December 19, 202414 min readHow the U.S. Lost Control of Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another PandemicAs the bird flu virus moved into cows and people, sluggish federal action, deference to industry and neglect for worker safety put the country at riskBy Amy Maxmen & KFF Health News Cows are milked at the Cornell Teaching Dairy Barn in Ithaca, N.Y. These cows are not infected, but the bird flu virus has spread among other cattle. Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesKeith Poulsens jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack.But the scale of the farmers efforts to treat the sick cows stunned him. They showed videos of systems they built to hydrate hundreds of cattle at once. In 14-hour shifts, dairy workers pumped gallons of electrolyte-rich fluids into ailing cows through metal tubes inserted into the esophagus.It was like watching a field hospital on an active battlefront treating hundreds of wounded soldiers, he said.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.Nearly a year into the first outbreak of the bird flu among cattle, the virus shows no sign of slowing. The U.S. government failed to eliminate the virus on dairy farms when it was confined to a handful of states, by quickly identifying infected cows and taking measures to keep their infections from spreading. Now at least 860 herds across 16 states have tested positive.Experts say they have lost faith in the governments ability to contain the outbreak.We are in a terrible situation and going into a worse situation," said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. I dont know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.To understand how the bird flu got out of hand, KFF Health News interviewed nearly 70 government officials, farmers and farmworkers, and researchers with expertise in virology, pandemics, veterinary medicine, and more.Together with emails obtained from local health departments through public records requests, this investigation revealed key problems, including deference to the farm industry, eroded public health budgets, neglect for the safety of agriculture workers, and the sluggish pace of federal interventions.Case in point: The U.S. Department of Agriculture this month announced a federal order to test milk nationwide. Researchers welcomed the news but said it should have happened months ago before the virus was so entrenched.Its disheartening to see so many of the same failures that emerged during the COVID-19 crisis reemerge, said Tom Bollyky, director of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations.Far more bird flu damage is inevitable, but the extent of it will be left to the Trump administration and Mother Nature. Already, the USDA has funneled more than $1.7 billion into tamping down the bird flu on poultry farms since 2022, which includes reimbursing farmers whove had to cull their flocks, and more than $430 million into combating the bird flu on dairy farms. In coming years, the bird flu may cost billions of dollars more in expenses and losses. Dairy industry experts say the virus kills roughly 2% to 5% of infected dairy cows and reduces a herds milk production by about 20%.Worse, the outbreak poses the threat of a pandemic. More than 60 people in the U.S. have been infected, mainly by cows or poultry, but cases could skyrocket if the virus evolves to spread efficiently from person to person. And the recent news of a person critically ill in Louisiana with bird flu shows that the virus can be dangerous.Just a few mutations could allow the bird flu to spread between people. Because viruses mutate within human and animal bodies, each infection is like a pull of a slot machine lever.Even if theres only a 5% chance of a bird flu pandemic happening, were talking about a pandemic that probably looks like 2020 or worse, said Tom Peacock, a bird flu researcher at the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom, referring to COVID. The U.S. knows the risk but hasnt done anything to slow this down, he added.Beyond the bird flu, the federal governments handling of the outbreak reveals cracks in the U.S. health security system that would allow other risky new pathogens to take root. This virus may not be the one that takes off, said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the emerging diseases group at the World Health Organization. But this is a real fire exercise right now, and it demonstrates what needs to be improved.It may have been a grackle, a goose, or some other wild bird that infected a cow in northern Texas. In February, the states dairy farmers took note when cows stopped making milk. They worked alongside veterinarians to figure out why. In less than two months, veterinary researchers identified the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus as the culprit.Long listed among pathogens with pandemic potential, the bird flus unprecedented spread among cows marked a worrying shift. It had evolved to thrive in animals that are more like people biologically than birds.After the USDA announced the dairy outbreak on March 25, control shifted from farmers, veterinarians, and local officials to state and federal agencies. Collaboration disintegrated almost immediately.Farmers worried the government might block their milk sales or even demand sick cows be killed, as poultry are, said Kay Russo, a livestock veterinarian in Fort Collins, Colorado.Instead, Russo and other veterinarians said, they were dismayed by inaction. The USDA didnt respond to their urgent requests to support studies on dairy farms and for money and confidentiality policies to protect farmers from financial loss if they agreed to test animals.The USDA announced that it would conduct studies itself. But researchers grew anxious as weeks passed without results. Probably the biggest mistake from the USDA was not involving the boots-on-the-ground veterinarians, Russo said.Will Clement, a USDA senior adviser for communications, said in an email: Since first learning of H5N1 in dairy cattle in late March 2024, USDA has worked swiftly and diligently to assess the prevalence of the virus in U.S. dairy herds. The agency provided research funds to state and national animal health labs beginning in April, he added.The USDA didnt require lactating cows to be tested before interstate travel until April 29. By then, the outbreak had spread to eight other states. Farmers often move cattle across great distances, for calving in one place, raising in warm, dry climates, and milking in cooler ones. Analyses of the viruss genes implied that it spread between cows rather than repeatedly jumping from birds into herds.Milking equipment was a likely source of infection, and there were hints of other possibilities, such as through the air as cows coughed or in droplets on objects, like work boots. But not enough data had been collected to know how exactly it was happening. Many farmers declined to test their herds, despite an announcement of funds to compensate them for lost milk production in May.There is a fear within the dairy farmer community that if they become officially listed as an affected farm, they may lose their milk market, said Jamie Jonker, chief science officer at the National Milk Producers Federation, an organization that represents dairy farmers. To his knowledge, he added, this hasnt happened.Milk samples to be tested for the bird flu virus.Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesSpeculation filled knowledge gaps. Zach Riley, head of the Colorado Livestock Association, said he suspected that wild birds may be spreading the virus to herds across the country, despite scientific data suggesting otherwise. Riley said farmers were considering whether to install floppy inflatable men you see outside of car dealerships to ward off the birds.Advisories from agriculture departments to farmers were somewhat speculative, too. Officials recommended biosecurity measures such as disinfecting equipment and limiting visitors. As the virus kept spreading throughout the summer, USDA senior official Eric Deeble said at a press briefing, The response is adequate.The USDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration presented a united front at these briefings, calling it a One Health approach. In reality, agriculture agencies took the lead.This was explicit in an email from a local health department in Colorado to the countys commissioners. The State is treating this primarily as an agriculture issue (rightly so) and the public health part is secondary, wrote Jason Chessher, public health director in Weld County, Colorado. The states leading agricultural county, Welds livestock and poultry industry produces about $1.9 billion in sales each year.In July, the bird flu spread from dairies in Colorado to poultry farms. To contain it, two poultry operations employed about 650 temporary workers Spanish-speaking immigrants as young as 15 to cull flocks. Inside hot barns, they caught infected birds, gassed them with carbon dioxide, and disposed of the carcasses. Many did the hazardous job without goggles, face masks, and gloves.By the time Colorados health department asked if workers felt sick, five women and four men had been infected. They all had red, swollen eyes conjunctivitis and several had such symptoms as fevers, body aches, and nausea.State health departments posted online notices offering farms protective gear, but dairy workers in several states told KFF Health News that they had none. They also hadnt heard about the bird flu, never mind tests for it.Studies in Colorado, Michigan, and Texas would later show that bird flu cases had gone under the radar. In one analysis, eight dairy workers who hadnt been tested 7% of those studied had antibodies against the virus, a sign that they had been infected.Missed cases made it impossible to determine how the virus jumped into people and whether it was growing more infectious or dangerous. I have been distressed and depressed by the lack of epidemiologic data and the lack of surveillance, said Nicole Lurie, an executive director at the international organization the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, who served as assistant secretary for preparedness and response in the Obama administration.Citing insufficient data, the British government raised its assessment of the risk posed by the U.S. dairy outbreak in July from three to four on a six-tier scale.Virologists around the world said they were flabbergasted by how poorly the United States was tracking the situation. You are surrounded by highly pathogenic viruses in the wild and in farm animals, said Marion Koopmans, head of virology at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. If three months from now we are at the start of the pandemic, it is nobodys surprise.Although the bird flu is not yet spreading swiftly between people, a shift in that direction could cause immense suffering. The CDC has repeatedly described the cases among farmworkers this year as mild they werent hospitalized. But that doesnt mean symptoms are a breeze, or that the virus cant cause worse.It does not look pleasant, wrote Sean Roberts, an emergency services specialist at the Tulare County, California, health department in an email to colleagues in May. He described photographs of an infected dairy worker in another state: Apparently, the conjunctivitis that this is causing is not a mild one, but rather ruptured blood vessels and bleeding conjunctiva.Over the past 30 years, half of around 900 people diagnosed with bird flu around the world have died. Even if the case fatality rate is much lower for this strain of the bird flu, COVID showed how devastating a one percent death rate can be when a virus spreads easily.Like other cases around the world, the person now hospitalized with the bird flu in Louisiana appears to have gotten the virus directly from birds. After the case was announced, the CDC released a statement saying, A sporadic case of severe H5N1 bird flu illness in a person is not unexpected.Local health officials were trying hard to track infections, according to hundreds of emails from county health departments in five states. But their efforts were stymied. Even if farmers reported infected herds to the USDA and agriculture agencies told health departments where the infected cows were, health officials had to rely on farm owners for access.The agriculture community has dictated the rules of engagement from the start, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. That was a big mistake.Some farmers told health officials not to visit and declined to monitor their employees for signs of sickness. Sending workers to clinics for testing could leave them shorthanded when cattle needed care. Producer refuses to send workers to Sunrise [clinic] to get tested since theyre too busy. He has pinkeye, too, said an email from the Weld, Colorado, health department.We know of 386 persons exposed but we know this is far from the total, said an email from a public health specialist to officials at Tulares health department recounting a call with state health officials. Employers do not want to run this through workers compensation. Workers are hesitant to get tested due to cost, she wrote.Jennifer Morse, medical director of the Mid-Michigan District Health Department, said local health officials have been hesitant to apply pressure after the backlash many faced at the peak of COVID. Describing the 19 rural counties she serves as very minimal-government-minded, she said, if you try to work against them, it will not go well.Rural health departments are also stretched thin. Organizations that specialize in outreach to farmworkers offered to assist health officials early in the outbreak, but months passed without contracts or funding. During the first years of COVID, lagging government funds for outreach to farmworkers and other historically marginalized groups led to a disproportionate toll of the disease among people of color.Kevin Griffis, director of communications at the CDC, said the agency worked with the National Center for Farmworker Health throughout the summer to reach every farmworker impacted by H5N1. But Bethany Boggess Alcauter, the centers director of public health programs, said it didnt receive a CDC grant for bird flu outreach until October, to the tune of $4 million. Before then, she said, the group had very limited funds for the task. We are certainly not reaching every farmworker, she added.Farmworker advocates also pressed the CDC for money to offset workers financial concerns about testing, including paying for medical care, sick leave, and the risk of being fired. This amounted to an offer of $75 each. Outreach is clearly not a huge priority, Boggess said. I hear over and over from workers, The cows are more valuable than us.The USDA has so far put more than $2.1 billion into reimbursing poultry and dairy farmers for losses due to the bird flu and other measures to control the spread on farms. Federal agencies have also put $292 million into developing and stockpiling bird flu vaccines for animals and people. In a controversial decision, the CDC has advised against offering the ones on hand to farmworkers.If you want to keep this from becoming a human pandemic, you focus on protecting farmworkers, since thats the most likely way that this will enter the human population, said Peg Seminario, an occupational health researcher in Bethesda, Maryland. The fact that this isnt happening drives me crazy.Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the CDC, said the agency aims to keep workers safe. Widespread awareness does take time, he said. And thats the work were committed to doing.As President-elect Donald Trump comes into office in January, farmworkers may be even less protected. Trumps pledge of mass deportations will have repercussions whether they happen or not, said Tania Pacheco-Werner, director of the Central Valley Health Policy Institute in California.Many dairy and poultry workers are living in the U.S. without authorization or on temporary visas linked to their employers. Such precarity made people less willing to see doctors about COVID symptoms or complain about unsafe working conditions in 2020. Pacheco-Werner said, Mass deportation is an astronomical challenge for public health.A switch flipped in September among experts who study pandemics as national security threats. A patient in Missouri had the bird flu, and no one knew why. Evidence points to this being a one-off case, Shah said at a briefing with journalists. About a month later, the agency revealed it was not.Antibody tests found that a person who lived with the patient had been infected, too. The CDC didnt know how the two had gotten the virus, and the possibility of human transmission couldnt be ruled out.Nonetheless, at an October briefing, Shah said the public risk remained low and the USDAs Deeble said he was optimistic that the dairy outbreak could be eliminated.Experts were perturbed by such confident statements in the face of uncertainty, especially as Californias outbreak spiked and a child was mysteriously infected by the same strain of virus found on dairy farms.This wasnt just immaculate conception, said Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It came from somewhere and we dont know where, but that hasnt triggered any kind of reset in approach just the same kind of complacency and low energy.Sam Scarpino, a disease surveillance specialist in the Boston area, wondered how many other mysterious infections had gone undetected. Surveillance outside of farms was even patchier than on them, and bird flu tests have been hard to get.Although pandemic experts had identified the CDCs singular hold on testing for new viruses as a key explanation for why America was hit so hard by COVID in 2020, the system remained the same. Bird flu tests could be run only by the CDC and public health labs until this month, even though commercial and academic diagnostic laboratories had inquired about running tests since April. The CDC and FDA should have tried to help them along months ago, said Ali Khan, a former top CDC official who now leads the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health.As winter sets in, the bird flu becomes harder to spot because patient symptoms may be mistaken for the seasonal flu. Flu season also raises a risk that the two flu viruses could swap genes if they infect a person simultaneously. That could form a hybrid bird flu that spreads swiftly through coughs and sneezes.A sluggish response to emerging outbreaks may simply be a new, unfortunate norm for America, said Bollyky, at the Council on Foreign Relations. If so, the nation has gotten lucky that the bird flu still cant spread easily between people. Controlling the virus will be much harder and costlier than it would have been when the outbreak was small. But its possible.Agriculture officials could start testing every silo of bulk milk, in every state, monthly, said Poulsen, the livestock veterinarian. Not one and done, he added. If they detect the virus, theyd need to determine the affected farm in time to stop sick cows from spreading infections to the rest of the herd or at least to other farms. Cows can spread the bird flu before theyre sick, he said, so speed is crucial.Curtailing the virus on farms is the best way to prevent human infections, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, but human surveillance must be stepped up, too. Every clinic serving communities where farmworkers live should have easy access to bird flu tests and be encouraged to use them. Funds for farmworker outreach must be boosted. And, she added, the CDC should change its position and offer farmworkers bird flu vaccines to protect them and ward off the chance of a hybrid bird flu that spreads quickly.The rising number of cases not linked to farms signals a need for more testing in general. When patients are positive on a general flu test a common diagnostic that indicates human, swine, or bird flu clinics should probe more deeply, Nuzzo said.The alternative is a wait-and-see approach in which the nation responds only after enormous damage to lives or businesses. This tack tends to rely on mass vaccination. But an effort analogous to Trumps Operation Warp Speed is not assured, and neither is rollout like that for the first COVID shots, given a rise in vaccine skepticism among Republican lawmakers.Change may instead need to start from the bottom up on dairy farms, still the most common source of human infections, said Poulsen. He noticed a shift in attitudes among farmers at the Dairy Expo: Theyre starting to say, How do I save my dairy for the next generation? They recognize how severe this is, and that its not just going away.KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

Once Human's mobile pre-registrations top 26m as April release window now confirmedOr are we dancer?Image credit: NetEase News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Dec. 20, 2024 NetEase's PvPvE sandbox action horror, Once Human, started testing its mobile port back in September, and now we finally have a mobile release window: April 2025.In an end-of-year livestream, NetEase also revealed what new features Meta-Humans can expect when the mobile version drops, including three new scenarios: Code: Purification, Code: Deviation, and Code: Broken. The latter is a 10-day PvP scenario, whilst the first two are PvE.Once Human - Official PVE Gameplay Trailer.Watch on YouTubeWe'll also get to experience the all-new Visional Wheel from 16th January, which introduces new wrinkles to gameplay courtesy of new weapons, powers, and rules, as well as making enemies stronger and adversely impacting player sanity. Oh, and there'll be a holiday event running across Christmas and the new year, too.Once Human is also expected to come to console - complete with cross-platform support - as well. There's still no date on that, though. Sorry.Interested? Head on over to the official website to pre-register your interest now. Right now, over 26 million Meta-Humans have signed up, unlocking a slew of free gifts including cosmetics, skins, decorative items, and crafting resources.I gave Once Human a modest three out of five stars when I reviewed it for Eurogamer, saying it offers a deeply moreish open world scavenge-em-up, but weak action and generic clutter hold it back. Since launch, however, NetEase has ramped up its premium in-game offerings, including cosmetic loot crates."Not for one moment did I expect a F2P live service offering to be anything other than an unmitigated slog stuffed with the pitfalls and unforced errors of every other game I started and stopped playing, so wildly over-saturated is this genre. But here I am, late at night again, fashioning myself a Slippery When Wet sign to put beside my water tank."The developer behind NetEase's survival free-to-play horror, Once Human, recently said the feedback it's received about the game's second season has been "quite demoralising".

Palestinian pseudo-3D stealth game Dreams on a Pillow looks set to hit 150K crowdfund target early"A land full of people being made into a people without land."Image credit: Rasheed Abueideh News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Dec. 20, 2024 A video game charting the true story of the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian Arabs in 1948, has secured three-quarters of its crowdfunding goal with over three weeks still to go.Dreams on a Pillow - a "pseudo-3D stealth adventure game about a land full of people being made into a people without land" - tracks Omm, a young mother from an olive farmers' family in al-Tantura. With Omm, you'll traverse historical events and stories of the Nakba as she attempts an escape towards Lebanon in the North.Dreams on a Pillow - Campaign Trailer.Watch on YouTubeThe crowdfunding page explains that Palestinian game developer Rasheed Abueideh is "asking for your support and blessing as he sets out on his largest game project so far, which has been a dream of his for almost a decade". To date, it has realised 104.5K of the 155,823 Abueideh seeks to raise and is set to close on 13th January."Almost exactly a decade ago, as an Israeli invasion tore through Gaza, Rasheed Abueideh recognised the power of games: they let players step into someone elses reality," the description explains."Not long after Rasheed began development of Liyla & The Shadows of War, a game that brought to life the harsh realities of living under invasion, apartheid, & occupation. The development was fraught with obstacles and rejections: Apple declared the game 'too political', and temporarily banned the game - and while publishing funding in the games industry were aggressively funding games, a Palestinian game was deemed 'too controversial'. Rasheed persevered, and Liyla became a global phenomenon."Abueideh said Dreams on a Pillow is "proof that games can tell the stories of anyone, anywhere". For more, head on over to the crowdfunding page, where pledges range from 24 to 8000.

