Monthly Archives: November 2022

Elden Ring’s score will get the jazz treatment thanks to Kenny Garrett and Takuya Kuroda

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With the popularity of video games, concerts devoted to the music of franchises like Final Fantasy and Assassin’s Creed are a frequent occurrence at music venues worldwide. However, you rarely see two jazz legends reinterpret your favorite gaming tracks. That’s what makes the event Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco announced today so intriguing. On December 3rd, former Duke Ellington Orchestra member Kenny Garrett will join trumpeter Takuya Kuroda, best known for his album Rising Son, to play two shows at The Bourbon Room in Holywood. They will play music from FromSoftware’s latest action RPG.

With the official score featuring 67 tracks, Kuroda and Garrett have a lot of material they could reinterpret. You have to imagine Malenia’s theme will make an appearance. “If I were to pick one word to describe this project, it’s epic,” Kuroda said in a video Bandai Namco released promoting the concert series. Garrett, meanwhile, promised it would be “something different” from what he’s done in the past.

Unfortunately, there’s no free way to watch the event. In a chart reminiscent of the one Sega published before the release of Sonic Origins, Bandai Namco notes you can watch a VOD of the concert after it’s over for $15. Watching the event live over the internet will set you back at least $25. In-person tickets, meanwhile, start at $75 and go all the way up to $200, depending on the extras you want. You can find more details on Bandai Namco’s site.

This compact lamp with a mushroom-shaped dome is the modern + safe alternative to a candle

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Table lamps are really underrated gems. Add the right table lamp to your desk, and it will illuminate its surroundings humbly but diligently, while also adding a bit of character and personality. They’re small but mighty products! And one such design I recently encountered is the Two table lamp designed by APE Amsterdam for the Dutch lighting brand Humble Lights.

Designer: APE Amsterdam for Humble Lights

Available in twelve color variants, the Two lamp was designed to replace a candle! Humble Lights recently added a black and beige color option to the range as well. It provides the same romance, softness, and subtlety that a candle does, but in a much more modern and contemporary form. The compact table lamp is portable, rechargeable, and also dimmable – so you can carry it from one room to another, and alternate between different lighting moods.

The Two table lamp features a tiny domed shade, which has an almost mushroom-like appearance. The little dome casts a circle of light on the desk or table, making it a functional and safer alternative, compared to the traditional candle. It can provide diverse lighting for different occasions and scenarios owing to its three brightness settings – candle, ambient, and work.

The base of the lamp is quite simple and spherical and has been built from aluminum. You can choose to build the mushroom-shaped dome from aluminum as well, or you could pick frosted or smoked translucent finishes. The Two lamp includes a low-energy LED that can emit up to 96 hours of light on a single charge. You can charge the lamp using a USB-C cable or any QI charger. Two’s various components can be serviced and replaced quite efficiently, allowing it to last for a long time in your home!

The post This compact lamp with a mushroom-shaped dome is the modern + safe alternative to a candle first appeared on Yanko Design.

Honda will start US production of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in 2024

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Honda's big electrification push will include US-oriented hydrogen fuel cell cars. The automaker has revealed that it will begin US production of fuel cell vehicles in 2024. The first model will be a plug-in hybrid based on the current-generation CR-V (pictured here). You'll theoretically have pure electric driving for your daily commute, but still get zero-emissions driving for longer city-to-city jaunts.

More details of the hydrogen-powered CR-V will be revealed sometime closer to its 2024 launch, Honda says. It's only willing to offer a peek at the power plant (below). The existing CR-V is available as a conventional hybrid with a gas engine and no plug-in feature.

Motor system in 2024 Honda CR-V hydrogen fuel cell variant
Honda

The new model is part of a larger Honda strategy to completely drop combustion engine vehicles by 2040 using a mix of pure EVs and fuel cell cars. On top of the hydrogen CR-V, Americans can also expect the fully electric Prologue SUV in 2024. The brand already sells the electric Honda E subcompact, but not in the US. Honda aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Whether or not there's a market for the fuel cell SUV is uncertain. Hydrogen cars haven't gained much traction in the US compared to their all-electric counterparts, due partly to high prices and a lack of filling stations. Honda axed the fuel cell-based Clarity sedan in 2021, reportedly in response to weak demand for the $71,200 machine. There's no guarantee customers will be more welcoming in 2024, particularly as EVs become more affordable and offer improved range.

Uncharted: The Movie: The Rollercoaster is coming to a Spanish theme park

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When the original Uncharted game debuted in 2007, an IGN reviewer called it a "rollercoaster adventure." Fast forward 16 years and you'll be able to experience Uncharted as a literal thrill ride at a theme park. Spanish resort PortAventura World has signed a deal with Sony to build a rollercoaster based on the Uncharted movie, which is an adaptation of Naughty Dog's games. The ride is slated to open at the theme park, which is around an hour and a half away from Barcelona, in mid-2023.

