Secret Level Clip - Keanu Reeves Enters The MechAdult animated series of original short stories which are set within the worlds of beloved video games. Each episode serves as a gateway to a new adventure, unlocking exciting worlds from beloved gaming classics and highly anticipated new titles.https://adapt.one/editorial/link/264/Secret+Level+Clip+-+Keanu+Reeves+Enters+The+Mech/

Arnold is here! Stuart CounterOne of our new member just posted this mind-blowing render of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the menacing T-800. Like the terminator himself, nothing can stop Stuart Counter!https://adapt.one/editorial/link/257/Arnold+is+here%21+Stuart+Counter/

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Otoy has released the first public beta of OctaneRender 2025.1, the next major version of the GPU production renderer.Key features in the release include a new decal system, support for rest attributes for better texture projection onto animated meshes, and a new camera node mimicking real-world lenses.The update also introduces a new Octane Server node for rendering elements of a scene on remote instances, and integration of Otoys Render Network inside the software.Many of the new features were previously scheduled for OctaneRender 2024.2, while other features previously announced have now been moved to OctaneRender 2026.1.https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/241203_OctaneRender20251_RestAttributes.mp4New decal system and support for rest attributes for texture projectionKey changes in OctaneRender 2025.1 include support for rest attributes to reduce distortion when projecting textures onto animated meshes that do not have existing UVs.When rest attributes are enabled, OctaneRender uses rest vertex positions and normals to calculate UV co-ordinates.The update also introduces a native decal system, for projecting textures onto mesh geometries within a scene, particularly to add surface patterns, or to add dirt and damage effects.Use texture-based displacement on Vectron primitives and volumesOther new features in OctaneRender 2025.1 include the Vectron displacement node.It makes it possible to use texture maps to displace Vectron primitives and volumes created using the Volume SDF node.It works in real time, at any scale, and is compatible with complex SDF trees or the Mesh Volume node.New realistic lens camera node recreates real-world lens effectsOther new features include the realistic lens camera node, which mimics the optical properties of real-world camera lenses.In the current build, it mimics 16 lens types you can find a list in the online release notes including Canon, Cooke Optics, Minolta, Nikon and Zeiss lenses.The new node reproduces real-world lens effects including Bokeh, vignetting, chromatic aberration, and barrel distortion.New Octane Server node and access to the Render Network from within OctaneRenderFor rendering, a new Octane Server node makes it possible to render another scene on a remote instance and use the result as an AOV or texture in your current scene.It is a highly experimental feature, and currently works in the Standalone edition of the software, and only on Windows.The remote instance can be another instance of the Standalone edition of OctaneRender, or a separate Octane Server app.In addition, the release makes the Render Network, Otoys distributed online GPU rendering service, available directly within OctaneRender.Users can upload scenes and check the progress of render jobs from inside the software.Updates to existing featuresThe release also includes updates to existing features, including the Chaos Texture node, which scatters a texture randomly across a surface.It is now possible to use a texture map or procedural noise to distort the scattering pattern, and to use texture projection types other than the mesh UVs.There are also 11 new blend modes for output AOV layers, including Hue, Saturation, Color, Luminosity, Hard Mix, Linear Light, Vivid Light and Pin Light.Better performance on M3 and M4 chips in Octane XMac users also get improved performance in Octane X, the Metal-native edition of the software.The update improves hardware acceleration on current Apple M3 and M4 chips, adding support for non-triangle primitives, including hair, particles and analytic lights.The test scene shown in the release thread on the Otoy forum shows a 1.5x increase in render speed over OctaneRender 2024.1 on a top-of-the-range M4 Pro chip, although Otoy says that the speed boost is smaller on less complex scenes.Features that havent made it into OctaneRender 2025.1Most of the key features in OctaneRender 2025.1 were previously scheduled for OctaneRender 2024.2, which now seems to have morphed into the current release.The only feature announced for 2024.2 not to be included is the Neural Filters system, intended to make it possible to use neural filters from Stability AI and other providers directly in [a] scene.It has now been moved to a separate experimental build of the software, OctaneRender 