Hawaii's statewide building code has "absolutely failed to do what it was intended to do when it was created to provide a uniform building code for Hawaii," a local critic of it tellstheHonoluluCivil Beat. Officials there are mulling different changes to the three-year adoption cycle in the wake of the 2023 wildfire catastrophe that claimed 102 lives and 2,200 structures.Some would like to see the timeframe doubled to allow for technological advances that could save lives, but, as another detractor to this plan puts it: "A six-year code cycle denies communities the opportunity to incorporate these advancements safely into our homes, businesses, schools and critical infrastructure."Hawaii, which reports another 6,500 structures to be under the threat of sea level rise, is also currently facing a housing shortage of at least 50,000 units.

From systemic combat and gigantic boss fights to stylized visuals and more,Eternal Strandsis promising quite a bit that has caught our attention, and ahead of its looming release towards the end of this month, here, were going to go over a few key details that you should know about it.SETTING AND STORYEternal Strandsis set in a mystical realm known as the Enclave. Once a bustling hub of magical advancement, the Enclave has now been quiet and dormant for decades. The game will see players stepping into the shoes of Brynn, a young Weaver, who are warriors just as capable of unleashing magical abilities as they are adept with the sword. Part of a group of several fellow Weavers who entered the Enclave, Brynns goal is to uncover the mysteries surrounding its past, and try and bring it back to its former glory.NOT NARRATIVE-DRIVENEternal Strandsdeveloper Yellow Brick Games boasts talent that has worked on everything fromDragon AgetoAssassins Creedand more, but in spite of that strong link to narrative-driven games, thats not the direction thatEternal Strandsis headed in. Speaking in an interview with GamingBolt, chief creative officer Mike Laidlaw explained that the action-adventure title is first and foremost a gameplay-centric experience.The storys there to provide context, goals, quests and so on that push our players to enjoy and experiment while in combat and exploring the world, he said. With this focus in mind, we decided very early in development that EternalStrands was not going to be a game about tough moral choices or dilemmas, but instead a tale of discovery. A group of competent experts unravelling the mysteries of what happened to the Enclave.OPTIONAL STORY CONTENTThough story isnt the focus inEternal Strands,players looking for deeper narrative context are going to have a decent amount of optional story content to seek out. Laidlaw told GamingBolt that the game has dozens of completely optional dialogs (all of them voiced) that react to Brynns progress through the story, her discoveries, and so on. He added, These arent needed to complete the game, but we feel they add both texture and depth for players who want to dig deeper into the story.ELEMENTAL ABILITIESEternal Strandsmoment-to-moment combat will involve plenty of melee combat, but at the heart of the experience is going to be an elements system. Brynn will be equipped with a magical cloak called the Mantle that will allow her to unleash fire and ice attacks, and every single thing in the world both in and out of combat will reach to heat and cold accordingly, further encouraging players to mix and match and experiment.TELEKINETIC ABILITIESJust as crucial as Brynns elemental abilities will be her ability to unleash telekinetic magic on her foes. That, of course, means you can pick up any number of objects or items in the environments and use them as weapons to be thrown at enemies from a distance (or perhaps to block incoming attacks). Though the elemental systems will remain at the heart ofEternal Strandsgameplay, Brynns telekinetic abilities are also obviously going to have an important role to play.BOSSESEternal Strandshas made several intriguing promises that have captured peoples attention, and high on that list is the games boss encounters. The action-adventure title will see players taking on a number of massive, titanic bosses over the course of their journey. Yellow Brick Games has explicitly mentionedShadow of the Colossusas one of the inspirations for the games bosses, with a total of nine gigantic