initiated it.”
The disjointed nature of this type of communication is accentuated by spreading it over a giant virtual map, but it’s a defining feature of all social media networks, and especially Twitter, where people float in and out of conversations where statements can be taken out of context and be interpreted in radically different ways depending on what people are saying before or after them, which any given user doesn’t have that much control over. Most mainstream social media platforms are a giant, messy soup where posts about political activism are interwoven between pictures of cute cats and then, suddenly, something incredibly racist. We’re all creating and swimming through it at the same time. SANANDREAS.TXT just leans into that mess.
“That's something interesting about social media. It's an asynchronous feed of different people, but they always try to give you this illusion of a conversation in real time among people. I think somehow [SANANDREAS.TXT] kind of showed the problem with this sort of social media communication,” De Mutiis said.
SANANDREAS.TXT is just the latest mod in 2girls1comp’s growing body of work, all of which uses GTA V as its medium. The collective’s first piece, The GTA V Piano of the Dead, turned the game into a musical instrument, mapping its assets (the sounds of characters screaming or dying) to the seven tones of the C4 octave. Their mod, Every Thing, sequentially spawns every object from the GTA V database until the game eventually crashes. My personal favorite is F*** the Policy, a mod that makes the police read the game’s End User License Agreement at players when they are bedding chased by the cops.
Pfammatter told me that the pair didn’t know much about modding before they got started, and learned everything from the extensive knowledge and documentation built out by GTA V’s thriving modding community. Working with the game as the medium, and operating within a community that doesn’t traditionally think of modding as a form of fine art, is part of what makes their projects so interesting.
On one hand, the modding community has been very supportive, providing useful feedback and support where Rockstar, the GTA V’s developer, hasn’t. On the other hand, the modding community is bringing its existing perspective to 2girls1comp’s mods. The Every Thing mod, for example, which, I can read as a piece that leverages the incredible amount of labor that goes into 3D modeling all the objects in the game to say something about consumerism, is being used by users to show how powerful their PCs are—the longer the mod can keep generating assets before the game crashes, the more powerful the PC. In SANANDREAS.TXT, some users immediately tried hacking the mod, generating thousands of messages into coordinates that don’t technically exist in the game’s map.
But Pfammatter and De Mutiis don’t view this as a bad thing. The modding community is doing to their work what 2girls1comp is doing to GTA V.
“This reappropriation in general, it is almost inherently a political act, because you're taking a part of the game that you don't agree with, and you're trying to model it towards something that works for you,” Pfammatter said. “We're actually also kind of like—excited is the wrong word—but like, open to see where this is going.”
Analogue is making a console that will play Nintendo N64 games with 100% compatibility (no emulation). 4K, Bluetooth for controllers, more features to come. You’ll never get one though — all their stuff sells out in like 4 seconds.
This story is a few years old but it charmed me too much this morning to let it slide. In 2017, four years after its grand reopening, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum welcomed its 10-millionth visitor, a man named Stefan Kasper. His lucky timing resulted in getting to spend the night in the museum, where he dined and slept underneath Rembrandt’s the Night Watch.
Here’s a short video of Kasper’s time in the museum:
I still can’t believe it. I discovered characters that I have never seen before. They came to life in front of me. It’s an experience that is forever etched in my memory.
Not the same, but I got to go to a press preview when the MoMA reopened a few years ago after renovations and it was quite an experience to wander those familiar galleries pretty much by myself. I stood in front of Starry Night and One: Number 31, 1950 for a really long time that morning.
"A new tool lets artists add invisible changes to the pixels in their art before they upload it online so that if it's scraped into an AI training set, it can cause the resulting model to break in chaotic and unpredictable ways. The tool, called Nightshade, is intended as a way to fight back against AI companies that use artists' work to train their models without the creator's permission." (Melissa Heikkilä, MIT Technology Review)
"Poisoned data samples can manipulate models into learning, for example, that images of hats are cakes, and images of handbags are toasters. The poisoned data is very difficult to remove, as it requires tech companies to painstakingly find and delete each corrupted sample."