The rollercoaster will take the park's visitors on "a dangerous search for one of the greatest treasures ever found," PortAventura said. With a budget of over €25 million ($25.7 million) behind it, the Uncharted ride will have an immersive pre-show that's said to be full of surprises. The rollercoaster will be almost 700 meters long and reach a height of over 12 meters. At least some parts of the so-called dark ride will be enclosed, and likely feature animations or video projections, special effects and Nathan Drake saying "No, no, no!" way too many times.

Although it had a lukewarm reaction from critics, Uncharted performed fairly well at the box office, pulling in just under $402 million to become the fifth highest-grossing film based on a video game. Sony is turning many of its other PlayStation properties into movies and TV shows, including The Last of Us, Horizon, God of War and Ghost of Tsushima. Perhaps some of those will end up becoming theme park rides too — though a Last of Us rollercoaster might be a little too thrilling for some folks.

Human Thumb Thumbtacks

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Continuing on the realistic human body parts theme from yesterday’s toenail eyeballs come these realistic thumb thumbtacks, made and sold by Etsy store ThisisMichiesshop. A set of four tacks will set you back $17 and are going to make the perfect addition to my corkboard. Now, if I could just rehang my corkboard with some toe-nails, the theme would be complete.

Obviously, these are the perfect thumbtacks for two bumbling detectives in some television dramedy to use as they try to track down a serial killer. The show practically writes itself. Especially if you use AI, then it really does write itself. As a matter of fact, AI is writing this article right now and may have just become self-aware.

Thankfully, the thumbtacks are sculpted from polymer clay and not actual thumbs. Although it probably wouldn’t hurt to tail Michie and make sure she isn’t making any late-night trips to the graveyard just to be sure. They look awfully real to me.

[via DudeIWantThat]

Amazon bundles the Echo Show 8 with an Echo Show 5 Kids for only $70

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Cyber Monday has come and gone, but if you're still looking to pick up a new smart display or two ahead of the holidays, a newer deal on Amazon's Echo Shows may be of interest: The retailer is currently offering a bundle that pairs its Echo Show 8 with the Kids edition of its Echo Show 5 for $70. 

Buy Echo Show 8 + Echo Show 5 Kids at Amazon - $70

We've seen the Echo Show 8 alone go for $70 for much of the last two months, but that still equals the lowest price we've tracked. Normally, it retails closer to $100. With this deal, you're effectively getting an Echo Show 5 Kids thrown in at no extra cost. That device is currently available on its own for $40, but its average street price over the last few months has sat closer to $60.

Most people don't need a smart display, but for those who like using a voice assistant to pull up the weather, control smart lights and doorbells, stream podcasts and so on, it can provide more context than a screenless smart speaker. Amazon and Google are really your only options in this market, but if you're already partial to Alexa, the Echo Show 8 is your best bet. 

We gave the 8-inch display a review score of 87 last year and currently recommend it in our guide to the best smart displays: It can't double as a smart home hub like the bigger Echo Show 10, but its display is big and sharp (1,280 x 800) enough to comfortably stream video or display photos around the house, its speakers are powerful enough to fill a room, its processor can keep up with most tasks and its 13-megapixel camera is suitable for video calls. And while no Alexa or Google Assistant device is ideal for the privacy-conscious, there's at least a physical camera shutter and mic mute button built in.

The Echo Show 5 isn't as quick, spacious or loud, and its 2-megapixel camera is a noticeable downgrade. Still, it can do just about everything the larger models can do, and its 5.5-inch screen makes it a better fit for bathrooms or bedside tables. We gave it a score of 85 last year. The Kids version has the same hardware as the normal model, but it comes with a two-year warranty, a year of Amazon's Kids+ content service and a more child-friendly interface. Whether you're okay putting an Amazon mic and camera in your kid's room is up to you, but there is a camera cover and various parental controls for limiting and monitoring how the device is used.

If you're not beholden to Alexa, we'll note that Google's Nest Hub, our top pick among Google displays, is still on sale for $50. We generally find the Google Assistant to be a little smarter than Alexa, particularly for web queries, and it naturally plays nicer with widely-used Google services like Gmail, Google Calendar, YouTube and the like. The Nest Hub also lacks a camera, which may be a positive if you don't care about video calling. That said, if you already own a bunch of Alexa-enabled devices and want a couple new displays for around the house, this is a good deal, regardless of Alexa's broader struggles.

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With looks to charm, this ani-digi watch is a unique time teller you can wear in any mood

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No matter how much time changes or transitions modern technology brings about in way of perceiving time, a wristwatch arguably is never going out of fashion.

Watchmakers will keep evolving the look, feel and complications to stay in the trend. But when that is not enough, horologists will jump the gun and amalgamate the two known domains of time telling – analog and digital – to make sure our wrists have something distinctive to show every time.

This is how designer Edoardo Gouffran thinks, which is why he has devised an uncanny watch combining digital and analog in one. Not that we have not seen such hybrid watches before, ana-digi is a trend that quartz watches have been riding high on, but in that spree too, the Circlock has a face of its own.

Designer: Edoardo Gouffran

The Circlock is not a league apart only for its aesthetics but the idea behind its conception is pretty novel as well. Edorado explains that the basic difference between analog and digital watch is the “visualization of time.” While an analog watch allows a person reading it to view the current time in reference to the past and future, the digital watch shows the present time, conveniently excluding the past and future.

Circlock, he says, is “born from this idea.” “It is a result of a fusion between the word Circle and Clock” Edorado notes. In that sense, the Circlock goes against the general trend. This fusion of analog and digital watch allows the person to read the current time on a digital clock with past and future references.

With hollowness in the center, the watch dial circles around with Arabic numerals on it. The black aesthetics of the watch are complemented by a white highlighting the hour number, a yellow line denoting elapsed minutes, and a red dot doing the rounds as a seconds hand. Based on a resin band matching the watch hue, the Circlock’s backcase is engraved with the branding and a unique serial number, substantiating exclusivity of the timepiece. Style it with your streetwear or don it for a board meeting, the Circlock has the mettle to make heads turn.

The post With looks to charm, this ani-digi watch is a unique time teller you can wear in any mood first appeared on Yanko Design.

Twitch’s new ‘Shield Mode’ is a one-button anti-harassment tool for streamers

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Twitch has steadily added to its streamer safety measures, but they can still be a pain to use if a hate raid or dedicated harasser makes life miserable. The service might now have a much simpler solution. It's introducing "Shield Mode," a one-button toggle that activates several customizable safety measures at once. You and your moderators can limit chat to followers or subscribers, require verification and implement stricter AutoMod levels, and immediately revert back to looser policies once the crisis is over.

There are even a pair of Shield Mode-only defenses. You can automatically ban everyone who recently used a given phrase in chat, or disallow all first-time chatters. If a raid includes a wave of bigoted slurs from newcomers or bots, you might just silence all of them with a click. You'll have to file reports for each banned user at launch, but Twitch hopes to streamline the process in the future.

The feature is mainly meant to help guard against hate raids without forcing targeted channels to keep tight security active at all times. Streamers can mostly stick to relaxed, welcoming policies that help grow their audiences. However, Twitch adds that this could also help any broadcaster who's featured on the front page or planning a stream on a delicate subject.

This comes over a year after Twitch streamers conducted a virtual walkout to protest Twitch's allegedly slow responses to hate raids. At the time, creators dealt with racist, sexist and transphobic raiding that frequently abused channel hashtags, with some so bad that streams had to be cut short. Twitch promised changes in response, including better ban evasion detection. Shield Mode is another part of that response, and is clearly meant to supplement or replace community-made "panic button" tools that accomplished similar goals.

DoorDash is laying off around 1,250 corporate employees

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DoorDash says it is laying off around 1,250 employees in the latest instance of belt tightening at a well-known tech company. CEO Tony Xu wrote in a note to employees that DoorDash sped up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic to catch up with its growth, since the company was actually undersized as of early 2020. Most of DoorDash's investments are said to be paying off. However, Xu noted that "while we’ve always been disciplined in how we have managed our business and operational metrics, we were not as rigorous as we should have been in managing our team growth. That’s on me. As a result, operating expenses grew quickly."

Xu added that DoorDash has "been more resilient than other ecommerce companies." Third-party data suggests that the company increased its share of the food delivery market to 56 percent of sales as of September. However, DoorDash is still vulnerable to external factors, such as rising interest rates and the threat of a recession.

The company's growth has slowed and Xu said if DoorDash didn't cut costs, its operating expenses would outpace its revenue. The layoffs will account for around six percent of DoorDash's workforce, according to Bloomberg.

DoorDash's severance package will include 17 weeks of pay along with a February 2023 stock vest for those who are eligible. Health benefits will run through the end of March and COBRA coverage will remain available for up to 18 months. Xu noted that DoorDash will set March 1st as the employment termination date to give immigrant workers who are in the US on visas more time to find another job. Moreover, DoorDash says it will offer recruiting support.

Lyft, another major player in the gig economy space, said earlier this month it would lay off 13 percent (nearly 700) of its employees. Other notable tech companies have conducted mass layoffs in recent months, including Meta, Twitter, Amazon, Roku, Snap, Patreon and Peloton.

ZTE Axon 40 Ultra Space Edition launched

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ZTE Axon 40 Ultra Space Edition

ZTE has launched a new version of its Axon 40 Ultra smartphone, the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra Space Edition, and the handset gets some upgrades over the original device. The new Axon 40 Ultra Space Edition features a 6.8 inch AMOLED display with a FullHD+ resolution of 2480 x 116 pixels. The handset comes with […]

The post ZTE Axon 40 Ultra Space Edition launched appeared first on Geeky Gadgets.