submitted by /u/okantos [link] [comments]

Between Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Physint, and OD, Hideo Kojima is a very busy developer and keenly aware that time is catching up to him. On X/Twitter, Kojima explained how he'd like to keep being creative for the rest of his life, but as he enters "crunch time" on one of his game projects, he's not sure how long that'll be. As Kojima explained, all the work associated with producing a video game combined with "an inevitable pile of other tasks" can take a mental and physical toll on a person.The most demanding period of game developmentboth physically and mentallycommonly known as crunch time. On top of mixing and Japanese voice recording, theres an inevitable pile of other tasks: writing comments, explanations, essays, interviews, discussions, and https://t.co/FrXRgaS748 HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) January 10, 2025 Kojima also compared himself to veteran Hollywood director Ridley Scott, who continues to work on big-budget films like last year's Gladiator sequel. "Even now, at 87, Ridley Scott is still active. And back when he was past 60--my current stage in life--he created the masterpiece Gladiator," Kojima wrote.At this age, I cant help but think about how much longer Ill be able to stay creative. I want to keep going for the rest of my life, but is it 10 more years? 20? Every day feels like Im racing against the clock. Even now, at 87, Ridley Scott is still active. And back when he https://t.co/HivXYY4PHC HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) January 13, 2025 This isn't the first time that Kojima has mused about how his physical health. Back in 2021, after he turned 58, Kojima promised to stay creative for as long as he is physically able to do so. "Although my body is failing me, my creativity is not waning yet. Until my brain loses its creative power, I'll continue to strive to create things. That's my instinct, and that's what I love to do," Kojima wrote at the time.Continue Reading at GameSpot

The journey of the Straw Hats throughout the seas of One Piece has been filled with incredible amounts of danger and peril. It seems like more often than not, the crew is locked in a desperate struggle for survival, combating the Navy, fellow pirates, or even the seas of the Grand Line itself. In many cases, the Straw Hat Crew has struggled greatly to get where they are in One Piece, facing any amount of danger and strife to see their dreams become a reality.

IQVIA, the worlds leading provider of clinical research services, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence, is working with NVIDIA to build custom foundation models and agentic AI workflows that can accelerate research, clinical development and access to new treatments.AI applications trained on the organizations vast healthcare-specific information and guided by its deep domain expertise will help the industry boost the efficiency of clinical trials and optimize planning for the launch of therapies and medical devices ultimately improving patient outcomes.Operating in over 100 countries, IQVIA has built the largest global healthcare network and is uniquely connected to the ecosystem with the most comprehensive and granular set of information, analytics and technologies in the industry.Announced today at the J.P. Morgan Conference in San Francisco, IQVIAs collection of models, AI agents and reference workflows will be developed with the NVIDIA AI Foundry platform for building custom models, allowing IQVIAs thousands of pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device customers to benefit from NVIDIAs agentic AI capabilities and IQVIAs technologies, life sciences information and expertise.Enabling Industry Applications in Clinical TrialsThe healthcare and life sciences industry generates more information than any other industry in the world, making up 30% of the worlds data volume.IQVIA plans to use its unparalleled information assets, analytics and domain expertise known as IQVIA Connected Intelligence with the NVIDIA AI Foundry service to build language and multimodal foundational models that will power a collection of customized IQVIA AI agents.These agents are anticipated to be available in predefined workflows, or blueprints, that would accomplish a specific task. This partnership aims to accelerate the innovation cycle of IQVIA Healthcare-grade AI. IQVIA has been leading in the responsible use of AI, ensuring that its AI-powered capabilities are grounded in privacy, regulatory compliance and patient safety. IQVIA Healthcare-grade AI represents the companys commitment to these principles.One key opportunity area is in clinical development, when clinical trials are conducted for new drugs. The overall process takes about 11 years, on average, and each trial has a multitude of workflows that could be supported by AI agents. For example, just starting a clinical trial involves site selection, participant recruitment, regulatory submissions and tight communication between study sites and their sponsors.NVIDIA AI Foundry Streamlines Custom Model DevelopmentTo streamline the development of these AI agents, IQVIA is using tools within NVIDIA AI Foundry and the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform, including NVIDIA NIM microservices, especially the Llama Nemotron and Cosmos Nemotron model families; NVIDIA AI Blueprint reference workflows; the NVIDIA NeMo platform for developing custom generative AI; and dedicated capacity on NVIDIA DGX Cloud.The NVIDIA AI Blueprint for multimodal PDF data extraction can help IQVIA unlock the immense amount of healthcare text, graphs, charts and tables stored in PDF files, bringing previously inaccessible information to train AI models and agents for domain-specific and even customer-specific applications. NVIDIA RAPIDS data science libraries then accelerate the construction of knowledge graphs.Additional AI agents could automate complex, time-consuming tasks, like document generation and patient recruitment, allowing healthcare professionals to focus on strategic decision-making and human interaction.Learn more about NVIDIA technologies and their impact on healthcare and life sciences.