2026.1, along with other previously announced and, in some cases, much-delayed features including meshlet streaming, native support for MaterialX, and rendering of 3D Gaussian Splats.Price, system requirements and release dateOctaneRender 2025.1 is currently in public beta. Otoy hasnt announced a release date, but in the past, it has typically taken three to six months to get from the first beta to a stable release.OctaneRender is compatible with Windows 10+ and Linux, and requires a CUDA 10-capable NVIDIA GPU.Octane X is compatible with macOS 14.0+ on Macs with Apple M1 and later processors, and with iPadOS 17.0+ on devices with A12 Bionic and later chips.The software is rental-only, via Otoys Studio+ subscriptions, which cost 23.95/month, and which include integration plugins for 21 DCC applications, plus a range of third-party software.Otoy also provides free Prime editions of both OctaneRender and Octane X, which are limited to rendering on a single GPU, and which come with a smaller set of DCC integration plugins.Read a full list of new features in OctaneRender 2025.1 on Otoys forumHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). 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Jim Sichko, aCatholic priest from Lexington, Kentucky, visited Pope Francis in May and asked him to sign two bottles of bourbon for charity. Jim SichkoWhenever Catholic priest Jim Sichko visits the Vatican, he always brings a gift for the pope. Since Sichko is from Lexington, Kentucky, bourbon is usually his go-to. (Hemade headlines a few years ago for giving the pope a rare 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle.)During a trip in May, Sichko presented Pope Francis with two bottles of bourbonbut this time, he didnt let the religious leader keep them. He asked Pope Francis to autograph the spirits and then give them back, so that he could auction them off for charity, per theCatholic News Agencys Daniel Payne. Pope Francis happily obligedbut not without cracking a joke first.Which one is mine? he asked Sichko.On December 7, thesigned bottles will be sold at a live auction at Sothebys in New York. Each bottle is expected to go for between $1,000 and $10,000, though predicting their final sale price is more of an art than a science.These estimates have a wide range, as we expect that Pope Francis name and signature holds incredible value around the world, says Zev Glesta, assistant vice president and whiskey specialist for Sothebys, toWhisky Advocates Sean Evans. Plus, those few lucky buyers can truly say they have a blessed whiskey shelf.The proceeds will be donated to several nonprofits, including an animal shelter and the Maxwell Street Legal Clinic, which provides legal assistance to immigrants in Kentucky. Sichko selected those causes because of their connection to the pope. Pope Francis is named after St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals; he has alsoadvocated for the compassionate treatment of migrants. Jim Sichko is known for bringing bourbon as a gift when he visits the Vatican. Jim SichkoBoth bottles are filled with bourbon made at Willett Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. Theyre barrel picks, meaning that Sichko visited the distillery and selected a specific barrel of whiskey to be bottled. Sichkodonated most of both barrels to charity. But he saved the first bottle from each one to be signed by the pope and auctioned off.One bottle commemorates Pope Francis tenth anniversary as pope and features the papal Coat of Arms. The bourbon inside was made from Willetts original recipe and aged for ten years.The other honors the 2025 Jubileea 12-month period in which Catholics can ask for the forgiveness of sins for themselves or deceased loved ones. (Jubilees typically only take place every 25 years, and this years theme is Pilgrims of Hope.) Also aged for ten years, the bottle features the official jubilee sticker.Why has Sichko gone to such great lengths to raise money for charity? In 2016, Pope Francis selected Sichko to be a papalmissionary of mercy, a small group of priests who can pardon certain sins. More broadly, theyre also tasked with spreading a message of hope and kindness through acts of compassion, writes Tom Wilmes forGarden & Gun magazine.Sichko has taken that mission to heart. He often performs random acts of kindness, like donating10,000 N-95 masks during the pandemic and helping aflooded grocery store rebuild. Hes paid forfunerals andburial expenses, supportedlaid-off miners and made large donations tofood pantries.One of the things that Pope Francis has said to us missionaries is that weve got to smell like our sheep, Sichko toldEsquires Dave Holmes in 2018. Weve got to get dirty. Weve got to get in the trenches.The bourbon auction is just his latest projecteven though he doesnt drink much himself.Kindness costs nothing, Sichko tellsWLEX-TVs Drew Amman. It costs nothing to be kind.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Alcohol, Animals, Auctions, Food, Immigrants, Liquor, Religion

