Citizens of Super Earth! Do not fear the resurgence of Illuminate scum the Helldivers will be ready to fight them in the streets, at your doorsteps, and on the city borders and boundaries! The Ministry of Defense is authorizing the sale and distribution of the Urban Legends Premium Warbond* to all Helldivers, available starting now!Play VideoYouve been fighting in swamps, deserts, and frozen wastelands with our finest weapons. But what kind of kit do you need to make a dent in the invading forces when it comes to your own streets?Fighting in colonies means narrow streets and close encounters, so were introducing our first melee secondary weapon with the SQC-19 Stun Lance. This extra-large poker will give you good range and pairs perfectly with the SH-51 Directional Shield stratagem.We think youre going to appreciate some stationary firepowersomething you can call down into a city center to put a dent in those Illuminate Harvesters. The E/AT-12 Anti-Tank Emplacement will allow you to liberate even the most heavily armored of enemies using the most democratic of firepower.But what if youre facing down a horde of Voteless and the Anti-Tank just wont take out enough of them at once? I know what Im going to call down: the A/FLAM-40 Flame Sentry. A stationary, high-powered flamethrower turret. Be careful with this one, though, Helldiverif the red ammo canister takes too much fire, the whole sentry will go up in flames, taking anyone nearby with it.While youre busy holding off the onslaught with the shield and lance, you can get some additional help from the new Armed Resupply Pods booster, which upgrades your resupply pods with a tiny top-mounted turret to fend off stragglers while you make your way to the ammo drop. Just remember to keep your head down on approach!Turn yourself into an immovable object for the enemy with the SR-18 Roadblock heavy armor. With a crested, Spartan-style helmet and imposing pauldrons to bulk up your shoulders, youre sure to look the part.But if youre feeling like you need an agile light armor to move fast in the streets, theres also the SR-24 Street Scout thats giving some S.E.A.F trooper vibes. Both of these armors feature the Siege Ready passive, which increases your primary weapon reload speed by a whopping 30% and your primary ammo capacity by 20%!Urban Legends has two capes with a gray and yellow color scheme that looks great with either armor set: the Greatcloak of Rebar Resolve with an extra large skull design, and the sleek, asymmetrical Holder of the Yellow Line cape.The Illuminate threaten our colonies with slavery and death. We have chosen our words carefullyperhaps they should have done the same. The This is Democracy emote will show those squids that Super Earth will not be conquered.There are also coordinating player cards for Rebar Resolve and Holder of the Yellow Line, as well a new set of urban camouflage patterns, Concrete Jungle, for your hellpods, shuttle, exosuit, and the brand new FRV which will be available soon! And like our previous Warbonds, were including plenty of Super Credits to unlock.The citizens of Super Earths colonies will rest a little easier knowing youre armed with the latest from the Ministry of Defense. Gear up, Helldivers, and make the streets safe again with Urban Legendsavailable today!*Requires base game, paid purchase of Super Credits, and game progression to unlock.

A couple hours into Antonblast, a new side-scrolling action-platformer thats inspired by Game Boy Advance-era Wario Land and Crash Bandicoot games, I wondered if I knew what I was really doing. Sure, Id beaten some of the games hard-as-hell bosses and blasted through a handful of challenging levels, yet I felt like I was barely hanging on.Despite the visual assault of Antonblast, and my performance playing it, I was having a, well, blast. It was like playing Wario Land 4 while riding a roller coaster and having a bit of a buzz on. Then at certain points, the games frenetic mechanics started to click in those moments, I felt like I started to speak the strange language of Antonblast.This is a game that features a dedicated Scream button, after all. (Seriously, you just hold it down to make its main character scream loudly and endlessly.)Barely controlled chaos is the beating heart of Antonblast, in which almost everything is resolved by smashing it with a huge hammer or blasting through it like the Tasmanian Devil. As Dyanamite Anton (or his similarly drunken coworker Dynamite Annie), Im sent into 2D levels that move in all directions, jumping and crashing my way through exploding crates, and getting into the flow of dashing and bashing stuff. There are moments of serious, hardcore platforming, during which I must try to avoid poisonous lakes and pools populated with electric eel-like machines. But most of the time, Im simply accelerating forward like a tornado, blowing everything to bits.At some point in each level, I find blasting machines, depress the plunger, and new sections open up. Some of those blasting machines trigger the finale of the level, during which Antonblast screams at me that ITS HAPPY HOUR! and its time to race back to the beginning of the level to exit it. Seemingly, the instruction is for Anton to go get hammered back at his home base, and in these levels-but-played-in-reverse moments, everything becomes even more manic.The reason Dynamite Antons doing all of this is because Satan himself has stolen Antons booze (which Anton had, in turn, stolen from someone else). The goal is to recover those sweet spirits and leave destruction in Antons wake.Despite thick layers of chaos, Antonblast is about platforming precision, paying attention to the games environments to find secrets and hidden routes, and perfecting ones runs. Thats evident from the games first boss fight against a professional wrestler. From the very moment you jump into that fight, youre forced to react, read the wrestlers movements, and replay until youve figured out the dance. Much of Antonblast can be frustrating at first, but once youve learned its language, frustration gives way to fun.While Antonblast may play like the Wario Land games of yore, it has its own distinct visual style, drawing on graffiti and in-your-face 90s video games and cartoons. Its a wildly kinetic game, both in how it plays and how its styled. At times, the visual chaos can become overwhelming; Antonblasts substance suffers from too much style.The devs at Summitsphere keep the noisy action of Antonblast consistently fresh over its 12 levels, thanks to a variety of movement mechanics, enemies, and bosses. With plenty of hidden collectibles to find, and multiple ways to replay each stage there are time trial and combo-focused run options theres a surprising amount of depth to the game.Antonblast is available on Windows PC via Steam (and plays great on a Steam Deck), and it just got a slightly delayed release on Nintendo Switch. Any fan of Wario Land or Pizza Tower should probably check it out. Antonblastwas released Dec. 3 on Windows PC and Dec. 13 on Nintendo Switch. The game was reviewed on PC using a download code provided by Summitsphere. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. You can findadditional information about Polygons ethics policy here.