We carpool there, and it isn't until we get there that I realise that it isn't just going to be my friend, her husband, and her kids. It is my friend's husband's entire family: brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, parents, and even both grandmas.
Content warning: This post contains tastefully redacted images of Goatse.
The creator of a free word game has unveiled a beautiful new antipiracy measure to prevent spammy websites from running his game on their sites: Goatse.
Sqword is a game created by web developer Josh C. Simmons and his friends last year. The game asks users to place individual, predetermined letters onto a 5x5 square grid in an attempt to make as many words as possible. The game resets every day, creating a new “deck” of letters to play with. Goatse, on the other hand, is not a game. It is a legendary shock image of a man wearing a wedding ring and stretching his rectum very wide.
Simmons wrote in a blog post that the game, which is free to play on the Sqword domain, has picked up “a steady group of daily active users over the past six months or so despite not doing any real advertising.” Because of this success, a variety of websites have taken the code for Sqword and have embedded it on their own websites, then overlaid it with tons of popup ads.
“This made me angrier than it should have—not because Sqword is a cash cow—we don’t run ads on the site and don’t make money from it, it’s just for fun—but because it was a passion project with friends, something pure and intentionally free to play WITHOUT ads,” he wrote.
So Simmons altered the code of Sqword to display Goatse if it is embedded as an iFrame, rather than show the game itself. Here’s what that looks like:
“Let this be a lesson to you: If you are using an iFrame to display a site that isn’t yours, even for legitimate purposes, you have no control over that content—it can change at any time,” he wrote. “One day instead of looking into an iFrame, you might be looking at an entirely different kind of portal.”
Simmons wrote that Goatse is now live on at least eight different game aggregator sites. When trying to load Sqword on sites like “Wordle 2,” Goatse does indeed load instead of the game. Simmons has added the words “I steal other people’s code because I’m a total hack,” to the image. Simmons is underselling it. I was able to find live Goatse on 12 different websites before I stopped clicking.
Here is a brief gallery of what I was able to find if you are so inclined:
I am not much of a word games guy, but found Sqword to be pretty fun. Check it out over on its rightful website.
The solar system is located in the center. Towards the edges, the scale is progressively reduced to show in detail the most distant and biggest structures of the observable universe sphere.
There are several other representations of the universe on Budassi’s site, including links to prints, posters, and other products.
Reddit's attempt to blockchainify their signature Reddit karma has come to an end as the company has decided to pull the plug on the feature. The idea was that users could "own a piece of their community" (what?) by racking up points for their positive contributions, which they could then spend on perks like custom badges.
Reddit attributed the decision to scaling difficulties, regulatory uncertainty, and the quantity of resources the company found itself having to put into the feature. The tokens were only used on a handful of subreddits, and the team had migrated them from the Ethereum blockchain to the Arbitrum Nova L2 chain, but despite that scaling continued to be a problem.
The news caused a massive dive in the prices of $MOON and $BRICK, the two Reddit tokens, as holders tried to exit their positions before the tokens became useless. Some angrily accused Reddit of rug-pulling, threatening legal action. One wrote, "I wish you guys knew how reckless this decision is and how many people you've hurt." Some accused subreddit moderators of selling when they learned about the decision an hour before it was made public.
Others were delighted at the news, however. One wrote, "Thank the effing Lord. This moons caused so much shit tier spamming for over a year."
Microsoft has confirmed that their purchase of Activision Blizzard is now a done deal, with Xbox head Phil Spencer welcoming the company, and its many, many properties, to Xbox.
That means that, as of today, Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, Call of Duty and many many more games are all part of the Microsoft family. That doesn’t mean that any sequels are going to me Xbox-exclusive, though. Microsoft has, for example, signed a ten year deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation and Switch.