bosses to seek out, climb over, and defeat.TRAVERSALEternal Strandsis also placing quite a bit of emphasis on its traversal mechanics, with players seemingly being given many different ways to navigate the world. For starters, Brynns elemental and telekinetic abilities will be just as useful for traversal as they will be in combat- like building bridges made of ice to cross vast chasms, for instance. Meanwhile, similar toThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom, the game will also let players freely climb every surface in the world.PHYSICS SYSTEMA particular point of pride for Yellow Brick Games withEternal Strandsis the games physics system, which, according to the developer, is key to its systemic nature. As we already touched on, temperature and elements will play a crucial role- so heat will spread, while ice will, of course, cool things down. Everything in the world will abide by those rules (so fires spreading beyond control will be a possibility, as an example), while the game will also tout real-time destruction mechanics.WORLDNo,Eternal Strandsisnt going to be open world, instead adopting a more linear and compact structure, but players will nonetheless traverse and explore a variety of different locations as they trek through the Enclave. The full extent of that environmental diversity obviously remains to be seen, but Yellow Brick Games has confirmed that players can expect to explore dense urban environments, untamed wilds, and more.INSPIRATIONSEternal Strandsclearly borrows a page or two from more than a few games. Chief among them is obviouslyShadow of the Colossus, with Laidlaw telling GamingBolt, Shadow ofthe Colossus inspired the scale of our foes. [] Like Colossus, theres no way to bring these foes down by just hitting them in the ankle over and over. Where we differ fromColossus, though, is that where its foes had specific weak points that had to be struck to defeat them almost like a puzzle approach to their defeat, we let you find your own solutions by casting and combining magic and weapons.In addition toShadow of the Colossus,the game also takes inspiration from the likes ofDragons DogmaandThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.In terms of tone and visuals, meanwhile, Laidlaw saysEternal Strandsalso takes inspiration fromThe MummyandGame of Thrones.LENGTHEternal Strandsis going to be a pretty substantial experience, by the look of things. Laidlaw confirmed to GamingBolt that the action-adventure title will be about 25 hours long on average. However, it also features a lot of exploration opportunities and side quests, courtesy of which he says the overall play time can vary a lot.MUSICEternal Strandshas plenty of big-name talent working on it, as weve already touched on, and that extends to the games music as well. Its soundtrack is composed by lauded musician and composer Austin Wintory, who is best known for his work onJourney, The Pathless, Assassins Creed Syndicate, Hades 2,and more.PC DEMOIfEternal Strandshas piqued your curiosity but youre still not quite sure about whether you want to fully dive in, luckily for you, the game is going to have a demo on offer soon. On January 21, a week ahead of the full games release, a demo ofEternal Strandswill become available on PC only. Players will be able to play through the prologue, and yes, youll be able to take all of your progress with you into the full games.COMING TO GAME PASSIf you were thinking this looks like the perfect Game Pass game, as it turns out, thats exactly what it is. Yellow Brick Games has confirmed that the game will be available to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers upon release. Continued members of the old base Game Pass tier (which has been replaced for newcomers by the new Standard tier) will also get the game day and date.PC REQUIREMENTSPlayingEternal Strandson PC will thankfully not require a particularly demanding rig. On minimum settings, players will need either an i5-9400 or a Ryzen 5 3350, along with either a GeForce GTX 1660 Supe, a Radeon RX 5600 XT, or an Arc A580, as well as 8 GB RAM. On recommended settings, meanwhile, youll need either an i5-11600 or a Ryzen 5 5600X, along with either a GeForce RTX 3070, a Radeon RX 6800, or an Arc A770, on top of 16 G B of RAM. On either setting, youll also need an SSD and about 24 GB of free storage space.