A new month means a new batch of thrillers on Netflix, and a new breakdown from us about which ones are worth your time. And this month, that even includes a new release thats perfectly timed for the holidays. Every month, we handpick a few of the best thrillers on Netflix that fit the current season. Sometimes they pair well with an upcoming release. Other titles might be new additions to the platform.This month, the choices include David Finchers funniest movie, a thriller thats somehow still under the radar despite being out for a decade and starring one of the biggest actors on the planet, and a new addition to the Christmas thriller canon.Editors pick: Carry-OnDirector: Jaume Collet-SerraCast: Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Sofia CarsonFew thrillers are better than Christmas thrillers, and Carry-On is continuing proof of that. The movie follows a beleaguered, unmotivated TSA agent named Ethan (Taron Egerton), whos unlucky enough to get chosen by a terrorist to let a bag through security. But the threat to the lives of hundreds of people is just enough to convince Ethan that maybe its time to start doing his job right, which sets him on a collision course with the terrorists, the cops, his bosses, and just about everyone else he meets at LAX on Christmas Eve. The whole movie is big, ridiculous, tense, and a whole lot of fun, which makes it a perfect thriller for the holidays. Austen GoslinCaptain Phillips Director: Paul GreengrassCast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad AbdirahmanThe 2013 dramatization of the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking is one of the most underappreciated thrillers of the past decade. Starring Tom Hanks, the film recounts the story of Richard Phillips, the captain of an unarmed container vessel that is taken hostage by Somali pirates. Hanks performance, per usual, is stellar and affecting, but its Barkhad Abdis Oscar-nominated portrayal of Abduwali Muse, the films antagonist, that steals the show. Captain Phillips is a tense human drama about a working-class man fighting, against dispiriting odds, to protect his crew and return home safely himself. Toussaint EganThe KillerDirector: David FincherCast: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles ParnellHuman beings, by and large, are creatures of habit. Even Michael Fassbenders character in The Killer, an anonymous assassin with a love of McGriddles and The Smiths, isnt immune to the siren call of routine. After failing to execute a target in Paris, the films protagonist is forced to hunt down a pair of assassins hired to kill him working backward to find the person who hired them and eliminate them too. Anticipate, dont improvise, the Killer tells himself throughout the course of the film. Trust no one. Never yield an advantage. Fight only the battle youre paid to fight. Over the course of the films two-hour run time, youll see Fassbenders character push his interpretation of that mantra to its limits, all while seemingly unaware of the personal liberties hes taking. Sometimes, new challenges call for new routines. TE

As lines continue to blur between retail showroom and lived-in residence, cohesion amongst a buildings form and interior atmosphere become paramount. In the newly completed duplex at 144 Vanderbilt, General Assemblys interior approach works in tandem with SO-ILs architectural structure, creating a unified space that emphasizes design integrity with everyday practicality. The curated selection of furniture, lighting, and art merges domestic living with design retail, offering an immersive environment that showcases independent designers and brands insight brought forth from General Assemblys Brooklyn-based retail store, Assembly Line.Situated at the corner of Vanderbilt and Myrtle Avenues, 144 Vanderbilt features 26 condominiums across eight stories, with 21 unique floor plans. Designed to prioritize privacy and connection to nature, nearly 70% of the homes have three or more exposures, offering private outdoor spaces with views of Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene Park, Manhattan, and the East River. General Assembly took cues from the rich history of the surrounding environment to design a residence focused on craftsmanship and heirloom-quality objects and materials that improve with time.Exposed concrete ceilings and warm oak floors serve as a neutral backdrop, their quiet presence allowing for the furniture and objects to take center stage. The color palette defines the homes interconnected spaces, softly transitioning from luminous communal spaces to intimate, deeper-toned private chambers, each hue carefully selected from General Assemblys limewash collection from Ressource. The design also highlights the buildings expansive windows, framing natural elements as integral to the interior. In the den, for instance, an existing tree is showcased through an unobstructed view and a darker color scheme, ensuring it becomes a focal point within the room.Throughout, handcrafted and custom-made furniture, lighting, and accessories are complemented by original artwork curated with Amlie Maison dart. The list of designers includes Pat Kim, Fort Standard, Ladies & Gentlemen, and Bowen Liu, to name a few.For more information on General Assembly, visit genassembly.com, and for more on SO-IL, visit so-il.org.Photography by William Jess Laird.