But it does give the company more power going forward, since those franchises are now Microsoft owned. We’d expect to see at least a few Activision Blizzard properties become Xbox console exclusives.
In his statement, Phil Spencer praised Activision Blizzard, remarking that “I’ve long admired the work of Activision, Blizzard, and King, and the impact they’ve had on gaming, entertainment, and pop culture.”
Hang on.. King? Yes, mobile developer and publisher King Digital Entertainment is owned by Activision Blizzard, meaning that Microsoft now owns the makers of Candy Crush. Candy Crush 4K, anyone?
The last barrier to the deal was the the approval of the CMA, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). America’s own FTC has tried to block the deal on several occasions but has ultimately been unsuccessful.
Previously, the CMA effectively put a block on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activison Blizzard, concerned it would lessen competition in the UK.
In particular, the CMA was concerned that Microsoft would have sole streaming rights to Activision’s current and future titles.
Microsoft’s eventual answer to this was to cede streaming rights to Ubisoft. This was enough for the CMA to approve the purchase and today they’ve confirmed that the deal can go ahead.
“The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers,” the CMA concludes in its decision.
That said, the CMA has made it clear they’re not happy with how Microsoft handled things, remarking that.. “….businesses and their advisors should be in no doubt that the tactics employed by Microsoft are no way to engage with the CMA.”
The CMA’s statement also accuses Microsoft of dragging out proceedings and that they “..continued to insist on a package of measures that we told them simply wouldn’t work.”
We doubt Phil Spencer bothered by that particular tongue-lashing, however. He and Microsoft have got what they want, Activision Blizzard is, as of today, officially a Microsoft company.
From The Economist on the occasion of the award of the Nobel Prize for Medicine to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman for their work that led to the development of the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines, a lovely short appreciation of vaccines.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that vaccines have saved more from death than any other medical invention. It is a hard claim to gainsay. Vaccines protect people from disease cheaply, reliably and in remarkable numbers. And their capacity to do so continues to grow. In 2021 the who approved a first vaccine against malaria; this week it approved a second.
Vaccines are not only immensely useful; they also embody something beautifully human in their combination of care and communication. Vaccines do not trick the immune system, as is sometimes said; they educate and train it. As a resource of good public health, they allow doctors to whisper words of warning into the cells of their patients. In an age short of trust, this intimacy between government policy and an individual's immune system is easily misconstrued as a threat. But vaccines are not conspiracies or tools of control: they are molecular loving-kindness.
The WHO says that vaccines currently prevent 4-5 million deaths per year. The CDC points to a paper that says that more than 50 million death can be prevented between 2021 and 2030. Vaccination is nothing short of a scientific miracle. (via eric topol)
As if Aquaman and the Lost Kingdomweren’t dead in the water enough, a new report claims Jason Momoa’s future in the DC Universe is as Lobo, not Arthur Curry.
A report from Variety claims Jason Momoa will not return as Aquaman in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s reboot of all things DC film. Instead, he’s been talked with about playing Lobo in either Superman: Legacy or the character’s own standalone movie.
Obviously, with the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, there are no discussions going on right now and the report offers little other details, but the casting is straight out of one of those old “dream casting” articles that every website used to do. While Momoa absolutely owned the role of Aquaman, he was a far shot from the blonde-haired, fish-talker of the comics. Lobo, on the other hand, is a motorcycle-riding alien bounty hunter with a terrible attitude, long hair, and a penchant for drinking and cigars. They pretty much look alike aside from the pale white skin.
This news shouldn’t be too surprising to anyone paying attention as Gunn has enthused about Momoa as an actor and the pair even had a meeting together. Momoa came out of that making it pretty clear that he may be in line to play a new role in the DC Universe, stating, “I’ll always be Aquaman. Ain’t anyone coming in there and taking shit. There might be some other characters, too. I can play other things, too. I can be funny and savage and charming.”
