Realistic Rural Agriculture Farm Ranch 3D Environment Assets By hknoblauch on February 4, 2025 Models & Rigs This is a quick start Realistic agricultural farmland 3d assets and props for realistic rural environment renders.It will radically speed up concept development, freelance art look-dev or environment building.Included: A standard file - where you have to append the models to bring them in, or link then dynamically. An asset browser file - Locate it in your asset folder, and then drag and drop from the Blender UI, radically speeding up environment building 15 Categories of products, with a lot of modular content, perfect for assembling scenes!

all eyes on isaacman Concern about SpaceX influence at NASA grows with new appointee Morale at the space agency is absurdly low, sources say. Eric Berger Feb 3, 2025 6:13 pm | 41 SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is ready for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is ready for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. Credit: SpaceX Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreLike a lot of the rest of the federal government right now, NASA is reeling during the first turbulent days of the Trump administration.The last two weeks have brought a change in leadership in the form of interim administrator Janet Petro, whose ascension was a surprise. Her first act was to tell agency employees to remove diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility contracts and to "report" on anyone who did not carry out this order. Soon, civil servants began receiving emails from the US Office of Personnel Management that some perceived as an effort to push them to resign.Then there are the actions of SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Last week he sowed doubt by claiming NASA had "stranded" astronauts on the space station. (The astronauts are perfectly safe and have a ride home.) Perhaps more importantly, he owns the space agency's most important contractor and, in recent weeks, has become deeply enmeshed in operating the US government through his Department of Government Efficiency. For some NASA employees, whether or not it is true, there is now an uncomfortable sense that they are working for Musk and to dole out contracts to SpaceX.This concern was heightened late Friday when Petro announced that a longtime SpaceX employee named Michael Altenhofen had joined the agency "as a senior advisor to the NASA Administrator." Altenhofen is an accomplished engineer who interned at NASA in 2005 but has spent the last 15 years at SpaceX, most recently as a leader of human spaceflight programs. He certainly brings expertise, but his hiring also raises concerns about SpaceX's influence over NASA operations. Petro did not respond to a request for comment on Monday about potential conflicts of interest and the scope of Altenhofen's involvement.I spent this weekend talking and texting with NASA sources at various centers around the country, and the overriding message is that morale at the agency is "absurdly low." Meetings between civil servants and their leadership, such as an all-hands gathering at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia recently, have been fraught with tension. No one knows what will happen next.Rumors run rampantIn the absence of clear guidance from the Trump administration, rumors have been running rampant about the future of the space agency. They include concerns about the possibility of a 30 percent budget cut, consolidating field centers, potentially moving headquarters out of Washington, DC, taking astronauts off of Artemis II, canceling the Space Launch System rocket, and more. (Although there is a kernel of truth for many of these rumors, no final policy decisions have been made, according to sources.)Beyond the rumors and the uncertainty and unease this engenders, there are very real policy issues that require some sort of resolution in the coming months. Among them are:Deciding the fate of the multi-billion Mars Sample Return plan. Last month, NASA delayed a final decision on this to allow the Trump administration time to consider the plan to return rock samples from Mars to Earth for study. The most likely outcome is cancellation.What to do about the Artemis Program. There is no question the incoming administration is contemplating major changes to NASA's lunar return plans. This may include scrapping all of the existing missions or flying Artemis II and III mostly as is. Another big question is how large NASA's pivot to Mars will be, and how many resources will be pulled away from lunar settlement to send humans to Mars, which is preferred by both Trump and Musk.Should the Lunar Gateway fly or die. NASA has wanted to build a space station around the Moon for more than two decades. The real reason for this, which no one talks about, is a desire to find a home for the flight directors and controllers currently working for the International Space Station program. However, no one likes the odd orbit (near-rectilinear halo orbit) that the station is bound for. So expect Gateway to be moved or canceled outright.What to do with the International Space Station. NASA's current plans call for the end of space station operations by 2030, a sensible date because the station is aging and the partnership with Russia is wearing thin. However, NASA has underfunded a program to develop "commercial" space stations to provide a human presence in low-Earth orbit after the space station is retired. So will the Trump administration fly the ISS longer, accelerate funding for commercial alternatives, or accept a gap?Identify a coherent commercial strategy. There's no question the Trump administration will lean into commercial space. This makes sense, but the agency must also clearly identify in which areas this approach works and which it does not. For example, there is no commercial return on building big space telescopes or interplanetary probes. Commercial space can help by bringing down the cost of launch and satellite components, but NASA must lead on cosmic discovery, rovers on other worlds, and more.Leadership soughtInside the space agency, civil servants have placed their hope on getting an administrator named soon to bring some stability to the agency and begin answering some of these important policy questions. There is a lot of cautious optimism about private astronaut Jared Isaacman, whom Trump has nominated to lead the space agency. The NASA people I have spoken to in recent days have said they hope Senate confirmation of Isaacman as NASA administrator comes soon.Issacman's hearing in the US Senate is unlikely to occur before the second half of February, and some questions remain about him. Isaacman is close to SpaceX, having flown two Dragon missions. He has paid, and possibly still owes, significant money to SpaceX for the Polaris Program of missions he has signed up for. So, there are some financial entanglements.However, over the last five years, Isaacman has become a known commodity in the space community. His nomination has been cheered by most space organizations. Those who have met him have found Isaacman to be earnest and interested in spaceflight and in advancing exploration for allnot as some agent for SpaceX. He is seen as the kind of young, dynamic, pro-space leader with the potential to usher NASA into the 21st century and out of the Apollo era it has been stuck in for decades.Eric BergerSenior Space EditorEric BergerSenior Space Editor Eric Berger is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space to NASA policy, and author of two books: Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX; and Reentry, on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon. A certified meteorologist, Eric lives in Houston. 41 Comments