If you celebrate Hanukkah and youre searching for a modern menorah, look no further! Here are our top picks for a contemporary festival of lights:Ripple Menorah by Tchotchke \\\ $180Rainbow Menorah by Tchotchke \\\ $218Ceramic Bubble Menorah by Tchotchke \\\ $118Aluminum Bubble Menorah by Tchotchke \\\ $300Terrazzo Concrete Menorahs by Pretti.Cool \\\ $125Menorah Sculpture II Black by Hannah Polskin \\\ $1,500Menorah Sculpture II Cream by Hannah Polskin \\\ $1,500Apeloig Collection Menorah \\\ $410Glass Chanukiah by Via Maris \\\ $235COBRA Menorah 9 Candles by Georg Jensen \\\ $259Ascalon Menorah by Brad Ascalon \\\ $295Menorah by Josh Owen for Areaware \\\ $150Marmol Radziner Menorah by Marmol Radziner \\\ $190Wood Wave Menorah \\\ $260Menorahmorph in Lime by Karim Rashid \\\ $30.00Glass Menorah from West Elm \\\ $60Travel Magnet Menorah by Laura Cowan \\\$225Miracles Concrete Chanukiah in Marble White by Logideez \\\ $123.05Nosh Menorah by Leadoff Studio for Modern Mensch \\\ $200Sculptural Steel Menorah in Jasper by Lizzie Katz\\\ $1,200Matte Black Electric Menorah \\\ $50Trace Chanukiah by Via Maris \\\ $165Splatter Menorah by Julia Elsas \\\ $250Bold Menorah by Moooi \\\ $265Swey Menorah by SIN \\\ $200Stackable Travel Menorah and Candlesticks Multicolor \\\ $150Nambe Illume Menorah by Todd Myers for Namb \\\ $22Gray Moveable Menorah by ceMMent \\\ $175.25** These menorahs, technically called chanukiyahs, are for decorative purposes consult your Rabbi to determine if a menorah is kosher.This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Cultural convergence and the shift to minimalism in automotive brandingContinue reading on UX Collective

Annoying UX sides of my favorite platform.Continue reading on UX Collective

If you want to become a faster runner, youll probably end up doing a lot of speedwork on a track. Or if you live in a hilly place, you might wish you had a nice flat track to run on. But how do you find one thats open to the public? Turns out its easier than you might think. Many public high school tracks are available for the community to use.Call local schoolsI run on a local school track, and the way I found it was pretty straightforward. I phoned up the nearest high school, and asked whether they had a track that was open to the public. They said yes, so long as I come outside school hours; but they also suggested a different school in the district whose track has fewer evening events scheduled. Thats the track I now run on most often. (I've even bookmarked their sports schedule, so I can check for conflicts before leaving the house.) I've found that schools don't always put their track policy (or locations!) online, so an old-fashioned phone call really is the quickest way to this information. You can also visit the school in personafter hours, pleaseand look for signs that say when and whether the track is open to the public. Another great resource for finding tracks is Run Track Run, which lists tracks and running routes across the U.S. Some of the tracks have information listed, such as the type of surface, whether its open to the public, and whether its free to use.Check maps I opened Google Maps on a random state, searched "high school," and zoomed in on each to see if they had a track. Found this in less than a minute. Credit: Google maps Oval running tracks are easy to spot on maps. I found another track near me just by looking for oval shapes on the Strava global heatmap (it highlights popular running routes). The satellite view on Google Maps is another great way to look for nearby tracks, as I did above. Most regulation-size outdoor running tracks surround a football or soccer field, and theyll usually be at a school or sometimes a park or community center. They will be an oblong shape, curved around the ends, often with a red rubber surface and white lane lines visible when you zoom in. You may also find non-standard tracks around athletic fields or in parks; they are usually gravel surfaced and may not be a quarter mile exactly; I can think of one that is 0.2 miles, and a few I've seen that are half a mile. While I was traveling, I used maps to find this 1.125-mile running path in a Delaware park that used to be a horse racing track.What are the rules of running on a track?First, check for any posted rules or hours. School tracks are often closed to the public during school hours, but that still means evenings, weekends, and holiday breaks are fair game. Dont expect that every schools track will always be open, though. Private schools might not open theirs to the public, and public schools may still set a schedule or close the track for events. If the track is part of a park, gym, or community center, check their website or call to confirm who can use the track and when.Once youre there, the most important rule is to stay in your lane (if there are marked lanes). Think of them like lanes on a highway: You can pass somebody if you give them enough room, and you should always look behind you before you change lanes. Dont block a lane by stopping in the middle; find a spot off the track if you want to sit down to stretch.The faster people will run in the innermost lane, which means if youre walking or warming up, you should stay in the outer lanes. Pay attention to the direction, too; usually everyone runs counter-clockwise. How do you do running workouts on a track?The track is there for anything youd like to do, so there isnt a specific procedure. But as a general rule, youll break down the work youd like to do into small, measurable pieces. One lap of a regulation track (measured in the innermost lane) is 400 meters, almost exactly a quarter of a mile.It is totally fine to jog continuously the whole time youre at the track, but more often people will use the track for interval work. You run fast for a short distance, then either walk to recover or stand around while you catch your breath. Then do another fast interval, and repeat the process until youre ready to go home.Heres a beginner-friendly workout you can do your first time on a track:Warm up with four laps around the track (1 mile). This can be a brisk walk, a slow, easy jog, or a mix of the two. You want to finish this step feeling warmed up and ready to worknot exhausted.Walk the curved part of the track (this is about 100 meters).Run the straight part of the track (this is also about 100 meters). Dont go all-out, just keep up a strong, fast pace.Repeat steps 2 and 3 as many times as desired. One miles worth (four laps) will give you eight 100-meter runs, which is a good workout for your first day. You can do more later.Jog at least a lap or two to cool down, more if you like.Runners would call the above workout 8 x 100 since you are doing eight 100-meter runs. (The walking in between is considered the recovery.) Here are common distances for intervals:100 m (the straightaway of the track)200 m (the curve plus one straightaway, or half the track)400 m (one lap)800 m (two laps)In between the running portions of your workout, you can rest or walk for about the same amount of time it took you to run. For example, if you run a lap (400 meters) in about two minutes, youd rest another two minutes before going again.

After months of testing, OpenAI rolled out "advanced voice" mode for ChatGPT back in September. The feature lets you have real-time conversations with ChatGPT: You can interrupt the bot and its "speaking" to ask another question, and it understands your tone of voice, which it uses to both inform its responses, as well as the inflection it uses. (It's very creepy when it laughs.)One feature of advanced voice mode has been missing since launch, however. When OpenAI first announced the perk back in May, it showed off how ChatGPT would be able to access your camera and "see" the world around you. While chatting with the bot, you could point your camera at something, ask a question, and ChatGPT would answer as best it could. Seven months later, this capability is here, and it's frighteningly impressive.In order to access it, you'll need to have a paid subscription to ChatGPTeither Plus ($20 per month), or Pro ($200 per month). ChatGPT Team subscribers are also eligible. The feature may not be available on your end right away, even if you pay, since OpenAI is rolling it out over time. Testing out ChatGPT advanced voice mode's vision featureAccessing the camera is pretty straightforward once it rolls out to your account. You launch advanced voice mode the same way you always do, using the waveform icon in the bottom-right of the chat. From here, you'll see a new camera icon, which, of course, launches the live camera feed. This doesn't interrupt the chat: You can be in the middle of a conversation with ChatGPT, open the camera, and continue gabbing away, only now with the camera feed as part of the conversation.The first time I used this, I pointed the camera at a Nintendo Switch box I had nearby, with an iPhone cable and my Magic Trackpad resting on top of it, and asked, "What is this?" ChatGPT said: "It looks like a Nintendo Switch OLED box with some cables and a laptop on top. Are you planning on setting it up?" Two of out three correct, as it mistook my trackpad for a laptop, but hey, close enough. Next up, I pointed it at my water bottle, and asked it to identify what I was highlighting: "That looks like a black Hydro Flask bottle. Its great for keeping drinks cold or hot! Do you take it with you often?"I asked a follow-up: "Do you know what model of Hydro Flask this is?" ChatGPT: "I cant be certain of the exact model, but it looks like one of their wide-mouth bottles, probably around 32 ounces. Its definitely designed to keep your drinks at the right temperature for hours." That...is basically right. I'm not all that comfortable with ChatGPT guessing the size correctly, either. I moved on to my keyboard, which ChatGPT accurately stated was an Apple Magic Keyboard. I asked which keys it could see, and named a handful, but not all, of