January 17 will bring Dynasty Warriors: Origins, a thrilling new addition to the Dynasty Warriors series to PlayStation 5, and we recently had the opportunity to play the tactical hack-and-slash action ahead of its release.Play VideoThe gripping tale of a nameless heroDynasty Warriors: Origins follows the drama surrounding Chinas Three Kingdoms period, from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the Battle of Red Cliffs. At the beginning of the game, the protagonist gets caught up in a battle with Guan Yu against the troops of corrupt officials. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was never portrayed in detail in previous installments of the series. Still, this game goes into depth around the origins and woes of the Yellow Turbans, as well as the perspectives of each general belonging to the defeated troops.The struggle of choosing sides amid a slew of enthralling warriors and heroesThe protagonist is a traveling martial artist suffering from amnesia. However, his body still remembers how to handle weapons, allowing him to wield his skills tactfully in every battle. Since he is not loyal to a specific kingdom or sovereign, he can deepen bonds with various forces and join them on the battlefield. However, the protagonist must eventually face a pivotal choice whether he will serve and support the aspirations of Cao Cao, Suan Jin, or Liu Bei. All three are brilliant warriors, which makes the choice even more difficult.All three are intriguing, and you will develop special bonds with them throughout the story. Deciding who to support is made all the more difficult since each one will woo you to join their side. After thinking long and hard, I ultimately chose to support Liu Bei, as I had been fighting alongside him since the very beginning of the game. It is a difficult decision since choosing one side means you will have to cross blades with those you once fought with.An even more exhilarating and gratifying hack-and-slash actionIn this game, players will not only enjoy the exhilarating 1 vs 1,000 gameplay with easy to learn controls that is characteristic of the Dynasty Warrior series but also large-scale tactical battles that are equally thrilling and rewarding.As in the previous entries, you can dominate regular enemies by mastering the combo of swift normal attacks and powerful, strong attacks. However, renowned generals and leader-class officers are surrounded by a protective aura called Fortitude, which prevents you from dealing significant damage. To deplete enemy fortitudes, the player must target an opening after an enemys attack, leverage Battles Arts, a set of unique moves available for each weapon, or Parries, a powerful counter that leaves the enemy vulnerable.Dominate your foes with Musou Attacks and Companion attacksPowerful Musou Attacks can be triggered when the Musou Gauge reaches a certain level, and they can eliminate enemies in a wide area. In addition, you can activate War God Rage mode when the Musou Gauge is built up to two levels, as well as the super-powerful True Musou attack. In some battles, you can bring an allied general as your Companion. You can directly control your companions by switching to them and unleashing their unique attacks. You can also trigger the Extreme Musou Attack in tandem with your companion, which is a blast to use.Experience unprecedented scale as thousands of soldiers clash on the battlefieldDynasty Warriors: Origins takes full advantage of the power of PS5 to realize an unprecedented scale of battle in the series history. In some battles, you will witness massive groups of enemies clash on the field, which is a spectacle on its own. Every soldier on the battlefield employs their own strategy, whether under the command of their leaders or with their own volition, causing the state of battle to shift rapidly.The importance of maintaining your troops MoraleMorale is an important factor during battles. Morale rises when enemy generals are defeated, or you seize enemy strongholds. When morale is high, your soldiers powers are bolstered to your advantage, but on the other hand, morale can fall when allied generals are defeated or your strongholds are captured. There were stressful moments when I was needed in multiple places at once, but overcoming those challenges was extremely satisfying.Command your Bodyguards with strategic Tactics and repel Grand Tactics deployed by Large ForcesDynasty Warrior: Origins will bring back the Bodyguard system. Using Tactics, you can command these bodyguards to perform various actions, such as raining arrows or charging with spears. Also, when a massive number of soldiers gather, a Large Force will be formed. These large forces can deploy Grand Tactics, dramatically shifting the tide of battle. These intense group assaults involve troops charging in one after another with spears or stone throwers firing firebombs. Though these attacks are a spectacle to witness, theyll inflict significant damage on your allies, so make sure you deal with them swiftly.The story of this latest installment in the series offers a unique perspective into the historical drama from the eyes of a nameless hero, and the intense battles and unprecedented scale of the battlefields are gripping and immersive. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is for the die-hard fans of the series, as well as those new to the franchise who are eager to explore the epic tales behind the Three Kingdoms and their heroes. Experience the grand battle on January 17 on PS5.