Azusa Tojo is a freelance visual development artist and Blender teacher with an unconventional journey in the animation industry. She started as a 3D animator before transitioning into roto-painting, eventually finding her passion in visual development. Along the way, she has collaborated with renowned clients such as Nexus Studios, Netflix, Flying Bark, Titmouse, West Studio, Keytales, and Wachajack.The post Azusa Tojo: A Journey into Stylised Art and Blender appeared one day on IAMAG Inspiration.

A Lot's At StakeHope you like quips and moody shots of bands you've never heard of, because Buffy the Vampire Slayer is getting a revival sequel seriesAnd the pilot is being directed by Eternals' Chloe Zhao.Image credit: 20th Century Studios News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Feb. 4, 2025 Who said the '90s were dead? Certainly not Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as a reboot/ sequel series is currently in the works at Hulu.Remember when I said vampire movies are back? Well it looks like vampire media across the board is on the rise once again, because Deadline reported yesterday that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is coming back from the dead again. According to the report, a pilot order is almost all but confirmed at streaming service Hulu, and the series' original star Sarah Michelle Gellar is expected to reprise her role as the titular Buffy Summers. On top of that, Oscar winner Chloe Zhao (Nomadland, Eternals), a big Buffy fan, is currently set to direct the pilot with a script from Nora and Lilla Zuckerman (Poker Face). Oh, and if you were wondering if Joss Whedon is involved, don't worry, he apparently has no involvement in this new series.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Deadline also reports that it's heard the reboot is starting a writers room, essentially suggesting that Hulu strongly believes the project will get a full series. There's no word on other cast members returning for it, though again, that's believed to be likely too. Gellar is attached as a producer too, alongside Zhao, Nora, and Lilla, and the original series' producers Gail Berman of the Jackal Group and Fran Kuzui & Kaz Kuzui via Suite B are on the project as well. And, while this one might be a bit surprising, Dolly Parton - yes, the country singer - is also executive producing, as her production company Sandollar was a producer on the original series. Weird, but fun!There's been a slew of Buffy projects in the two decades since the series ended, including Angel, which ran parallel to it and ended a little while after it, as well as a comic series positioned as an eighth season, alongside some more recent audio dramas. The original show is obviously a massively popular one, even now, so we'll have to wait and see if this one can live up to some pretty high expectations.