Nigeen Lake is a mildly eutrophic lake located in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. It is sometimes considered to be a part of Dal Lake and is connected to it via a narrow strait. This panoramic photograph shows the west bank of Nigeen Lake, with houseboats lining the shore. Hari Parbat, a hill overlooking Srinagar, is visible to the left of centre, and the snow-capped Pir Panjal Range can be seen in the distance.Photograph credit: KennyOMG; edited by UnpetitproleXRecently featured: Fork-tailed flycatcherJohn Henry TurpinTocopilla railwayArchiveMore featured pictures

January 14: Ratification Day in the United States (1784)Poster for the premiere of Tosca1301 King AndrewIII died without any male heirs, ending the rpd dynasty, which had ruled Hungary since the late 9th century.1900 Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca (poster pictured), based on the play La Tosca by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome.1960 The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank and banknote-issuing authority, was established.1970 The self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra in southeastern Nigeria surrendered to the federal government less than three years after declaring independence, ending the Nigerian Civil War.2018 In the "Minneapolis Miracle", American football player Stefon Diggs caught a 61-yard (56m) touchdown pass that secured the Minnesota Vikings' victory in the National Football Conference divisional playoff game.Berthe Morisot (b.1841)George Pearce (b.1870)Rambhadracharya (b.1950)Arfa Karim (d.2012)More anniversaries: January 13January 14January 15ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Craters at Mercury's poles contain permanently shadowed areas that are some of the coldest sites in the solar system, despite their proximity to the sun. ESA / BepiColombo / MTM, ESA Standard LicenceThe BepiColombo spacecrafta joint endeavor between the European and Japanese space agencieshas just snapped stunning photographs of Mercurys north pole during its recent flyby of the innermost planet.The images, which reveal the depths of Mercurys iconic polar craters, were captured by the crafts monitoring cameras (M-CAMs) on January 8. European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher revealed the first image during a press briefing the next day.It meant getting up at 5:30 a.m., but once close-up images started to appear in our shared folder, it was worth it, David Rothery, a planetary scientist at the Open University, tells New Scientists Alex Wilkins. We had studied some simulated views in advance and used these to devise our imaging strategy, but what we saw was better than expected. Craters at Mercury's north pole are visible just left of the "terminator," or the line between day and night. The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission snapped this image on January 8, 2025. ESA / BepiColombo / MTM, ESA Standard LicenceM-CAM 1, the first of three monitoring cameras, captured a photograph of the shadowed north pole (above) from a distance of 489 miles above Mercurys surface. The white hardware on the right side of the image is BepiColombos solar array, and part of the spacecrafts Mercury Transfer Module is visible in the lower left. The image features Mercurys terminatorthe separation between day and nightat the center, nearly parallel to the Prokofiev, Kandinsky, Tolkien and Gordimer craters.Because Mercury spins on an axis with a miniscule tilt of just 0.01 degreesalmost perpendicular to its plane of orbit around the sunthe rims of all four of these polar craters cast permanent shadows within their depths. Those eternally dark areas are some of the coldest places in the solar system, despite the fact that Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.Previous observations suggested that these permanent shadows might host frozen water, an exciting hypothesis that the BepiColombo mission is set to investigate further. The mission and spacecraft are named in honor of Giuseppe (Bepi) Colombo, a 20th century Italian mathematician who contributed to previous space missions, per the Associated Press Marcia Dunn, including NASAs Mariner 10, the first spacecraft sent to Mercury.The area at the left of the craters and terminator is the Borealis Planitia, Mercurys largest expanse of smooth volcanic plains, which was formed by large volcanic eruptions 3.7 billion years ago. The resulting lava flooded existing craters, including the Henri and Lismer craters marked in the image. Mercurys wrinkle-like features across the left half of the image likely formed after those lava plains solidified and the planets interior cooled and contracted, according to an ESA statement. Mercury's sunlit north, labeled, as viewed by BepiColombo's M-CAM 1. ESA / BepiColombo / MTM, ESA Standard LicenceAnother M-CAM 1 photograph (above) highlights the Mendelssohn and Rustaveli craters, two of the ancient depressions in the Borealis Planitia that were flooded with lava billions of years ago. The Caloris basin is also visible in the bottom left of the photograph; with a span of more than 932 miles wide, its the planets largest impact crater, and it features linear troughs radiating from the point of impact.Roughly in the center, Mercurys surface is marked by a relatively bright boomerang-shaped streak of lava. According to the statement, this represents yet another astronomical question the BepiColombo mission aims to study: the direction of the lava flow. Did the lava move into the Caloris basin, or out of it?BepiColombo snapped this second image just five minutes after the first. An image by BepiColombo's M-CAM 2 features theNathair Facula. ESA / BepiColombo / MTM, ESA Standard LicenceFinally, the third photograph, captured by M-CAM 2, shows the relatively young Fonteyn crater (at 300 million years old) and the Nathair Facula, a feature that resulted from the largest volcanic eruption in Mercurys history. It hosts a volcanic vent with a diameter of about 25 miles.