the keys I had in frame. So, I asked how many keys it could see, and it said "about 30," when there were 26. So, again, close.It was able to identify the MagSafe port on my MacBook, as well as the two USB ports and the headphone jack to its right. It recognized the air vent in my ceiling, and the specific type of boots I had by my front door. All in all, it basically recognized everything I tested it onminus the trackpad. Advanced voice mode's sight is fastBut beyond recognition, I think what startled me the most was the speed of these responses. You ask ChatGPT to identify something, and it does, sometimes quicker than if you asked a real person to do it. Sometimes, the bot will hold onto a word for a moment (e.g. "I thiiiiiiiiink that's a...") which is probably a trick to let ChatGPT process the rest of what it wants to say. I've also caught it less sure of itself with its first response: I pointed it at my Magic Mouse, and its first guess what a computer mouse. But when I asked what brand it was, it didn't only specify Apple, but said it was an Apple Magic Mouse, known for its "sleek design" and "touch-sensitive surface." All things considered, though, these responses are often near-instantaneous, which speaks to how powerful OpenAI's models are these days. I'm still largely an AI skeptic, but this was the first development in a while that impressed meand I'm torn about how I feel about that. On the one hand, I could see this tech being used for good. Imagine how helpful something like this could be for users who are blind or have impaired vision, especially in a convenient device like smart glasses. Someone could ask their AI assistant what direction they're facing, to read the menu at a restaurant, or whether it's safe to cross the street. Tech like this could change search for the better, and make it easy to learn new things about the world by pointing our smartphone camera at a subject.On the flip side, my mind turns to the negative, especially since AI is still prone to hallucination. As more and more people use this technology, they will inevitably experience the mistakes AI can make, and if they're relying on the bot to help them with tasksespecially something that involves their safetyhallucinations can be dangerous. I didn't experience any large errors; just the trackpad mixup. Anderson Cooper found that the bot made a mistake on a geometry problem (again, not a huge issue). But it's a good reminder that as this tech improves rapidly, its inherent flaws raise the stakes for failure.Perhaps that's why every live camera session warns you not to use the feature for anything involving safety.

Bosch is the latest recipient of (preliminary) CHIPS and Science Act funding. The company signed a non-binding agreement with the US Commerce Department and could receive up to $225 million in funding.Lest you think Amazons gruff crime solver somehow got a piece of the action, Bosch is also a German multinational corporation that makes just about everything under the sun. (That even includes a stink-removal machine!) The company recently accelerated its silicon development, buying TSI Semiconductors in 2023 and finalizing the deal early this year. But instead of focusing on cutting-edge silicon for computers, phones and AI, Bosch specializes in chips for the auto industry.The company plans to use the funds on the Roseville, CA facility it acquired in the TSI deal. The company will invest up to $1.9 billion to convert the plant into one that spits out silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors, which are used to boost the efficiency of EV driving and charging. Bosch expects the first 200mm wafers to come off the line there in 2026.The Roseville investment enables Bosch to locally produce silicon carbide semiconductors, supporting US consumers on the path to electrification, Paul Thomas, president of Bosch in North America and Bosch Mobility Americas, wrote in a statement.Boschs Roseville, CA silicon plantBoschIn addition to boosting Americas primacy in the chip industry, the CHIPS Acts other goal is job creation. The White House says the proposed funding would create up to 1,700 jobs, including 1,000 in construction and 700 in manufacturing, engineering and R&D.Todays agreement catalyzes nearly $2 billion of private investment and the creation of over 1,700 jobs, while investing in a critical technology relied upon on by our defense and auto industry, wrote Natalie Quillian, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff.In November, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the worlds leading advanced chip maker, was the first to have its CHIPS Act grants (to the tune of $6.6 billion) finalized. Other recipients include Intel (although its funding was recently cut), HP, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Texas Instruments and Rocket Lab.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/bosch-signs-agreement-for-up-to-225-million-in-chips-act-funding-211031263.html?src=rss