You can trust VideoGamer. Our team of gaming experts spend hours testing and reviewing the latest games, to ensure you're reading the most comprehensive guide possible. Rest assured, all imagery and advice is unique and original. Check out how we test and review games hereNetEase Games Marvel Rivals is one of the most popular games of the year, raking in tens of millions of players after the high-profile failure of other games in the hero shooter genre. However, with popularity comes tinkerers, and many Marvel Rivals PC players are attempting to fix issues with the game themselves instead of waiting for fixes.In a statement to players, the team behind the popular superhero PvP game have warned gamers to stop modifying game files as doing so can cause unexpected issues. With the games strong anti-cheat ban software, players doing so may be accidentally banned as well.Marvel Rivals players need to stop modifying filesWith horrid aiming issues affecting the game resulting in rather rancid mouse acceleration issues, many Marvel Rivals players have taken to altering the games config files to get the game playing well. While this is usually fine for most games, doing so with Marvel Rivals may lead to the game not liking you very much.In a statement to players, NetEase asked players to stop modifying game files, including config files. While theres no proof that modifying config files will lead to negative results for players, the developer doesnt want players to risk anything.At this time, we kindly advise against modifying any game files in Marvel Rivals, as it may lead ton unexpected issues, reads a statement on the games Discord. We truly appreciate your concerns about config file changes and we want you to know that were actively working on optimizing this aspect for future updates.For more information on Marvel Rivals, read about the new Christmas event thatll nab you an adorable free Jeff skin, or listen to our podcast episode with game director Thaddeus Sasser. Youll even learn about the troubles of Battlefield Hardline, another game he worked on!Marvel RivalsPlatform(s):macOS, PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series XGenre(s):Fighting, ShooterSubscribe to our newsletters!By subscribing, you agree to our Privacy Policy and may receive occasional deal communications; you can unsubscribe anytime.Share

We are all flawed, but social media has a way of making you think that some peoplecelebrities and influencers to be specificjust woke up to a perfectly curated life. But everybody makes mistakes along the way, including them! Besides, you cant distinguish a green flag from a red flag without a little trial and error.While I dont have too many design regrets, there are a few impulsive purchases from recent memory that I probably should have thought twice about before swiping my card. For instance, a fake Murano mushroom lamp (ignorance is bliss), a postmodern lacquer laminate waterfall credenza (I was going through a PoMo phase), a vintage Eames shell chair (midcentury modern just isnt my style), miscellaneous pink depression glass (I grew out of this very quickly), and a pair of vintage brass dining chairs (Im a chrome purist). Most of these items have since been rehomed, but some are collecting dust in the garage of my childhood home in New Jersey.Obviously, Im not the only one. So, I spoke with 18 design influencers, tastemakers, and creators about all the mistakes theyve made in the process of finding their groove in the realm of interiors. Unsurprisingly, their most common regret is not buying certain vintage pieces when they had the chance, but there are much bigger lessons to be learned.Theres no substitute for good lightingLighting is everything. According to design researcher Alyse Archer-Coite, there is no shortcut to getting lighting correct. Shannon Maldonado, creative director and founder of Yowie, admits that this is her greatest weakness in terms of execution and logistics. Lighting has to be right whether its natural or whether youre installing lighting [fixtures], she insists. Theres no substitute for good lightingeven an ugly room can be well lit and look good. Lighting has been a crash course for Dani Klari too. The Miami-based interior decorator and content creator does not tread lightly about the fact that the lighting in your space will make or break your decor. Lately, shes been enjoying experimenting with ambient lighting and swears that shell only consider overhead lighting if all the lightbulbs have been changed to 2700K.Curating with no real vision, just vibesFor some, it might be hard to believe that Orion Carloto has ever been influenced by outside forces because her personal aesthetic is so strong. But the Los Angeles-based writer, poet, and curator wont deny the impact that Tumblr had on her as a teenager while living in a small town in Georgia. At the time, I was seeing these beautiful spaces online and wanting to almost replicate them, she says. When the time came to move from her parents house to Atlanta with roommates, Carloto was inspired to paint a black accent wall that would eventually become a gallery wall. Ive looked back at those photos since and I wouldnt necessarily do things the same way, but all of these moments of me that still exist would exist in a different form [today], she says.Shea McGee remembers how she and her husband would spend their weekends thrifting and crafting everything in the small one-bedroom apartment they shared in Southern California. We didnt have a lot of money to spend but I did the best I could by repurposing, refinishing, and getting creative, she says. Looking back, some of the choices I made are comical, but the process of making a house a home with very little budget was one of my first major design lessons. Vivid Wu recalls how she and her husband made a series of mistakes when they first moved into their San Francisco loft because they lacked a clear vision and aesthetic for our homethe most glaring might be how overboard she went with the wiggle trend, not that the content creator regrets buying her Curvy mirror (as seen in the homes of Olivia Rodrigo, Demi Lovato, Maxine Wylde, and more).So what is your POV? Reese Blutstein, a Georgia-based content creator, notes that being very, very specific with your vision is especially important when working with contractors on home renovation projects. Most contractors are just going to assume things because thats how theyve always done it, she explains in an email. You have to be very communicative with exactly what you want.AD100 designer Jake Arnold cant stress this enough, noting that every single thing, you have to make sure that you clarify because youll leave so much up to interpretation but also with time you get the benefit of working with people who understand what your expectations are. Portland-based interior designer Tiffany Thompson also emphasizes the importance of figuring out your why and doing what works best for you. Embrace the value of uniqueness and having a distinct perspectiveit holds more worth than blending in with the crowd, she writes in an email. Lean into your individuality and welcome diversity in design.Not having a sense of scaleIn a world where girl math reigns supreme, the chances of getting your measurements wrong are high. Archer-Coite is guilty of making countless purchases without taking measurements beforehand. For example, she once bought a shovel as an art piece and after driving all the way to the end of the earth in New Jersey to collect her prize, it was almost too big to fit into the car. Now, the wall space in Archer-Coites office is solely dedicated to the shovel because it cannot stand upright in the whole house. (The shed in her yard is now home for all of her failed interior design choices and missed measurements like a dining table and two chairs that were the wrong size and a rug that was too short.)Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynKlari agrees that precise measurements are integral to the success of any interior design project. Even one inch can have a significant impact on the overall layout and functionality of a space, she writes in an email. Nothing feels worse than ordering an item that cant be returned and realizing your measurements were off by a few inches after it arrives.When New York-based interior designer Madelynn Hudson was renovating her previous apartment in LA, she bought a chandelier on Etsy that was supposed to be the perfect statement piece for her dining room. I was like, This is going to be so beautiful, she recalls. It arrived, I had an electrician come install it, I hung up all the little glass beads that go on the chandelier, and I was like, Shit, its way too small for this room. And it was just because I didnt take into account proportion and I didnt measure.Arnold points out that scale is a very visual thing, so its easy for anyone to mess up no matter their level of design experience. Theres something about being able to see a measurement, and then in your mind getting a feel for what that is at a human scale, Archer-Coite adds.Opting out of testing paint swatchesWithout a doubt, one of the worst mistakes you can make is getting a bad paint job. There was a monthslong period where Hudson was living with paint swatches on the walls of her house. I want to make sure that I really love the colors Im picking and see them through a season, she says. Arnold cant stress the importance of understanding paint enough. My biggest mistake is Ive painted my whole space white thinking it was a bright white, and it ends up being a pinky peachy tone because the light changed so much during the day, he explains. Ive done that for a whole house before, where you think that you are committing to something thats so neutral and then these white walls end up looking blue or pink or yellow. Paint is one of the hardest things to master. Eny Lee Parker has also fumbled with paint in the past. One time I painted a wall in random brush strokes and that was awful, she adds. I lived with that for so long because I didnt want to paint it black Its not my proudest moment.Beware of bouclRemember the surge of boucl during the pandemic? Or perhaps youre trying to claim temporary amnesia and forget that it ever happened. Arnold claims that white boucl furniture is probably the trendiest thing hes ever done. When that trend started, it was something people felt was that one unique thing they had in the space that did feel a little more customuntil it became so generic, then I was like, I have to get rid of this, he says. Ill still use boucl, but its just the [white] colorwe cant cancel the whole of boucl, theres many variations of it!Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynMaldonado is so put off by boucl in general that she vows to never use it again (unless a client absolutely insists). It loves denim, in a bad way, she explains. Anyone with jeans sitting on a boucl piece weve used in the past, it instantly gets stained... It is definitely not my first choice in fabrication. So if you must, do a boucl blanket but maybe skip the boucl couch.Replica overloadYoure often advised to fake it til you make it, but thats never a good principle to live by in the design world. Now that we seemingly feed into a culture that supports the production of dupes, knockoffs, and fast furniture, theres never been a more critical time to take a step back and reassess your why. Sometimes, you want a couch to just be a really good couch, and it doesnt have to be the statement sofa, says Madelynn Hudson. It can just be a really comfortable, really great sofa that stays clean. Bethany Brill of Teddy Studio admits that its still hard for her to spend money on expensive things, but anytime shes tried to make a knockoff work it simply hasnt. Sometimes its just better to wait until you can get the exact thing you want instead of buying two or three cheap things trying to get it to work, she says.Some items look so good when styled in a photo but dont always have the same effect once you see them in person. If theres an opportunity to try something before you buy it, Maldonado highly recommends ordering product samples to avoid spending missteps. Carloto has also fallen victim to being influenced to want what other people have, especially in her early 20s when she moved to LA. For a very long time, a lot of it was just me replicating things until I had to outgrow the want to do that, she explains. Because then youre left with this sterile cookie cutter spacein the online world its like, Okay, you and everyone else has that.Trying to be trendyIn this day and age, trends are seemingly unavoidable. Like anyone who is chronically online, Molly Blutstein finds a lot of inspiration on the internet (along with design books). The Georgia-based content creator deeply regrets buying things that are too trendyfrom her curved sofa in a boucl fabric to the burl wood pieces and a small chrome lamp that felt too cold for what I wanted to achieve, shes got a pretty long list of regrets. Dont try to subscribe to a trend or try to follow just one specific style, Molly writes in an email. Lead with your full heart on each decision. Think about what really makes you happy and what things you deeply love, and more often than not, you wont regret it.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynKellie Brown, host of Home Decor Homies, notes that trends are cyclical so something in your house is bound to become a trend and that doesnt make it badbut if youre looking at a trend and trying to cut and paste that into your home, thats when it kind of goes south. A good rule of thumb for Carloto is waiting to see if a design trend gets picked up by DIYers and is suddenly all over TikTok, which urges her to stay as far away from that. She adds, I dont want to downplay the beauty of a trend, but I also dont want to be a victim of following every trend.McGee admits that there was a time in her career where she used trend-focused pieces, but now she tries to choose more classic pieces that will get better with age. Now that Reese is older, she finds herself more interested in classic design elementsshes particularly intrigued by Shaker style. Overall, I am trying not to source things that I know are just in style right now, because thats how you end up selling all your furniture when youre ready to move. Speaking of reselling things, this is exactly what happened to Vivid Wu when she desperately needed dining chairsthe creative consultant opted for the popular Cesca chair, but once the vintage set that she ordered arrived it just wasnt a match. We really love them, but they just didnt work out in our home, she adds.Focusing on the wrong featuresCarloto currently lives in a midcentury modernstyle home with bones that are very angular so shes been trying to consider shapes that will make more sense in the space. I feel like the space has to do the talking and then you do the listening, she says while reflecting on pieces she previously bought that dont seem to be working now. Arnold sees many people fall into the trap of trying to recreate something that is completely different from what actually works for a space. His advice for solving this design dilemma? Work with what youve got and make it the best you can. When given the option as a renter, he prefers older historic buildings because theyre often easier to furnish. Sometimes when youre stuck with such specific ceiling heights, materials That has definitely informed the direction that I went in [when house/apartment hunting], he adds.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynBrown is also happy to preach the gospel of renter-friendly solutions. You do have to pay attention to the actual space, she explains. There are tricks and tips that you can do to get a space to bend to your will, but you do have to acknowledge what the space is and what its doing, and let it dictate whats going on. Hudson views being influenced by the architecture in a space as a good thing. Its that evolution of trends and your taste, but also where you live, she says. A brick-wall wood-floored loft space in Minneapolis is going to feel very different than a midcentury house in upstate New York. This is something that Parker has also been having fun with now that she lives between an apartment in Brooklyn and an 1870s farmhouse in Connecticut. Its a completely different vibe, she says. I wouldnt have the same stuff in both spaces; its a very different context.Choosing beauty over comfortWhen Kurt Vonnegut came up with the line everything was beautiful and nothing hurt, he was most definitely not thinking about furniture. The idea of living in a space where I have to be precious about everything I touch stresses me out, says Carloto. I want to lay on my couch and be able to eat something on it. And that being said, obviously there are some pieces in here that are precious, but not everything has to be. Archer-Coite admits that shes always struggled with choosing beauty over comfort when it comes to the seating in her home. I tend to go for [furniture where] everything is hard, small, and tightly woven, she explains. I chose things that I found really beautiful and that are not comfortable or practical. They might be nice to sit on for a bit, but you couldnt sleep over on that. I used to say that was because I didnt want people staying so long and getting too comfortable, but honestly, its just because I have bad taste in furniture.