[Nathair Facula] is a very important science target for several of BepiColombos instruments when we get into orbit, because it offers our best chance to work out what it is about Mercurys composition that has allowed explosive volcanic eruptions to continue through much of the planets history, Rothery says to New Scientist.BepiColombos sixth flyby was the last gravity assist maneuver needed to propel the craft before it enters orbit around Mercury in late 2026, according to BBC News Danny Fullbrook. Built by Airbus and launched in 2018, the craft has flown by Earth, Venus and Mercury to reach its targeted speed and trajectory.With its recent pass by the north pole being the last, the images are also the M-CAMstwo orbiters when they begin to loop around the planet.BepiColombos main mission phase may only start two years from now, but all six of its flybys of Mercury have given us invaluable new information about the little-explored planet, says Geraint Jones, BepiColombos project scientist at the ESA, in the agencys statement. In the next few weeks, the BepiColombo team will work hard to unravel as many of Mercurys mysteries with the data from this flyby as we can.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Astronomers, Astronomy, Mercury, Outer Space, Photography, Planets, Solar System, Space Travel, Sun

The newest version of Mistral's code generation model Codestral aims to be more efficient and generate code twice as fast.Read More

Audiomob establishes MENA headquarters in Abu Dhabi"Abu Dhabi has proven to be the perfect home for us" News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on Jan. 13, 2025 In-game audio ads platform Audiomob has established its MENA headquarters on Yas Island in the United Arab Emirates.Audiomob - which has partnered with Abu Dhabi Gaming for the venture - said it chose to establish itself in UAE due to its "strategic position" and the appeal of the country's tech, talent, and subsidies.Abu Dhabi has proven to be the perfect home for us, opening crucial doors to help us meet our ambitious growth strategy," said co-founder and CTO Wilfrid Obeng.The support from Abu Dhabi Gaming has been instrumental from subsidies and talent development to a range of opportunities allowing collaboration with other members. We have seen firsthand that, in our industry, Abu Dhabi is the place to be.AudioMob raised $14 million in a round of Series A funding back in 2021. The company, founded in 2020, said at the time it would use the money raised to expand its teams in both London and Abu Dhabi, to further develop its products, and also hire new heads for key departments across the business

Google is adjusting the profile sharing feature in its Google Messages app to allow users to set custom contact names and photos on their own devices for their stored contacts and others they send text messages. As reported by 9to5Google, a change rolled out late last year that overrode your custom names and photos with each individuals broadcasted profile, but now you can change it back to give friends, colleagues, and family members the names and avatars that you think they should have.

AndaSeat isn't as big of a name in the congested gaming chair market as some other brands like Secretlab, DXRacer, or Razer, but rest assured it makes some high-quality gaming chairs. Right now, there's an AndaSeat New Year Sale with up to $220 off gaming chairs. These instant discounts stack with our 10% off IGN code "AndaIGN".Andaseat Kaiser 3 Gaming ChairUse 10% off code: AndaIGNAndaSeat Kaiser 3 Gaming ChairThe Kaiser 3 offers great value for a high-end gaming chair that competes with other chairs that cost $500 or more. The base model currently costs $386.10, which is about $60 cheaper than the Kaiser 4, and shares most of the same features. You lose out on the 5D armrests and the lumbar is less adjustable, but that's about it.In his Andaseat Kaiser 3 review, Mark Knapp wrote that "The AndaSeat Kaiser 3 makes some meaningful improvements to the series design, including a wide seatbase that does away with metal bolsters for hours-long comfort and a flexible lumbar support built in. It uses magnets here and there in a gimmicky but not useless way, and it offers all the premiums that one should expect at this price in a well-polished package. Its not quite perfect, still suffering some from the aggressive racing-style design, but it proves a great chair nonetheless."Andaseat Kaiser 4 Gaming ChairUse 10% off code: AndaIGNAndaSeat Kaiser 4 Gaming ChairThe Kaiser 4 is AndaSeat's flagship chair. The price normally starts from $569 but this sale drops it to $476.10 after the IGN code. It's only available in Extra Large with a weight capabity of 395lbs so this is a very spacious chair. You can choose among eight different color options in PVC leather or two different color options in fabric. It has all of the creature comforts you'd expect in a quality gaming chair, like a unibody 2mm tubular steel frame, one-piece high density foam with a plush seat bottom (softer, in my experience, than the very firm Secretlab seat), four-way lumbar adjustment system, 5D armrests, up to 135 degrees of recline and a rocking toggle, included magnetic armrests, and more. This chair sounds