Prepped For BattleKingdom Come Deliverance 2's first mod arrives the day before the game itself, and it looks like a bunch more handy tweaks may be sneakily waiting in the wingsYour angriness could begone from day one, it seems.Image credit: Warhorse Studios News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Feb. 4, 2025 Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 comes out today - February 4, 2025 - but the first mod for it to be published via Nexus is already here.Yep, KCD2 mods have dropped before the game even does for those who weren't given early access (as we were for our review), and it looks like there are a bunch of other helpful quality-of-life changes that could be ready to go the moment Warhorse Studios presses the big release button.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The work with the distiguished title of being the first KCD2 mod to drop, even though it's also kind of not the first KCD2 mod full stop for resons I'll get into, is 'Totally unnecessary Reticle for Bows and Crossbows'. It dropped on February 3 at about 12PM GMT, and is the creation of German tech jounalist Timo Schmidt, who goes by the username HerrTiSo and has clearly put his review code to use in more ways than one.As you'd expect from the name, the job it does is very simple. "In KCD2, bows and crossbows are now centered on the screen, making aiming more natural and easier compared to the first game," Schmidt writes, "While this improved positioning somewhat eliminates the need for a reticle, some players may still find additional assistance usefulwhether for accessibility reasons, preference, or simply to smooth out the gameplay. This mod enables the reticle for bows and crossbows through an in-engine command."While that's the only KCD2 mod live on the big modding site as of writing, as you can see by looking at the web address for its Nexus page, it's actually listed as the 12th KCD2 mod to exist. So, where are one to 11? Well, as spotted by folks to the Kingdom Come subreddit, there look to be 14 other ones currently sitting unpublished on Nexus Mods. First mod is out, 13 more hidden byu/akzyra inkingdomcomeTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.As you'd expect for a game that's only just coming out, they're pretty much all the same kinds of handy tweaks as Schmidt's unncessary reticle, with titles ranging from "quicksave" and "Infinite Carry Capacity" to "Hardcore Mode" and "Angriness Begone". Insterstingly, that last one isn't the strangest title here - to me, that honour goes to the very first ever mod listed as being created for KCD2, which is just dubbed "Mod 1".What does it do? It's a total mystery! As the Reddit post's author Akzyra points out, it's worth keeping in mind that some of these might just be placeholders or abandoned projects, so Mod 1 could well be nothing, but what it if is something?We'll just have to wait and see, with the game set to unlock en-masse in about seven hours time as of writing. Until then, read that review I linked earlier. Our Connor wrote it, and he's cool.

Worthy of a jamboree.Nintendo has revealed that Super Mario Party Jamboree has shipped a total of 6.17 million units since its launch on 17th October 2024.This not only makes it the best-selling game of the financial quarter for Nintendo, but it's also now the fastest-selling Mario Party entry in franchise history (thanks, Pierre485). Outpacing the mighty Super Mario Party from 2018 is quite an achievement, but whether it will come close to the 21.10 million lifetime sales is another story.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The top dogs.Nintendo has released its latest financial data for the third quarter of FY2025 ending on 31st December 2024. As part of that, the company has provided an update to its top ten best-selling Switch games list.There's no change in the order this time, with each title merely receiving a slight bump in sales figures. That said, we fully expect Pokmon Scarlet and Violet to surpass Pokmon Sword and Shield in the coming weeks and months; there's just 220,000 units separating the two generations at the moment.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

U.S. food delivery giant Grubhub says hackers accessed the personal details of customers and drivers after breaching its internal systems.Grubhub is a popular food-ordering and delivery platform with over 375,000 merchants and 200,000 delivery providers using its platform in more than 4,000 U.S. cities. New York-based Wonder Group acquired the company last fall in a deal valued at $650 million a fraction of the $7.3 billion Just Eat Takeaway paid for it back in 2020.On Monday, the Illinois-based company disclosed a data breach impacting the personal data of an undisclosed number of customers, merchants and drivers. Grubhub said it detected unusual activity in its network which it traced to a third-party service provider.Upon discovery, we promptly launched an investigation, identifying unauthorized access to an account associated with this provider, Grubhub said in a statement. We immediately terminated the accounts access and removed the service provider from our systems altogether.It said the intrusion allowed unnamed hackers to access the personal details of customers, merchants and drivers who interacted with its customer care service. The breach also affected users of Grubhubs Campus Dining service, which allows university students to use their meal credits on the food delivery app.According to Grubhub personal details accessed include names, email addresses, phone numbers, and partial payment card information including the last four digits of the card number for a subset of campus diners.The hacker also accessed hashed passwords for certain legacy systems, per Grubhub, but it added that bank account details and Social Security numbers were not affected by the breach.As well as not disclosing how many individuals have been affected by the breach Grubhub has not confirmed when the incident occurred. The company did not immediately respond to TechCrunchs questions.

On the heels of Chinese AI firm DeepSeek making a huge splash in OpenAIs American backyard, OpenAI is diving into expanding in Asia, with major commercial deals that will also help it train its AI on more Asian-language content and user behavior a gateway to doing more business in these markets in the future on its own.Today, OpenAI unveiled a strategic collaboration with Kakao, the South Korea tech company that operates one of the regions most popular messaging apps, KakaoTalk. The move comes one day after SoftBank also announced a major commitment to using OpenAI: it has allocated a budget of $3 billion to deploy OpenAI tech across its various group operations and subsidiaries, as well as establish a joint venture, SB OpenAI Japan, to build solutions customized for enterprises in the country.Todays Kakao news was announced earlier today at an event in Seoul co-led by Kakao CEO Shina Chung and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and it will initially cover three projects.The companies plan to develop a new Korean-language assistant called Kanana powered by OpenAI; OpenAI tech will be integrated into KakaoTalk; and Kakao will also become a customer of OpenAIs, using ChatGPT Enterprise internally among its employees.Meanwhile, the SoftBank announcement is just the latest development of what looks like a pretty deep-looking relationship between the two companies. SoftBank is also reportedly eyeing up a major investment in OpenAI yet to be confirmed and the two are in theory also working together on the Stargate project to build AI superservers and other infrastructure in the U.S..On the surface, both of these partnerships are big commercial deals that will bring OpenAI services to new populations in their home languages.Kakao has a deep understanding of how technology can enrich everyday lives, and theyve consistently delivered innovative experiences for their users, Altman said in a statement. Were excited to bring advanced AI to Kakaos millions of users and work together to integrate our technology into services that transform how Kakaos users communicate and connect.But beyond that, in both the case of Kako and SoftBank, the deals will benefit OpenAI in another very significant way. The U.S. company continues to build out and train its Large Language Models. Deals with major players in Korea and Japan, with their access to millions of consumers in their respective markets, gives OpenAI an opportunity to unlock new linguistic doors. This is especially important given DeepSeek. If the Chinese AI company proves to be more than just a viral flash in the pan and it doesnt get buried under a sea of legal issues around copyright, personal data protection, and more it will have proven to be a very clear signal to OpenAI that a company building outside of the U.S. has stolen a march on capturing English-language generative AI momentum. Thus, OpenAI needs to continue to expand its reach internationally, too, and that includes in terms of its ability to work just as well in different languages as it does in English. Its notable too because SoftBank at one point saw a very different route, and opening, for itself. Seizing the opportunity to build for its home language in an AI world largely dominated by English natural language services, in 2023, it announced a new company. SB Intuitions aimed to build LLMs and generative AI in Japanese. Its not clear what is happening with that business whether it never got off the ground, or whether that work will be rolled into the JV, or something else altogether. We have contacted the company and will update as we learn more.Apart from the collaboration with Kakao, Altman is using the moment to connect with other major Korean tech giants. He also took meetings with top executives at Samsung Electronics and Korean semiconductor maker SK Hynix to discuss custom-designed chips and AI-powered devices, per a local media report. OpenAI is joining other tech giants such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta, all developing their own in-house AI chips.SoftBank OpenAI JapanThe latest strategic collaboration comes a day after OpenAIs joint venture announcement on Monday with SoftBank, which will spend $3 billion annually to implement the U.S. AI firms solutions, including ChatGPT Enterprise, OpenAIs API and agents products like Operator, across its group companies. The Japanese tech giant and OpenAI have set up SB OpenAI Japan, a JV that will exclusively offer the U.S. AI startups enterprise technology to large enterprises in Japan.Last week, OpenAI introduced Operator, an agent capable of carrying out tasks like vacation planning and restaurant reservations on the web, and the o3-mini, the latest and most cost-effective reasoning model. The creator of ChatGPT also unveiled a new capability called Deep Research, which can perform in-depth internet research for complicated tasks.Arm, the chip designer from the U.K. acquired by SoftBank in 2016, will also use OpenAI tools to increase productivity, per SoftBanks statement.SoftBank is reportedly in talks to lead a funding round for OpenAI that could be worth as much as $40 billion and potentially value the company at $300 billion.Separately to this, last month, OpenAI said it will team up with SoftBank and Oracle to build multiple data centers for AI in the U.S., forming a joint venture called the Stargate Project. The project will kick off with a large data center in Texas. Initially, the three companies plan to invest $100 billion in Stargate and potentially contribute up to $500 billion to the project in the following four years.SoftBank in talks to invest as much as $25B in OpenAI, report says

what is the technique used with this moving part of the scepter, it looks like goo or lava but Im not sure how can they be done as real 3d, not just with erosion texture or flipbookRubick ARCANA Introduction - Dota 2 1 post - 1 participant Read full topic