This week on Polygon, were looking at how cultural differences affect media in a special issue called Culture Shock. From text localization to character design, religious considerations to censorship, were looking at some of the many ways things get complicated when games, shows, and movies are released in different territories or change back home as a result of those territories. Well have new stories all week.Top storiesWho shaved Hitlers mustache? The localizerNo one quite knew how to localize Drew Carey in The SimsHow a super robot anime became a revolutionary icon for FilipinosNearly half of Cyberpunk 2077s 5,000-person team worked on localizing the game

Deep in the untouched, mossy forests and ancient swamps of Polesia, a mystical spirit named Grun comes alive not through folklore, but through the imaginative designs of Victoria Yakusha. As the founder of Faina Design, the Ukrainian designer unveiled her latest collection at Design Miami 2024, seamlessly weaving her connection to nature, Ukrainian roots, and love for animistic design. The Grun collection features two hand-carved tables, two sculptural floor lamps, a bench, an upholstered bed, a chair, and an armchair each piece a testament to Yakushas poetic vision, with special editions of the chair and armchair that are particularly captivating.To envision the future, we must draw upon the knowledge and wisdom of the past. There are still places on this planet that carry the memories of centuries living, breathing spaces that appear timeless while continually evolving, says Victoria Yakusha. These sites embody the essence of the land and reflect a time when people were profoundly rooted in their surroundings, deeply connected to the world around them.The Grun collection embodies Yakushas signature design philosophy: live minimalism. This approach marries minimalist aesthetics with a profound connection to nature, reflecting her heritage and belief that every object possesses a soul a central tenet of animism. Like seedlings emerging from the earth, the collections forms exhibit wide, grounding bases that seem to draw energy from below the ground, extending upwards in a symbolic nod to ancient wisdom, growth, and renewal.Perhaps the headliners of the collection are the special edition Dewlit chair and armchair. While the original versions are just as striking with their whimsical forms and elongated, ear-like accents, the Dewlit versions elevate their allure with hand-embroidered beaded accents that glisten like dewdrops clinging to mossy forest floors. These intricate embellishments create a mesmerizing interplay of light and shadow, enhancing the tranquil, nature-inspired narrative.The Grun bed and bench continue the collections expressive forms, with wide legs that channel the earths energy up and through their antennae. Like the chair and armchair, the dark green upholstery is reminiscent of lush moss covering the grounds of the forest, deepening the collections connection to nature and to the mystic creature that inspired it.In a limited edition of 12 pieces, the Grun tables further channel the magic of the first. Their hand-carved wooden tabletops evoke the rays of sunlight streaming through a forest clearing, while their textured bases echo the rugged elegance of tree trunks. The Grun lamps, crafted from Ztista an eco-friendly blend of clay, natural fibers, and organic biopolymers take this organic aesthetic even further. Their conical forms and blown-glass bulbs, made using the traditional Ukrainian technique of gutnitstvo, resemble trees softly illuminated by their own glow.Yakushas Grun collection is an invitation for us to reconnect with the earth and embrace the harmony of living with nature. By transforming the essence of Polesias ancient forests into functional art, she reminds us that even in a fast-changing technologically-advanced world, the roots of history and nature remain steadfast and evergreen.To learn more about the Grun collection, visit victoriayakusha.com.Photography by Lera Levanova.