a lot like the Titan Evo, and you'd be right; the design, features, and build quality are very similar, minus the price tag.Overall, Mark Knapp didn't like it as much as the Kaiser 3, however. In his Andaseat Kaiser 4 review, he wrote that "The AndaSeat Kaiser 4 has great lumbar support and one of the best headrest pillows you'll find on the market, but its janky armrests are a major blemish on the overall design, and its firm seat won't be for everyone. If you have the AndaSeat Kaiser 3, everything but the lumbar support may feel like more of a downgrade than an upgrade and if this is your first gaming chair, you can do much better within the premium market."Andaseat X-Air Mesh ChairsUse 10% off code: AndaIGNAndaSeat X-Air Mesh ChairAndaSeat X-Air Pro Mesh ChairIf you don't care for the distinct styling of gaming chairs, Andaseat also recently released a traditional-style task chair model called the X-Air. It's also less expensive, with the standard model starting at only $341.10 after the coupon is applied. This chair features a softer suede-like material that feels more comfortable than traditional mesh chairs. It comes standard with plenty of adjustability, but you can upgrade to the Pro model to get the dynamic lumbar adjustment, 5D armrests, and a 3D headrest. The Pro model also comes in a couple of very unique colors.Another Alternative: SecretlabBoth the Andaseat Kaiser 4 and 3 are excellent gaming chairs that are on par with the quality you'll find from more expensive chair manufacturers. That said, if you're willing to spend substantially more, Secretlab is still our favorite gaming chair brand. Secretlab recently released its flagship Titan Evo chair in a "Nanogen" edition and it is, in our opinion, the new best gaming chair. In our Titan Evo Nanogen Edition review, Chris Coke wrote that "the Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen Edition deserves every bit of the overwhelming praise Ive given. Granted, at $799 its significantly more expensive than the original and not far off from an entry-level Herman-Miller. But the return it offers in comfortable, supportive gaming is well worth the extra cost thanks to dramatically improved materials in both the fabric and multi-layered padding. The Titan Evo Nanogen Edition is class-leading, and is hands-down the most comfortable gaming chair Ive ever used."Secretlab also released a new recliner add-on to anyone who already owns the Titan Evo chair, and it has turned out to be a very practical addition that's worthy of its lofty $200 price point. In our recliner add-on review, Chris Coke wrote that "while both comfort and value are subjective things, the recliner is able to take the Titan Evo and transform it from one of the best racing style gaming chairs to standing head and shoulders above the competition at its price point. Its novel enough that I wouldnt be surprised to see other brands following suit in the near future. If you dont mind paying for it, its an absolutely killer upgrade for your gaming chair."Why Should You Trust IGN's Deals Team?IGN's deals team has a combined 30+ years of experience finding the best discounts in gaming, tech, and just about every other category. We don't try to trick our readers into buying things they don't need at prices that aren't worth buying something at. Our ultimate goal is to surface the best possible deals from brands we trust and our editorial team has personal experience with. You can check out our deals standards here for more information on our process, or keep up with the latest deals we find on IGN's Deals account on Twitter.Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

TikTok risks being banned from the US in the coming days as a bill signed by President Biden requires its parent company ByteDance to divest from the app. Amid the risk of a potential ban, users are already looking for alternatives and another Chinese social network has just topped the US App Store rankings.Chinese app RedNote is now the #1 downloaded app in the US App StoreXiaohongshu (known as RedNote in English) is a Chinese social network created in 2013 to compete with Pinterest and Instagram. The platform was primarily focused on letting users and influencers share product reviews with an integrated e-commerce. More recently, RedNote has also started investing in short videos, just like TikTok.As noted by TechCrunch, RedNote has gone viral among younger Chinese users, especially during the pandemic. The platform has more than 300 million monthly active users but it has never been a hit in other countries, at least until now.Suddenly, RedNote became the most downloaded app in the US App Store, overtaking apps like ChatGPT, Threads, Instagram, and TikTok. The search for an alternative to TikTok is driving the increase in downloads of RedNote. The app has been widely promoted by creators encouraging their followers to migrate to the new platform.RedNote appOf course, theres a chance that TikTok wont end up being banned in the US since President-elect Trump has already hinted that he wont let the ban happen. However, since creators cant predict what will happen next, they want to make sure they dont lose their followers.Interestingly, creators have been recommending another Chinese app instead of a US-based app like Instagram. To recap, the US Department of Justice believes that the Chinese company behind TikTok shares user data with the Chinese government and also manipulates the content shown to US users to interfere in political affairs.Only time will tell whether RedNote will become the next TikTok.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel