The shadow drop is a term that sparks excitement in the soul of every gamer upon hearing it. It refers to when a developer drops a game immediately after announcing it, usually as part of the initial reveal trailer, as a way to catch fans off guard, getting them sucked into the gameplay as quickly as possible.

In many RPGs, there comes a time when the player has to buckle down and train to become powerful enough to defeat a boss or progress through a dungeon. No one likes it when the game comes to a halt, but sometimes there is no other choice but to repeat battles over and over again.

Hello! Bunnswot here again. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am developing a game based on an alternate world of urban legends, cryptids and mythological beings. I'm looking for ideas for characters to add, so if you can, I'd like to hear which urban legends/cryptids have a country to add to the game! (Example: Bunny Man, Mothman, Goatman, etc)I would like to have a variety of mythological creatures from different countries in my game!! Since each country has very different my

In recent years I have been developing survival games with voxel-based build/destruction system. And now I'd like share my open-source game te

Buying or selling a home can be a daunting task, but finding the right real estate agent makes all the difference. If youre in Bellingham, WA, you dont have to look far for expert help. This bellingham real estate agents list showcases the top real estate agents in the area who have a proven track record of success. These professionals know the Bellingham market inside an

I didnt need another reason to love Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, but an unexpected feature has quickly cemented it as one of my favorite games of 2024. Early in your adventure, youll likely notice a number of fascist propaganda posters littering the cities and villages you visit. While you cant get rid of these eyesores at first, once you obtain a lighter, you can burn them! The game doesnt advertise this particular feature, but Im delighted that the developers added this extra bit of immersion in a game already brimming with detail.Youll unlock the lighter naturally during the course of your journey, as its required to complete some of the puzzles in the games various crypts and tombs. The tool allows you to light torches, fuses, fuel barrels, and apparently plenty of other stuff, too. If you havent grabbed the lighter yet, you can get it by visiting the vendor in the Gizeh marketplace.As if I needed any additional incentives to go around burning posters of Benito Mussolini in Vatican City, each poster you destroy gives you a small allocation of Adventure Points to spend on permanent upgrades. A word of caution, however: Just like in real life, burning propaganda posters will quickly draw the ire of any stooges in the immediate vicinity, so be ready to run or fight as soon as you complete your unsanctioned arson.

It's understandable if you're a little burnt out on social media at the moment. I put off setting up a Bluesky account for years, mostly because I didn't want yet another service to think about. At the same time, though, a lot of interesting people have shifted their posting to alternative sites like Bluesky account. The good news: you can follow users on either site without ever setting anything up.That's because every Bluesky and Mastodon account offers an RSS feed. This means you can use any of the best RSS readers to follow posts from any specific user. This is an ideal solution if you mostly want to keep up with the posts of a couple people. You could use this if there's a writer whose articles and ideas you want to keep track of, for example. The RSS feeds for both services aren't exactly obvious. Here's how to find them.Find the RSS Feed For Any Bluesky AccountFinding the RSS feed for a Bluesky account is a matter of opening the profile page and adding /rss to the end of the URL in your browser. Hit Enter and the RSS feed will openyou can copy the URL and use it in any RSS reader. Credit: Justin Pot The resulting feed shows one "article" for every post. There won't be a headline for the articlesocial media posts don't have headlinesbut the full content of the post is there. A Bluesky account in NetNewsWire, an RSS reader for Mac. Credit: Justin Pot You can repeat this process for as many profiles as you like.Find the RSS Feed For Any Bluesky Account Mastodon AccountThe RSS feed for Mastodon accounts work slightly differently. As before you need to head to the profile page for the profile you're interested in. Then add .rss to the end of the URL in your browser. Hit Enter and the feed will openyou can copy the URL and use it in any RSS reader. Credit: Justin Pot Note that Mastodon gives users the option to disable the RSS feed, and that some instances disable RSS altogether. In my experience, though, most public profiles have the feature enabled.The resulting feed, as with Bluesky, shows one "article" for every post with no headline. A Mastodon account in NetNewsWire. Credit: Justin Pot You can repeat this process for as many profiles as you like.I'm glad these features exist. They point to how both services are more committed to an open internet than Threads, which does not offer an RSS feed for profiles and only kinda sorta supports the open ActivityPub protocol.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Its one of the biggest travel weeks of the year, and whether youre just spending a couple nights at your parents house in Vermont or embarking on a two-week vacation, you need to be smart about what you bring along. Ive packed and unpacked hundreds of timesfor long and short trips, domestic and internationaland, over the years, Ive chucked the useless gear and curated a selection of the most helpful stuff. The larger idea of travel usually entails the commute, stay, and journey home. A lot of what you pack (clothes, personal care items) is going to vary from person to person. Ill leave that stuff up to you. Here, Ive narrowed down this list to gear that has actually solved my biggest travel problems: space, comfort, and sleep. This isnt a list of random finds, these are items I actually rely on, recommend to my family and friends, and Ive heavily tested each one personally.Whether its for you or someone on your gift list, heres my master collection of must-have travel gear.Sherpani hard case luggageThe bulk of your stuff has to go somewhere, so a reliable piece of luggage makes the most sense. Ive been using Sherpanis Meridian hard case rolling luggage for the last two years, and its my favorite yet. The luggage itself is lightweight, with the plastic shell affording more protection and less bulk than fabric luggage. The interior storage has a tidy mesh separator in one half and a pocketed flap on the other side. The main zipper has an easy click lock, and the handle and spinning wheels havent weakened or jammed up with heavy usage (aka cobblestone abuse). Right now, the 22-inch carry-on size in Caribe is 32% off. Sherpani Meridian, 22-Inch Hardside Luggage $128.80 at Amazon $184.00 Save $55.20 Shop Now Shop Now $128.80 at Amazon $184.00 Save $55.20 Tucano -zip backpackRegular backpacks are fine, but Ill be the first to tell you that the top opening is garbage. Instead of a backpack that requires you to dig through a partial opening, get a backpack designed for packing. I use the Tucano Tugo backpack that zips on three sides so you can completely open it. Situate your packing cubes, sandals, and snacks, and close the top. The Tucano also has a separate compartment in the back so you can easily access your laptop. No need to dig through your backpack anymore for a security screening. The Tucano backpack is strong as an ox, but harder to find these days. Luckily, luggage-style zipper backpacks are around, like this one from L.L. Bean, or this one from Open Story at Target. TUGO Travel Backpack for Laptop $95.99 at Sharper Image $119.99 Save $24.00 Shop Now Shop Now $95.99 at Sharper Image $119.99 Save $24.00 Thule compression packing cubesIf I could only recommend one life-changing travel item, it would be these compression packing cubes. Simple packing cubes can help you organize and keep tidy, but good compression cubes will actually help you save space too. You zip the first zipper to close the cube, and the secondary zipper shrinks it down into a dense brick. I adore the set from Thule because, despite all the pressure and pulling, the material and zippers wont tear or come undone. Additionally, the fabric is translucent so you can kind of locate what youve packed in there when your memory is mush from jet lag. Thule Compression Cube Set $44.95 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $44.95 at Amazon Herschel hip bagI dont wear a hip bag for my regular day-to-day life, but when Im traveling its simply part of my outfiteven when I visit my mom in New Jersey. This simple, one-compartment bag makes everything easier for me because I put all of my essentials in this one spot. You might think, thats what pockets are for, but its bigger than a single pocket, so instead of putting my wallet, keys, lip gloss, passport, cough drops, and ear plugs in many different pockets, theyre all in one central location. There are loads of hip packs, bum bags, and belt bags you can choose from, but this one from Herschel is the one I use, and its 31% off right now. Herschel Supply Co. Herschel Classic Hip Pack, Black, One Size $23.99 at Amazon $35.00 Save $11.01 Shop Now Shop Now $23.99 at Amazon $35.00 Save $11.01 Trtl neck support travel pillowSleep? On a plane? Ha! Humbug. The same goes for sleeping on a train, car, or bus for that matter. Thats how I felt when I was using inflatable neck pillows, or rolled up jackets to prop up my head on planes. It was the time before I tried out the Trtl neck support travel pillow. But now I can actually catch some real sleep on planes or on buses during those idle hours before arrival. Read the details about my Trtl experience here. Right now you can snap one up for 30% off. Trtl Travel Pillow $45.49 at Amazon $64.99 Save $19.50 Shop Now Shop Now $45.49 at Amazon $64.99 Save $19.50 Baloo weighted sleep maskIve never considered myself a sleep mask person. The ones Ive tried have always let light in or scrunched awkwardly. I wasnt expecting much from the Baloo weighted sleep mask, but I was pleasantly surprised by how different it was. The mask is silk and weighted in the front, which helps for comfortbut more importantly, it has a wide, Velcro-adjustable strap. Not only does it block light from the plane, bus, or your brothers tablet, but the straps sit over your ears to help mute annoying sounds you might experience. Not just for the commute, this sleep mask can also be useful if theres any unexpected light at night during your stay. Baloo Silk Weighted Sleep Mask $71.00 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $71.00 at Amazon Active noise canceling headphonesSpeaking of blocking out public transportation, the best way to tune out the world might be to put on a pair of active noise-canceling headphones. I have the older generation of these Soundcore by Anker headphones and the active noise cancellation blocks out all of the low-end rumble from engines (plane or otherwise) and has a transparency mode so you can talk to your husband real quick before turning on your favorite podcast and blocking everyone out. These are wireless and last for 40 hours on noise cancelling mode. (Right now, I cant remember the last time I charged mine, and they are still on high battery). Soundcore by Anker Q20i Noise Cancelling Headphones $49.