Metavisio and its subsidiary Thomson Computing have unveiled what they call the first Web3 laptop, engineered from the ground up for native Web3 experiences.Read More

Growl has raised $4.75 million to create an AI-powered interactive boxing coach to punch up your family workouts.Read More

Phasmophobia has sold 1m copies on consoles | News-in-briefKinetic Games' title released in early access on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S at the end of October, and has now sold just shy of 22 million units when considering Steam sales as wellImage credit: Kinetic Games News by GamesIndustry.biz Staff Contributor Published on Dec. 4, 2024 This is a News-in-brief article, our short format linking to an official source for more information. Read more about this story by following the link below:Phasmophobia has sold 1m copies on consoles

Chinese developer Lilith Games laid off 40 developers that were working on its upcoming life sim, 'Project Party.'According to translations from GameLook, the reductions took place in mid-November. The game's producer was among those let go. The outlet notes the layoffs came after Project Party's beta failed to meet expectations over the summer.PocketGamer also reports the game has not been canceled, but the remaining 60-person staff will focus on further gameplay changes.Lilith Games' mobile historyLilith Games is best known for mobile titles like Dislyte, Farlight 84, and AFK Arena. GameLook notes this set of layoffs is the latest for the studio: in 2022 and 2023, it cut staff working on then-projects 'Breach' and 'Apocalypse of Eden.'Lilith is the latest team to face an uphill battle developing a new life sim game. In June, Paradox canceled its own entry in the genre, Life by You, and shut down its creator Tectonic Games after deciding the game would not meet Paradox's expectations."A version that we'd be satisfied with is too far away, and therefore we are taking the difficult decision to cancel the release," said Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester in June. "Moving forward, we should perform at a much higher level, and it's obvious that we have work ahead of us."Life by You's cancelation was preceded by the rough launch for Paradox's other simulation title, Cities: Skylines II. Both Paradox and developer Colossal Order have acknowledged the game's troubles throughout the year, and the publisher later admitted it's become a victim of its own success.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are advanced AI systems trained on large amounts of data to understand and generate human-like language. As large language models (LLMs) increasingly integrate into vehicle navigation systems, it is important to understand their path-planning capability. In early 2024, many car manufacturers integrated AI-powered voice assistants into their vehicles, including infotainment control, navigation, climate management, and answering general knowledge questions. The ability of AI-powered voice assistants to plan real-world routes is one area that needs to be assessed for effective vehicle navigation management.vision-and-language navigation (VLN), where robots follow verbal instructions using visual cues. Some researchers believe that LLMs can outperform A* and another standard algorithm for path planning because they are more capable of producing flexible, creative solutions. However, LLMs are usually not very versatile in handling new environments or highly complex scenarios without extensive fine-tuning. Additionally, most studies on LLMs in path planning have been executed in very simplified simulation environments and do not necessarily reflect the challenges encountered when using these models in real applications.To address these gaps, researchers from Duke University and George Mason University conducted an experiment by testing three LLMs in six real-world path-planning scenarios in various settings and with multiple difficulties to determine their effectiveness in vision-and-language navigation.Different scenarios involved creating step-by-step directions to reach destinations, sometimes within time constraints. The study assessed LLMs in two tasks: Turn-by-Turn (TbT) Navigation, providing step-by-step directions in urban, suburban, and rural settings, and Vision-and-Language Navigation (VLN), guiding users with visual landmarks. The scenarios ranged in difficulty, with GPT-4 swarming around time-specific TbT prompts and Gemini requiring follow-ups for detailed VLN guidance. Three LLMs -PT -4, Gemini, and Mistral 7B-were tested across these tasks to assess their real-world path-planning capabilities.The study evaluated LLMs by comparing their navigation routes to Wazes ground truth and identifying major and minor errors. Major errors included route discontinuities, incorrect directions, and missed exits, while minor errors were smaller misdirections. In Turn-by-Turn (TbT) navigation, LLMs often had route gaps or provided wrong directions. For Vision-and-Language Navigation (VLN), models struggled with missing segments, wrong landmarks, or failing to reach destinations. Time constraints tests showed that GPT-4 excelled in these cases, the best in urban and suburban cases. Mistral excelled in urban navigation, GPT-4 in suburban and rural areas, and Gemini in VLN. In the end, it was discovered that all three models failed to consistently create an accurate route, which showed that they struggled with tasks that required spatial understanding.In summary, this research demonstrated that tested LLMs are unfit for real-world navigation. GPT-4 performed slightly better in Turn-by-Turn (TbT) scenarios, while Gemini was better in Vision-and-Language Navigation (VLN), but all the models made errors. Therefore, these LLMs are unreliable for directing vehicle navigation, and car companies should be cautious about using them. In the future, this work can help design LLMs specifically for this task to integrate this great technology in vehicles and navigation!Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also,dont forget to follow us onTwitter and join ourTelegram Channel andLinkedIn Group. If you like our work, you will love ournewsletter.. Dont Forget to join our60k+ ML SubReddit. Divyesh Vitthal Jawkhede+ postsDivyesh is a consulting intern at Marktechpost. He is pursuing a BTech in Agricultural and Food Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He is a Data Science and Machine learning enthusiast who wants to integrate these leading technologies into the agricultural domain and solve challenges. FREE AI WEBINAR: 'Fast-Track Your LLM Apps with deepset & Haystack'(Promoted)

Nintendo has added Game Boy classic Donkey Kong Land 3 to the Nintendo Switch Online library.A trailer revealed the platformer from developer Rare is available today, December 4, and wraps up the trilogy of Donkey Kong Land games which Nintendo has re-released onto its subscription service over the last month."Fame and fortune seekers have journeyed far and wide in search of the fabled Lost World," reads the official synopsis. "Eager to find it first, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong set off to discover its entrance, unaware that Baron K. Roolenstein and his Kremling Krew are hot on their tail."Meanwhile, Dixie Kong is left behind to babysit her younger cousin, Kiddy Kong. But that won't stop her from answering the call of adventure! Help Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong through 36 Kremling-infested levels, each containing their own secret areas and bonus levels."Donkey Kong Land 3 is available at no extra cost to users who have a Nintendo Switch Online membership and have purchased the Expansion Pass.Nintendo periodically adds a handful of classic titles to its myriad Switch Online libraries, which also includes games from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, and more.Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.