The new year is a good time to get yourself in shape: your finances, your body, your mind. But while everyone is running around with weights strapped to their ankles figuring out a budget or trying to start a gratitude journal, you might be thinking about starting a new relationship or strengthening the one youre in. Here are ten podcasts that can help you with that.Dates & Mates Credit: Podcast logo Dates & Mates, hosted by Damona Hoffmancelebrity dating coach, author of the bestselling F the Fairy Tale, and the Official Love Expert on The Drew Barrymore Showis one of the most realistic podcasts about modern dating youll find, and I guarantee that if you listen, your app game will get sharper. Damona brings in a variety of interesting points of views from dating coaches and experts to give not just tips but inspiration. Whether youre single and ready to mingle or in a happy relationship, Damona can help with her direct, thoughtful, and relevant advice on everything from finding a partner online and offline to mastering your attachment styles. Multiamory Credit: Podcast logo Multiamory is a show dedicated to offering guidance and insight on modern relationships in any form, be it monogamy, polyamory, casual dating, and anything in between. The beauty of Multiamory lies in its trio of hostsDedeker Winston, Emily Matlack, and Jase Lindgren. Each is an expert in their respective fields and brings a unique perspective and understanding of relationships. Their combined experiences ensure relatable discussions for audiences, blending personal advice with actionable insights. If you are tired of conventional advice and are looking to think outside the box, this is your jam. I find a lot of their advice can help with my friendships and family relationships, too. Savage Lovecast Credit: Podcast logo Dan Savage is an author, journalist, and activist and advocate for queer rights known for co-founding the It Gets Better Project in 2010. But he might be best known for his podcast Savage Lovecast. Its been running since 2006! At this point hes solved (hundreds of?) thousands of your horniest conundrums on everything from pegging to mapping out the logistics of an equitable threesome. If you have a sex-related question, chances are good Dan has answered it at some point over the years. (And if not, I want to hear that question.)Modern Love Credit: Podcast logo The Modern Love column from the New York Times has been giving readers a look into the love lives of real people for more than 20 years, and for the podcast, Modern Love, host Anna Martin brings those stories to life in a new way. Every essay is about the very real, often messy and complicated things that are happening in our relationships all over the world. Its amazing what we can learn about ourselves by listening to them. Each one is a springboard into endless topics of discussion. The essays are superb and guests pop on all the time, like Joel Kim Booster, Emrata, and Gillian Anderson.Where Should We Begin? Credit: Podcast logo On Where Should We Begin?, renowned psychotherapist Esther Perel lets you be a fly on the wall inside her office to eavesdrop on a real couples counseling session. Youll hear everything about their relationshipsevery raw and intimate detail. Esther's advice is both philosophical and reflective, dynamic and engaging, and direct but gentle. Shes also very solution-oriented, focused on helping these couples, who come to her for help with infidelity (thats a big one!), desire, and being happily divorced. She helps them strengthen their relationships, move past seemingly insurmountable conflict, and reconnect. Just Break Up Credit: Podcast logo Sam and Sierra arent therapistsbut on Just Break Up, they will answer listeners' questions with a wealth of knowledge about everything from unhealthy relationships that need to go to pretty healthy ones that could use some TLC. Their advice is always super compassionate, kind, and wise. I have found myself, more than once, writing down things theyve said. Youll love their friendship vibes, which will make you feel less alone on even the darkest days, and their willingness to put so much thought into a single letter for one person, that might just help you, too. Again, theyre not therapists. But listening to this plus therapy? Youll be unstoppable.Two Dykes And A Mic Credit: Podcast logo Every week on Two Dykes And A Mic, best friends Rachel Scanlon and McKenzie Goodwin keep listeners entertained with segments like Gay News, Ask a Dyke, and Bumble Fumbles, plus they dish out tons of dating queer dating advice. The best thing youll get from this podcast is laughterRachel and McKenzie are hilarious. But what they share about their own relationships might help you decide what you want to happen in yours. If you get the chance, dont miss their live shows. We Can Do Hard Things Credit: Podcast logo On We Can Do Hard Things, Glennon Doyle (author of Untamed), Abby Wambach (yes, the soccer player) and Amanda Doyle get really honest and ask guests about really hard thingseverything from people pleasing, and building boundaries to depression and bulimia. If youre looking for a podcast to mainline dating advice into your veins, this might not be it. This is for people curious about how to build a good foundation for all the relationships in their lives. Glennon is married to Abby and sisters with Amandathe three have a whole lot to share about their own experiences and they do not hold back. More than once I have had an epiphany while listening, and theyve helped me navigate stuff with my husband, my mom, and my whole family.Lovers and Friends with Shan Boodram Credit: Podcast logo Shan Boodram is a certified intimacy educator and relationship expert who gained a large following on YouTube and brings her great advice, every week, to her podcast Lovers and Friends. Known for her candid, inclusive, and deeply insightful approach, Shan addresses topics related to love, relationships, dating, sex, and self-discovery. She strikes a brilliant balance of relatability and expertise. Shan picks the brains of her guests and is an open book when it comes to her own experiences. She doesnt shy away from anything and will make you feel comfortable exploring new things in your dating, sex, and love life.We Met at Acme Credit: Podcast logo We Met at Acme is one of the OG dating podcasts, and although host Lindsey Metselaar is married and has a child, the heart of the show is the sameLindsey dishes up advice (about everything from setting boundaries to improving communication in relationships) that youll want to steal. Her candid conversations with dating experts, licensed professionals, celebrities, and influencers mixed with personal insights and real-life dating experiences will help you navigate the world of dating.

Folks who are in the market for a good deal on a dedicated machine for playing Balatro tablet might be interested in taking a peek at Apple's iPad mini 7. The company's latest compact tablet has dropped to its lowest price to date at $399. That's a cool $100 discount. Apple refreshed the iPad mini last October with upgraded internals and support for the Apple Pencil Pro. This configuration has 128GB of storage and Apple's A17 Pro chip. It also boasts 8GB of RAM, which is enough to support Apple Intelligence features The iPad mini 7 is our pick for the best compact iPad in part because it's the only one. We gave it a score of 83 in our review. The device has an 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display which is, sadly, limited to a 60Hz refresh rate. The lack of a Face ID sensor and one of the M-series chips that are present in Apple's flagship iPads are our other major drawbacks with this one. But it's a solid tablet otherwise. The iPad mini 7 runs on the same chipset as the iPhone 15 Pro and Apple doubled the base storage from the previous generation. It weighs 0.65 pounds, so you may not have too much trouble holding it in one hand. The Touch ID sensor is encased in the power button, and there are stereo speakers and decent cameras (12MP on each side). Like pretty much all of Apple's other devices these days, the iPad mini 7 has a USB-C port rather than a Lightning one. Speaking of which, the tablet should run for up to 10 hours before you need to recharge it. And although there's no cellular connectivity here, the iPad mini 7 supports Wi-Fi 6E. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/apples-ipad-mini-7-is-100-off-right-now-155549086.html?src=rss

Four hackers claim to have broken into the Spanish telco giant.