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $49.99 at Amazon Drip Drop electrolyte powderGear typically comprises gadgets or clothing, not usually something ingestible.But Drip Drop is something I need to have, so its gear to me. I dont know what it is about traveling, but if it takes more than three hours to get to my destination then I feel absolutely sapped. My energy is low, my mouth is dry, and theres a good chance I have a headache. I pack a few tiny sleeves of Drip Drop electrolyte drink mix for just this occasion. One sleeve mixed with water gives me enough nutrients and carbs for the home stretch. Plus the flavors are excellent. DripDrop Electrolyte Mix $27.99 at Amazon $35.99 Save $8.00 Shop Now Shop Now $27.99 at Amazon $35.99 Save $8.00

I'm a sucker for New Year's resolutions, but before you can properly look forward and set new goals, you need to look back and assess where you are in this moment. The end of the year is always a good time to reflect, and your personal finances are no exception. With only a few days left of this year, you still have time to make the most of 2024 and set yourself up for financial success in 2025.Dont lose out on flexible spending dollarsIf you have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), time is running out to use up your remaining balance. Check in with your employers rules regarding any balance remaining on Dec. 31 this year so you arent left forfeiting your hard-earned funds.If youre unlikely to pack out the rest of your year with doctors appointmentseither because everywhere is booked months in advance or because that sounds dreadfulfear not. You can spend your remaining FSA funds on other qualifying healthcare costs. You can use FSA funds to upgrade your prescription eyeglasses or buy more contact lenses. You could also hit your local pharmacy and stock up on certain FSA-eligible over-the-counter products, like first aid supplies, popular cold medicines, and even sunscreen. You can find a complete list at the FSA store here.The employee health FSA contribution limits are increasing from $3,200 to $3,300 in 2025. Max out your retirement contributionsIf you have the means, you should set yourself up now to max out your retirement contributions. For 2025, 401(k) participants are able to contribute as much as $23,500. For IRAstraditional and Rothyou can max out at $7,000. If you are 50 or older, you can make an additional $1,000 contribution totaling $8,000. These contribution limits apply to the grand total contributions you make each year to all your traditional and Roth IRAs.Also starting in 2025, employees aged 60 to 63 will be able to make larger catch-up contributions to their 401(k) plans, with new limits set at either $10,000 annually or 150% of the standard catch-up contribution limitwhichever amount is greater.Remember, the most effective retirement strategy is to contribute consistently and let your investments grow undisturbed over time.Review your tax withholdingsSure, Tax Day isnt for a few more months. Still, now is a good time to review your tax withholdings and payments. If you had a major life event in 2024like a marriage, divorce, or childyou probably want to adjust your withholding. Check out the Tax Withholding Estimator from the IRS to effectively tailor how much income tax to withhold. Update your beneficiariesLike I mention above, if you had a major life change, youll want to update the beneficiaries of your finances accordingly. Write down the names of everyone included in the beneficiary portion of your bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and annuities. The end of the year is a prime time to take stock of anyone who may have entered or exited your life and needs to be covered (or perhaps removed). Reassess your budgetA budget is a living document. If you fell off 2024's resolutions back in the spring, it's never too late to get back on track.A good place to start is with the 50/15/5 guideline, where 50% of your after-tax income should go towards essential expenses (e.g., rent, utilities, groceries, etc.), at least 15% of pretax income goes towards retirement and 5% should go towards an emergency savings fund. The other 30% is for discretionary spending like travel and dining out. You can use this budget calculator to see how your savings and spending stack up.Set new financial goalsNo matter the current state of your finances, its important to be honest with yourself. Sit down and physically write out where you could boost the health of your personal finances. You might even set a values-based budget. Think: Do you have a plan to pay off your debt? Does your spending need to reined in? Are you saving where you could be investing, or vice versa?My number one tip: Be specific. Figure out what goals youre trying to reach, when you want to reach them, and how much you want to save. For example, if youre saving for an upcoming trip, set aside a predetermined amount of money each month to reach your goal. Set plans in motion to accomplish the goals using tactics like budgets, high-yield savings accounts, automated savings contributions, etc.Think about your priorities going into the new year. You might consider investing in a financial professionalto use as a sounding board, as their perspective could be the nudge you need to create (and achieve) your short- and long-term financial goals.