That’s pretty much a description of Lobo. Just when and where or even if we’ll see this funny/brutal/charming Lobo is very up in the air. Superman: Legacy is already stacked with characters from the DC Universe and cramming another in seems a bit much. Then again, Gunn, who is writing and directing the film, is a master of the ensemble superhero film so if anyone can pull it off it’s probably him.
One of my gaming buddies, Grumpy0lLady, is featured gamer in this article!
At Xbox, we believe that gaming is for everyone. You hear it a lot, but it’s absolutely true. The Xbox community is at the center of everything we do, every decision we make. This month we’re recognizing the 400+ million players who make up the gaming and disability community. In their own words, we’re inviting Elle Vance, Software Engineer II for Xbox Player Services, to share their story on how being part of the gaming and disability community has impacted their life:
“I understand the world through a different perspective. Unlike most neurotypical people, who understand the world from a top-down perspective; I start with a bottom-up approach, focusing first on the details. Sometimes my perspective is advantageous in my work as a Software Engineer II, and in other areas of my life, too, as I am able to troubleshoot problems at a granular level before processing it from a broader framework which could potentially create bias in attempting to solve that problem.
I’ve worked with Xbox for 4 years and was recruited through a program for neurodiverse individuals, like myself. I am proud that I am able to be open about my autism diagnosis and that my candor has given the opportunity for others to not only understand people with autism better, but sometimes to even realize that someone they know and love, or even themselves, might experience neurodiversity, as well. I have also been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a condition that affects connective tissue in my body, which has required me to endure multiple surgeries and use mobility aids to get around. While I have felt the need to mask my disabilities at certain times, advocating for myself has supported me at work. Currently, I am able to work from home where I can be comfortable and do my best work in a predictable, quiet environment.
In my free time, I enjoy video gaming as a hobby. Recent favorites I’ve found on Xbox Game Pass include Pentiment (an RPG involving illustrated manuscripts), Hi-Fi Rush (a rhythm-based action game), and Party Animals (a multiplayer brawler game). I always play games with subtitles on, which helps me process auditory information when I am engrossed in the action. I do wish more video game developers would include autistic protagonists. Representation is important, not only so I can feel included, but so neurotypical people have more opportunities to develop empathy for people in the neurodiversity community and appreciate the strengths our unique perspectives provide.”
For this community moment, we’re excited to announce a new phase of our ongoing partnership with Special Olympics and their Gaming for Inclusion tournament! You can read more about that and how Xbox is empowering players with disabilities below:
Xbox Partners with Special Olympics for Gaming for Inclusion Esports Tournament
Since 2014, Microsoft and Special Olympics have been teaming up to empower Special Olympics athletes through technology. This partnership has evolved through the years and now includes a yearly Gaming for Inclusion tournament presented by Special Olympics, Microsoft and Xbox. This year’s Gaming for Inclusion will take place in November, with a mix of virtual and in-person events – all streamed for players and supporters to watch and join in on the fun.
On November 11, 2023, Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners will compete virtually in Rocket League for a chance to play alongside celebrity supporters of Special Olympics, including NFL athletes and WWE Superstars, in an in-person and livestreamed event in Los Angeles, CA on November 18, 2023.
“Xbox is honored to further our commitment to create inclusive gaming experiences for everyone by partnering with Special Olympics as they bring the Gaming for Inclusion esports tournament to life again this year,” says Jenn Panattoni, Head of Xbox Social Impact. “Xbox works year-round to bring intentional, inclusive practices and accessible features to everything we do—but the Gaming for Inclusion tournament provides a moment for us, along with the Special Olympics communities, to remember what gaming is all about: play.”
In addition to the upcoming tournament, in late September, Xbox hosted three of the Special Olympics athletes at the Microsoft Experience Center for a shoutcaster training. In the workshop, the athletes developed their esports commentating skills through improv sessions, guest speakers, and more—and will be putting their training to the test by shoutcasting for the November Gaming for Inclusion tournament.
“We are thrilled that for the third year in a row Xbox and Microsoft are bringing our athletes and Unified partners together for Gaming for Inclusion. Our goal is to digitize the movement for our athletes by removing barriers and expanding our reach through digital technology. Gaming for Inclusion is a powerful example of how organizations can come together to leverage their unique strengths to meet an urgent need and provide critical platforms for people with intellectual disabilities. While oftentimes esports and gaming is a faceless activity, events like Gaming for Inclusion is innovative by showing the world that people with intellectual disabilities are leading the way when given the opportunity,” reflects Mary Davis, CEO of Special Olympics Inc.
The Xbox community can tune into the tournament on the official Xbox Twitch channel for a livestream of the action. Visit Special Olympics to learn more about their programs and find ways to support their work. Microsoft Rewards members in some markets can also earn points and donate them to Special Olympics to support this important work.
Gaming and Impact with Microsoft Rewards
Microsoft Rewards members in the United States and the United Kingdom can earn and donate points to organizations supporting people in the gaming and disability community with Xbox. The organizations below will be featured on console throughout October:
Special Effect– Special Effect transforms the lives of physically disabled people across the world through the innovative use of technology. At the heart of their work is their mission to maximize fun and quality of life by helping people control video games to the best of their abilities. (UK)
Warfighter Engaged– Warfighter Engaged’s mission is to improve the lives of severely wounded and disabled warfighters through custom adapted devices. They modify video game controllers, make prosthetic enhancements, recreational and other novel devices for greater independence. All adapted items are provided at no cost to the warfighter. (US)
AbleGamers– AbleGamers creates opportunities that enable play in order to combat social isolation, foster inclusive communities, and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. (US)
Xbox gamers can earn Rewards points in various ways, such as playing games and completing Game Pass Quests, completing offers in the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox, and select purchases at the Microsoft Store (exclusions apply). Earn points and redeem them for real rewards. Join us today and donate through Xbox.
PLAY
Explore Games Curated by Gaming and Disability Communities at Microsoft
Celebrate the Gaming and Disability community through the power of play. Games provide us with the ability to include representation in a variety of immersive experiences that help us connect with each other and understand our differences.
During October and beyond, we are featuring games created by and reflecting the experiences of neurodiversity and people with disabilities. Available on the Microsoft Stores on Xbox and Windows, check out the Stores collection that exists year-round as part of our ongoing work to create more inclusive gaming ecosystems and elevate content that resonates with communities. For Xbox Game Pass members, check out the Xbox Game Pass Gaming & Disability community collection and the PC Game Pass Gaming & Disability community collection.
Featured titles within the collections include:
Halo Infinite (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud) — The character customization options in Halo Infinite provide a variety of prosthetics, including the Mjolnir power armor that was utilized to create a prosthetic sleeve design for Limbitless Solutions. 343 has been a proud partner of Limbitless Solutions for several years, a non-profit which creates 3D-printed prosthetics for children and helps train them to use their new bionic limbs.
Hi-Fi Rush (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud) — Follow the story of Chai, an aspiring rockstar with a disabled right arm. The story begins with Chai receiving a cybernetic limb replacement which is interrupted by a music player falling into his chest, resulting in Chai being labeled as a defect. Disability themes remain present throughout the narrative and robotic upgrades are integral to the gameplay.
Sea of Solitude (Available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on Console and PC) — CEO, lead writer, and creative director of Jo-Mei Games, Cornelia Geppert, created Sea of Solitude with the idea of immersing players in traumatic relationships within the safe digital confines of a video game. The monsters in the game symbolize depression, anxiety, narcissistic personality disorder, and other disabilities, giving players the opportunity to experience empowerment through game play.
DISCOVER
Artist Danielle Taphanel Inspired by a Blooming Desert for the Xbox Logo Redesign
Xbox commissioned Danielle Taphanel, who is a disabled, non-binary, Filipino-Latino self-taught artist, to redesign this year’s Xbox logo in honor of celebrating the gaming and disability community. Danielle hopes that through their beautiful, desert-themed redesign of the Xbox logo, they can provide a perspective from the disability community that embraces games and art as sources of joy and connection. Through this design, they aimed to capture the diverse, essential, and life-positive forces of the disabled community through the lens of a desert in full bloom after it rains.
Just as the desert creates conditions of adversity in which plant life survives and thrives, so Danielle expresses that disabled people embody the resilience and necessity of shared existences. In their words, “We adapt, we are part of the ecology of our communities; like those desert plants that operate with such specialized and poetic grace, we are essential beings, full of the simple and vibrant commonality of life.”
The blooming expression of the imagery speaks to the ways in which gaming serves as a centralized, accessible, connective force of exploration, play, and imagination for disabled communities across vast spectrums. Check out more of Danielle Taphanel’s work here.
Xbox Ambassadors Feature Stories about Gaming and Disability
This year the Xbox Ambassadors Program is celebrating the Gaming and Disability Community by spotlighting individual Ambassadors on our Xbox Ambassadors Blog and Xbox Wire! We’re excited to share stories from our community about how gaming has impacted the lives of those with disabilities. Read the spotlight below to learn more about featured Ambassador Grumpy0lLady and their gaming experiences.
Spotlight on Grumpy0lLady, Xbox Ambassador
How does gaming impact your life?
About 5 years ago I got badly injured (back and neck) at work, and have been very limited on how long I can do things – such as housework. I have to stop every 10 minutes or so and gaming keeps me occupied while I have to wait to get back to what I was doing. I have been gaming for about 45 years, but now it makes up about 90% of my waking hours.
Do you have a favorite gaming memory you’d like to share with the community?
Getting that last achievement in Forza Horizon 4 – I felt invincible! That was a pretty tough completion, and very satisfying.
What specific games or franchises do you connect the most, and why?
The Dragon Age and Mass Effect series really take me away to another place. They are very easy to lose yourself in with the great stories and companions. The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Skyrim both kept me enthralled for thousands of hours. When I’m in the mood to race, the Forza Horizon series really takes the cake. Excellent gameplay and a ton of fun! Finally, Diablo II – my first PC game and first that I didn’t pump quarters into. It was the only game I played for many years. I still have all of my discs and save files from over 20 years ago! It will always have a special place in my heart.
New Gamerpics, Profile Theme, and Avatar Items for Gaming & Disability
In partnership with disability communities at Xbox, we’re introducing a new gamerpic, profile theme, avatar items, and wallpaper! Additionally, we made Champions Rise gear in partnership with Special Olympics so your avatar can gear up like the Special Olympics athletes competing in the Gaming for Inclusion tournament this November. Get your avatar items here andyour wallpaper here. Content is subject to availability by country.
You just have to admire a chart that casually purports to show every single thing in the Universe in one simple 2D plot. The chart in question is from a piece in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Physics with the understated title of "All objects and some questions".
In Fig. 2, we plot all the composite objects in the Universe: protons, atoms, life forms, asteroids, moons, planets, stars, galaxies, galaxy clusters, giant voids, and the Universe itself. Humans are represented by a mass of 70 kg and a radius of 50 cm (we assume sphericity), while whales are represented by a mass of 10^5 kg and a radius of 7 m.
The "sub-Planckian unknown" and "forbidden by gravity" sections of the chart makes the "quantum uncertainty" section seem downright normal — the paper collectively calls these "unphysical regions". Lovely turns of phrase all.
But what does it all mean? My physics is too rusty to say, but I thought one of the authors' conjectures was particularly intriguing: "Our plot of all objects also seems to suggest that the Universe is a black hole." Huh, cool.
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