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynAlthough her natural instinct is thrift shopping, Camille Nichelini, co-owner of Resident Objects, acknowledges that its not necessarily the best option for certain pieces of furniture. I tried to do vintage couches, but my last one was not comfy, she says. I finally got a modern sofa that Im going to keep for years and years and years. This is why Nichelini now believes in prioritizing functionality over everything. In some of the earlier places I lived, I sacrificed functionality for the design aspect and it was obnoxious, she says. For example, the content creator once placed a floor mirror in front of a light switch that she needed to use daily. I had to prop up the mirror every time to use the light switch, now Im just like, Girl, thats so stupid.Being too fixated on aestheticsOrion Carloto recalls the many iterations of self that she went through while initially getting settled in Los Angeles, a period that saw her experimenting with a number of design styles. As she continues to decorate the home she now shares with her partner, Carloto claims that shes finally broken through the aesthetic change that I was locked in for so long. As she further explains, Im able to have the freedom to hang up silly photos on the wall. Bringing out this teenage version of myself thats finally able to do what I want to do and not follow this sort of guidebook is the new way to look at interiors for me.Kai Avent-deLeon cringes at the memory of leaning way too hard into MCMa design aesthetic she respects and appreciates, but also views as extremely generic and masculinefor her Brooklyn brownstone during the early stages of her design journey. I had the [arc] lamp and the leather [Eames lounge] chair that everyone had at one point. Looking back, I hate it, she confesses. I think its a cheat code because everything goes together and its so readily and easily available I was such a newcomer when it came to really knowing and understanding design. Now that Avent-deLeon is so far from that type of style, her base-line is working with natural elements and neutral colors. (The entrepreneurs upstate house is a prime example with its modern Shaker sensibilities.) Not looking online so much actually helped with my design aesthetic, Avent-deLeon adds. I dont like anything to look too manufactured or too much effort put into it.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynRight now, AD100 designer Jeremiah Brent is most inspired by contrast and landing somewhere in the middle between design styles and periods. This has been a major breakthrough for Arnold as well, who used to have a very all or nothing approach every time he decorated his own place. Now hes trained his eye to know exactly what to look for from vintage and antiques to contemporary. Its so nice to be able to cherry-pick based on context, like what is the space that youre living in, and how do you make it feel good? Arnolds biggest takeaway from working for Estee Stanley early on in his career was learning how to decorate with flow instead of structure and figuring out what you love. Learning the idea behind making decisions versus coming up with a specific design aesthetic was really important, he adds.Not giving yourself space to evolveDuring the decade that Bethany Brill lived in New York City, she was committed to making each apartment her own. Its always felt integral to my identity that my surroundings reflect something that feels like me at the moment in time, she explains in an email. Sometimes it was angsty, sometimes it was feminine and homeywith each little stage of life, its been part of settling in for me. When McGee reflects on the humble beginnings of her design practice, she cant help but notice how it is characterized by spaces dominated by white. While she still appreciates a bright and airy aesthetic, the interior designer now finds herself gravitating toward rich, earthy tones, a deep sense of nostalgia, and maybe even a little bit of whimsy these days. It is this evolution of expression and inspiration that keeps me loving what I do, she adds.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynMichigan-based designer Sarah Sherman Samuel will never ever forget the unfortunate shade of green that she painted on the walls of her first solo apartment in Miami, but without all that color testing over the years she wouldnt have honed in on the warm and modern aesthetic that she prefers now. Every mistake is a chance to learn, she adds. Hudson firmly believes that by allowing herself to have space to play and change, her taste levels have adapted over time. After maybe the first few apartments in my early 20s, I learned pretty quickly, she says. I learned [how to use] tools like Photoshop and started really easily rendering spaces or putting furniture together so I could really understand what I was doing and take my time to make decisions.Not working with the floor planWhen Tiffany Thompson moved into her first apartment in Miami as an undergrad student at Barry University in the mid-2000s, she was working with a very small budget. Stuck in a long and narrow bedroom with a challenging floor plan, Tiffany was still determined to make the space feel like a reflection of her personality. At the time, she had a vibrant vision of Miami on her mind. In hindsight, I did a horrible job with the floor plan, you had to step over the bed to get to the seating area, she admits. I painted it a warm orange color and paired it with my white IKEA furniture, and a cream couch and desk that I thrifted locally. Hudson points out how the basic rules of design always come into play whether or not you want to follow them. How to lay out a room, and things that you need to have in a room, or certain colors for different roomsthose [rules] are all actually really valid and valuable in terms of a living room layout, she explains. I find that those can be really helpful in terms of understanding and creating a home and a space for yourself.Rug feverWhen you find yourself with a garage full of rolled up rugs, you probably have a big problem on your hands. This is the reality for Alyse Archer-Coite, who purchased one too many rugs on a whim that didnt end up working in the way she hoped. I have always had a real and enduring fear of rugs and choosing the wrong one because they are a pain in the ass to return and theyre expensive, she explains. I tend to miscalculate the size of the room to the rug. Almost every time it comes and Im like, Its taller than I thought, or The orientation is different than I thought, or its way too big. I have yet to strike gold when it comes to rug sizing.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynThis is a triggering topic for Camille Nichelini, who only has herself (and her cats) to blame for ruining one too many rugs. I was never a pet owner before, and I was really optimistic about the things I thought my cats could handle, and they absolutely could not, she says. There goes $1,200. That was a big mistake. I have gone through an embarrassing amount of rugs since I got cats for the first time, and Ive only just now figured out the only thing that works for them is a shag rug where if they tear pieces out of it, you cant notice. If you scroll back through my feed, you can count all the rugs and be like, Where did those go? Theyre destroyed, theyre gone, not salvageable.Not believing bad reviewsAt the age of 24, Dani Klari doesnt have too many regrets just yet. Ive come to appreciate every item and trendy style Ive tried or purchased along my design journey, she explains. Each piece has helped me understand different aesthetics, and also played a vital role in shaping and refining my personal style. But if shes being one hundred percent honest, any pangs of buyers remorse have stemmed from items that she didnt do enough research on and probably ignored the few bad reviews. Its a hard lesson to learn, but Klari cant stress this enough: ALWAYS listen to the reviews, these people are not lying!Lack of impulse controlHudson views the value of restraint and taking a pause before making a decision as a huge lesson to learn, especially regarding purchases. I love restraint, she insists. Restraint and patience is a way of life that is reflected in the way you dress, in the way you parent, and in the way you design your home. Archer-Coite points out that we currently live in a world where we have an obsession with purchasing and getting things quickly which often leads to remorse on the road to resell hell. I see something online and Im like, Thats it, thats what I have to have. And then I never do the due diligence, Archer-Coite says. I have a block when it comes to LiveAuctioneers, I get the high off of the platform and I make dumb decisions.Most PopularCulture + Lifestyle11 Beautiful Island Hotels That Are the Height of LuxuryBy Kathryn RomeynHomes + Decor35 Soulful Rustic Kitchen Ideas Youll Want to CopyBy Kate JerdeCulture + LifestyleThe 29 Most Incredible Overwater Bungalows in the WorldBy Kathryn RomeynThis is also a weakness for Brown who is an impulsive shopper. Im a Sagittarrius, so sometimes I have to express a thing, she adds. Molly views herself as the type of buyer who makes a decision with my whole being, meaning she gets an overwhelming urge and almost panic to buy it because I love it so much, but that doesnt necessarily mean that i

Gamers who are free to interact with and explore a game world at their own pace are more relaxed and have improved mental well-being, according to new research. The findings could open the door to using gaming as a therapeutic tool to counter stress and anxiety.Video games and gaming. Theyve been the subject of much research over the years, with findings that run the gamut from gaming is bad to its good and back again. But, just like the wide-ranging results from studies into gaming, different games require different play styles.Researchers from Imperial College London in the UK and the University of Graz in Austria have examined the mental health benefits of playing open-world games, which are characterized by sprawling, detailed environments in which gameplay is not always linear and structured.In particular, in this study, we posit that open-world games with their expansive environments and opportunities for leisurely exploration may create a sense of escapism and relaxation, said the researchers. Previous work found that casual video game play may significantly reduce stress and improve mood, suggesting potential benefits for players of open-world games, which often offer similarly engaging yet nonpressuring experiences.Whether its Minecraft, Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, Assassins Creed: Valhalla, Elden Ring, Ghost of Tsushima, Red Dead Redemption 2, or Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, open-world games are all about giving players freedom. The freedom to explore and to interact with their surroundings, to spend an afternoon honing a profession, or to pick up a bunch of side-quests and deviate from the main storyline. Importantly, with open-world games, players can do these things at their own pace.The self-directed playstyle of open-world games promotes a deeper connection with the game world, with a primary focus on exploration, the researchers explain. In contrast, competitive games, such as Fortnite, are structured around set objectives and a defined path The competitive nature drives a high level of excitement and urgency. Open-world games, in contrast, often emphasize player-driven experiences over predefined goals. This allows players to set their own objectives at their own pace and preference, whether it is building a new settlement, taming wild creatures, or mapping out uncharted territories.Being free to explore an immense world and its characters, such as with the PlayStation game 'Ghost of Tsushima,' can increase feelings of competence and satisfactionSonyTo investigate the relationship between open-world gaming and mental health, the researchers adopted a mixed methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative data they collected from in-depth interviews with gamer postgraduate students showed that the so-called cognitive escapism that immersive game worlds provided allowed players to temporarily disengage from real-life stressors, improving their mood and psychological well-being. Quantitative data analysis showed that cognitive escapism had a significant positive effect on players relaxation, which in turn had a significant positive effect on well-being.Well-being is a multifaceted construct that includes emotional, psychological, and social dimensions, the researchers said. The immersive experiences in open-world games can contribute to psychological well-being by fulfilling basic psychological needs, such as autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as described by self-determination theory. The autonomy offered by open-world games allows players to make choices and control their in-game actions, which can lead to increased feelings of competence and satisfaction.The study demonstrates that open-world games offer substantial benefits for cognitive escapism, significantly improving relaxation and well-being among postgraduate students, they explained. By providing immersive environments that allow mental diversion, emotional relief, and meaning, these games can serve as valuable tools for enhancing psychological and emotional health."The studys principal limitation, which the researchers acknowledge, is its reliance on self-reported data. They note optimistically, though, that while its a limitation for the present study, it allows future researchers to incorporate physiological measures to examine the effects of open-world gaming on mental health. And, they say, it doesnt diminish the importance of their findings or what they mean.Open-world games could be used as therapeutic tools for stress and anxiety management, offering a cost-effective and accessible method to improve mental health, they said. Developers should consider incorporating features that promote relaxation and cognitive escapism to enhance the well-being of players. The finding that open-world games may enhance peoples well-being through enhanced escapism and relaxation is not trivial, given the growing evidence that other forms of entertainment, such as traditional social media, contribute to adolescent anxiety and depression. We invite future research to build on the findings of this study and examine the role of open-world games in peoples lives further.The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Kessel Re-RunStar Wars: Outlaws is completely unoriginal, but that's kind-of the best partIt's not innovative, but sometimes the best thing about Star Wars is that it's unmistakably Star Wars.Image credit: VG247 Article by James Billcliffe Guides Editor Published on Dec. 20, 2024 On TV and in films and games, Star Wars has the same problem.The original trilogy was an unprecedented mix of grizzled Western, brooding Samurai film and pioneering Science Fiction which made for transformative popcorn entertainment, a true pop-cultural event.Most things they do make lots of money, but in a cultural impact sense, in the Disney-era particularly, Lucasfilm has only managed to repeat anything close to that level of success a couple of times, most recently with the Mandalorian; itself a Sci-Fi soup of The Lone Ranger, Seven Samurai and good old fashioned practical effects.Saddled with this legacy, with the series already steeped in nostalgia for John Wayne, John Ford and Flash Gordon since the late 70s, new Star Wars media has the unique prerequisite of being authentically Star Wars-y before it can even attempt to deliver on its own ideas.This can pull a project both towards the Dark Side and the Force, because it makes a lot of Star Wars stuff inherently derivative and unimpressive, by design its aping the wet puppets, pew-pew blasters and sliding doors on strings that we all find cozier than the inside of a Tauntaun. However, because it has that route into everyones happy place - even if its no bigger than a womp rat - when something really nails that vibe, it really nails it.After its post-launch re-work, Star Wars: Outlaws is a perfect example of this. It doesnt do much thats new or exciting in and of itself, but there are so many Star Wars hallmarks it gets right that its quietly one of the best, breeziest, most action-packed and rollicking romps you can play over the Holidays (even if it retains some of the weirdness that left if with a rightly mixed reception at launch).This is especially true if you live in a cold, snowy climate - or wish you did for Christmas. Just as youre settling into your groove with Outlaws, your mission takes you to the frigid, slick and stony streets of Kijimi (home of the sequel trilogys only redeeming character, Babu Frik). As the snow drifts down and you get to wear a Hoth cosplay puffer jacket, its lovely.But to get the right feel post-patch, the first thing you need to do is turn one of the main changes straight back off.One of my favourite things about Star Wars: Outlaws is playing with the letterbox, wide-screen aspect ratio, which immediately grounds all of the action and exploration in the unique grungy, yet cinematic aesthetic of Star Wars. It turns the flat, arid landscapes of Toshara and Tatooine into frames from the films instead of just another Ubisoft open world.The amount of fluff activities scattered across the main planets are mercifully restrained, although I have definitely started ignoring random quest givers like I owe them a fiver as I wander from place to place.But the moment that really sold me on Outlaws was on Tatooine. In need of new parts for my blaster, I found a merchant on the map, set off and sprinted around the corner to meet them, only to come face-to-face, or rather thigh bone to yellow golf ball eye, with 3ft of unadulterated Jawa.Can you imagine how much better other open world games would be if the merchants were Jawas? Like in Far Cry 6 or something you just came around the corner and its a little Jawa standing on a box behind the counter. Umpeeni! Whanga hoopa! hed say, handing over a new silencer - itd be great.Anyway, these little moments of Star Wars-y discovery are all over Outlaws and make it feel like an amazingly lived-in representation of a galaxy far, far away. The cities and spaceports are perfectly populated with big hitters and deep cuts alongside a sprinkling of major movie characters and Easter Eggs I wont spoil.There are gameplay elements of Outlaws I dont love. From, I think, the second worst communicated lockpicking mini-game Ive played (after Kingdom Come: Deliverance) to visual signposting in platforming sections thats harder to read than Aurebesh, theres a surprisingly low floor to some of the mechanics and design thats very jarring when it appears. But ultimately its low-stakes, simple stealth with a seat-of-your-pants energy once it all goes wrong that calls to mind Han, Luke and Leia escaping from the Star Destroyer in A New Hope, as you scoop up Stormtroopers blasters and haphazardly fire back at them one-handed.Now, after its difficult initial release, I feel like Star Wars: Outlaws occupies a similar place to a lot of Disney Star Wars. Its a pulpy, but gorgeous and lushly produced caper that was too flawed on launch to capture the cultural consciousness like its predecessors, but, when freed of the pressure to do so, is just clean, escapist fun. This is Star Wars to enjoy under a blanket pulled up to your nose with just your eyes peeping out.Sadly, thats not enough to feed the gears of the AAA games machine, but thats Ubisofts problem to solve, not the playing public. If you need me, Ill be swapping a Jawa three rolls of Bantha wool for a power converter.

Image: Bullet-Proof Software / Digital EclipseDigital Eclipse has announced that the curious Tetris sequel Welltris will be added to the excellent compilation title Tetris Forever via a free update on Switch.The game, originally release in 1989, takes the same basic gameplay of Tetris, but adds in an extra dimension, essentially turning the gameplay area into a 'well'. It's weird stuff, and it's no surprise that it didn't quite reach the same cultural heights as its predecessor, but it's an excellent new addition to the game nevertheless. Digital Eclipse also promises to add more games in the future, so keep your eyes peeled.Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube789kWatch on YouTube Not only that, but Tetris Forever has also received some welcome improvements, including the ability to remap controls on Tetris Time Warp and the Electronika 60, MS-DOS, and Apple II versions of Tetris. An audio issue with the Switch version has also been patched out.Let's check out exactly what's been added here then:Welltris (Spectrum Holobyte, MS-DOS)The first follow-up to Tetris created by Alexey Pajitnov, Welltris is a beloved variant in which Tetriminos (and other shapes) fall down four sides of a well.TETRIS TIME WARP - All players can now individually remap their controls in Tetris Time Warp, the new four-player Digital Eclipse game included in Tetris Forever that has proven to be a hit with both casual and competitive players. Control remapping was the most requested feature change from players.OTHER IMPROVEMENTSMore customization options: Players can now remap their controls in Electronika 60, MS-DOS & Apple II games on console. This functionality was previously added to the PC version in November.Switch version audio fix: At launch, a conflict with the Rewind functionality caused audio issues that could be heard while playing some classic games in the Nintendo Switch version of Tetris Forever. As a first step, the team has disabled the Rewind function in games that had audio glitches, which has fixed the issue. The team will look into the possibility of restoring Rewind in a future update.Images: Bullet-Proof Software / Digital EclipseTetris Forever is available now via the Switch eShop. In our 8/10 review, we said that it's the "best breakdown of the franchise's creation and evolution so far". The building blocks of historyWill you be checking out Welltris via the new Tetris Forever update? Let us know with a comment down below.Related GamesSee AlsoShare:00 Nintendo Lifes resident horror fanatic, when hes not knee-deep in Resident Evil and Silent Hill lore, Ollie likes to dive into a good horror book while nursing a lovely cup of tea. He also enjoys long walks and listens to everything from TOOL to Chuck Berry. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Related Articles'Hyperdimension Neptunia' & 'Death End' Switch Releases Scrapped For "Not Complying With Nintendo Guidelines"Death end re;Quest: Code Z still on for PS5/4, thoughToby Fox Shares Another Development Update On Deltarune Chapter 3, 4 & 5"Progress has still been steady"'Switch 2' Is Projected To Be The "Clear Winner" In The Next Console GenerationWhile either Sony or Microsoft will "struggle mightily"

OpenAI announced its new o3 models on Friday.In a tweet ahead of its final livestream for its 12 Days of OpenAI event, the company confirmed previous reports that it is skipping the o2 generation due to copyright concerns, and is releasing early evals for the o3 model. It appears to be a successor to its o1 reasoning model.OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced o3 and o3-mini on Friday, but said the company is not publicly launching these models at this time. OpenAI will start public safety testing on Friday, part of a new safety testing procedure with researchers that want to help the company test its models.According to The Information, OpenAI skipped o2 to avoid a potential conflict with British telecom provider O2.This story is developing

OpenAI is in the holiday spirit, it seems. The ChatGPT series of reveals, called 12 Days of OpenAI, will be streamed live at 10 a.m. PT each weekday through December 20. So far, weve seen the launch of ChatGPT Pro, OpenAIs $200 per month subscription plan; the full version of its reasoning o1 model; the [] 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.