The holiday season has barely begun, but some of us are already getting ready for CES 2025. Shortly after New Years Day, many from the Engadget team will be packing our bags to fly to Las Vegas, where well be covering techs biggest annual conference. As usual, our inboxes are already flooded with pitches from companies that are planning to be there, and our calendars are filling up with appointments for briefings and demos.Based on our experience, as well as observation of recent industry trends, its fairly easy to make educated predictions about what we might see in January. Over the years, the focus of the conference has spanned areas like TVs, cars, smart home products and personal health, with a smattering of laptops and accessories thrown in. At CES 2025, we expect to see AI get even more pervasive in all areas of the show floor. But we are also likely to get the usual slew of new processors and subsequent laptops, as well as all manner of wearables, trackers, bathroom appliances and massage chairs. Oh, the massage chairs.There's already a lot we know is coming, just by a cursory glance at the lineup published by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). In addition to numerous panels and talks, there will be keynotes by NVIDIA's founder and CEO Jensen Huang, Delta CEO Ed Bastian as well as C-suite executives from companies like Panasonic, SiriusXM, Waymo and Volvo group. That gives us a taste of who might make big announcements at the show.In fact, some companies didn't even wait till January to make their news known. LG, for example, continues its annual tradition of sharing its upcoming CES launches weeks ahead of the show by unveiling the 2025 refresh for its QNED evo line of LCD TVs. Hyundai Mobis, meanwhile, has said it will be giving us a look at its "Holographic Windshield Display," something it's claiming is a world's first. Hyundai Mobis even shared a picture of what its booth at CES 2025 will look like, in case pictures of convention center booths get you excited.Hyundai MobisIf youre already looking ahead to 2025 and are studiously researching what might be coming in January, heres a taste of what our team expects to see at the show.New video cards from AMD and NVIDIATheres no doubt 2025 is going to be a momentous year for PC gamers. NVIDIA is expected to debut its long-awaited RTX 5000 video cards at CES, while AMD CEO Lisa Su has confirmed well see next-generation RDNA 4 GPUs early next year. Of the two companies, AMD could use the upgrade more. Its last batch of Radeon 7000 cards were decent mid-range performers, but they lagged far behind NVIDIAs hardware when it came to ray tracing, and AMDs FSR 3 upscaling also couldnt compete with NVIDIAs AI-powered DLSS 3."In addition to a strong increase in gaming performance, RDNA 4 delivers significantly higher ray-tracing performance and adds new AI capabilities, AMD CEO Lisa Su said in an October earnings call.As for NVIDIAs new hardware, a rumor from the leaker OneRaichu (via DigitalTrends) suggested that the RTX 5090 could be up to 70 percent faster than the RTX 4090. (Thats a GPU that I previously described as having unholy power.) They also note that other high level cards could see 30 to 40 percent performance bumps. Those gains might be enough to tempt wealthy RTX 4090 owners to upgrade, but RTX 4070 and 4080 owners might want to skip this generation. For NVIDIA holdouts with RTX 3000 and earlier GPUs, though, next year may be the perfect time to upgrade. Devindra Hardawar, senior reporterAI PCs round 2Last year, I predicted that AI PCs would dominate CES, and that mostly turned out to be true. As 2024 rolled on, we saw even more powerful NPUs in chips from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. Microsoft also doubled down on AI PCs with its Copilot+ initiative, which gave a big marketing push for artificial intelligence features and premium specifications (like having at least 16GB of RAM).Expect more of the same going into CES 2025, alongside even more AI being stuffed into every category of product imaginable. This year, in particular, PC makers are likely to gear up to take advantage of Windows 10 support ending next year. Instead of just upgrading your old computer to Windows 11, the likes of Dell and HP would rather you buy a whole new AI PC with the new OS pre-installed.While 2024 was a year of endless AI PC hype, 2025 might end up being a year of reckoning. Microsofts long-delayed Recall feature is slowly trickling out to more users, but its already showing some glaring security holes, like failing to scrub social security and credit card numbers from screenshots. Weve also been mostly underwhelmed with Apple Intelligences image generation capabilities. PC makers have been eager to talk up the potential of AI-powered features until now, but in 2025 theyll have to actually prove they can live up to their fantastical claims. D.H.Earbuds that follow Apples lead on hearing healthIm fully aware not every audio company has the ability to build out a clinical-grade hearing test and hearing aid features in their apps. However, Apples recent update for the AirPods Pro 2 should inspire the competition to offer some form of hearing health tools on their flagship products. Jabra was probably the best equipped to do this since parent company GN has extensive hearing aid experience. Sadly, the company announced earlier this year that it wouldnt make earbuds anymore.Samsung and Google could probably integrate something like what Apple made for the AirPods, given both companies existing health platforms. If they did, those announcements are unlikely to be made at CES, as both companies prefer to host their own standalone hardware events throughout the year.That leaves Sennheiser as the biggest audio company that consistently launches earbuds and headphones at CES. Last year, it showcased multiple new models, including one with heart-rate tracking for workouts. Plus, it already offers hearing assistance with dedicated devices like the true wireless Conversation Clear Plus. Those earbuds are more hearing focused than for general content consumption, so it would be great to see Sennheiser bring some features from that product to its flagship Momentum line of earbuds. Perhaps a Momentum True Wireless 4 Pro or Plus is in the cards, but the current model is just nine months old.Of course, theres plenty of room for other companies to innovate here, and there will be no shortage of new earbuds in Vegas next month. We also tend to see a ton of assistive devices and technology launch at CES, from major accessibility companies like OrCam and all manner of smaller brands. I just hope some of the new tech includes more general hearing tools on the models most people will want to use. Billy Steele, senior editorVehicle electrification goes sky highAs the growth of electric cars nears 10 percent of new models sold in the US, its easy to forget that wheeled vehicles arent the only kind of transportation seeing the shift to battery-powered propulsion. Flying taxis have been a mainstay of CES for the past few years, with concept vehicles from brands as large as Hyundai dotting the show floor in Vegas.Granted, these contraptions look more like giant drones with cockpits than anything the Jetsons ever dreamed up. But with companies like Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation pledging to actually launch eVTOL services (electric vertical take-off and landing) in 2025, the era of air taxis may have landed for real this time. Sam Rutherford, senior reporterExpanded dialog improvement features on soundbarsWhen it comes to the main aspects of soundbars, there really isnt a ton of innovation from year to year. Heck, Samsungs biggest update last year was the addition of HDMI 2.1 support to its flagship model, which shouldve been there already. Companies have also been focused on the transition to cable-free everything, whether thats wireless Dolby Atmos or wireless transmission boxes. Audio enhancement features are a place where companies can really rise above the fray, and tools like Sonos TV Audio Swap and Boses Personal Surround Sound are great examples of this. A key area nearly every company can improve is dialog boost, a feature that raises the volume or separates spoken word from background noise and music for better clarity.Sonos made a huge leap in this regard on the Arc Ultra, offering two additional settings for its so-called Speech Enhancement. Previously, this was just an all-or-nothing toggle, which is how most companies handle their versions of this tool. Not only is the Sonos update customizable to a degree, its also just better, thanks in part to the redesigned architecture of its new premium soundbar. This is an obvious area where other companies can improve.LG and Samsung typically announce new soundbars at CES, and there are plenty of smaller companies that will debut some too. Id love to see all of them take dialog enhancements a step further and at the very least give multiple options for how its applied. LG has been using AI Sound Pro from its TVs since 2021 and Samsung offers something called Adaptive Sound on its home theater speakers. I would expect them both to generally improve the quality of their features, but Im hoping theyll expand the capabilities too. B.S.Update, December 17 2024, 12:40PM ET: This story has been updated to include the companies and CEOs that will be making keynotes at the show.Update, December 20 2024, 11:55AM ET: This story has been updated to include LG and Hyundai Mobis' announcements ahead of CES 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ces-2025-the-new-tech-were-expecting-to-see-in-las-vegas-from-amd-nvidia-hyundai-and-more-200052730.html?src=rss