Penitent's End in Wuthering Waves is an island shrouded in dense mist and dominated by steep cliffs with giant ringed structures as view. Rovers can explore the area to uncover numerous ruins containing treasure chests waiting to be claimed and increase the exploration progress.

Drone attack: pig irruption New Update 1.4.0 Brings Automatization Buff, Trucks & More!Hello fellow devs! Excited to share the latest update for Drone attack: pig irruption with some great gameplay enhancements & optimizations: New Level & Buff Automation Trucks now appear on the map! New maps added for even more action!

If John Wick prances around your virtual dead body with a giant L on his forehead and no one is around to see it, did it really happen? Fortnite players have had to contend with a sillier version of the classic philosophical quandary since mid-2024, when developer Epic Games introduced a setting called See Confrontational Emotes.The See Confrontational Emotes setting means that a specific set of in-game expressions are no longer visible to other players by default, unless theyre performed by friends instead, players must turn this setting off in order to see animations that Epic has deemed hostile. These include classic emotes, like the trombone-heavy Take The L, and more controversial options, like the Whip Crack emote that was released in conjunction with a Catwoman skin. Some options, like Laugh It Up, could be seen as mean-spirited regardless of the context, especially since its accompanied by a donkeys mocking bray. There are also seemingly benign inclusions, like the banana-throwing emote, Make It Plantain.Players can turn said emote setting off, or specify that theyd never like to see Confrontational Emotes at all. If players own emotes, they can still use them; on their screens, the animations will play as they would normally. But for everyone else, itll appear as if the opponent is merely standing still, quietly.See Confrontational Emotes was an unusual update, especially for a game that exploded into the cultural consciousness in no small part due to its vast number of dances like Take The L, a classic emote that was so ubiquitous at one point, even sports stars mimicked the moves in real life. At the time, most players received the news with some skepticism and surprise, as evidenced by responses to the announcement. They are just annoying tbh not really confrontational, replied one user on X (formerly Twitter). Whats stopping anyone from just T-bagging the corpses like the good old days? asked popular animator RubberRoss. Seems silly.Other users seemed receptive, but wondered why Fortnite players couldnt hand-select the emotes they did not want to see. After all, what feels confrontational could vary from person to person. Some might break a controller after a frustrating death in Fortnite, sure, but others see negative emotes as a core aspect of competition. No reason for this change, wrote another X user. If you get eliminated and someone does Take The L on you that has to motivate you to get better at the game.For other onlookers, it wasnt really a debate over censorship instead, the whole thing became an economical issue. Emotes were bought with the expectation of other players seeing you emote as well, replied one X user who was hoping to see a refund.Perhaps this turn of events was inevitable in the wake of Fortnites 2021 attempt to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. At first, the map which was released as a stand-alone mode in conjunction with Time magazine allowed players to walk through the Lincoln Memorial. Here, participants could watch Kings historic I Have a Dream speech. But Epic Games made the mistake of allowing emotes during the ceremony, which inevitably devolved into players spamming the whip emote. Eventually, emotes were turned off but by then, footage of players decked in all-white costumes whipping pictures of MLK had already gone viral.While the Confrontational Emotes setting wouldnt arise until three years later, it is one of many changes seemingly made to rein in Fortnites chaotic image. In late 2023, the publisher began age-gating maps and skins that it deemed unsuitable for players under the age of 10. Seven percent of the thousands of available cosmetics, from costumes to pickaxes, were affected under the new rules specifically, Epic censored skins with weapons and adjacent accessories, like gun holsters and grenades. Much like the emote settings that would come a year later, the age restrictions were met with furor from players who had spent money on skins that came with no asterisks. It was a change that, for some, also felt nonsensical. Fortnite has expanded to include things like a racing mode and a rhythm game mode, but generally speaking, people associate the game with guns to begin with: Fortnites most popular mode is a third-person shooter. A few missing weapons wont change that.This setting came the same year that Epic Games announced a $1.5 billion partnership with the famously family-friendly Disney for digital experiences within Fortnite. Cosmetics owned by Marvel, a Disney property, have long been a Fortnite mainstay. The partnership between the two megacorps aimed to build something akin to a virtual Disneyland, fit with digital attractions that are open 24 hours a day and do not require travel or thousands of dollars to visit. It seems unlikely that Disney would allow something as racialized as a whipping emote to come anywhere near a patriotic character like Captain America.Speaking to a few players directly, most of them are reasonable about such changes. Roodie, for example, loves to spring the Rick Astleys Never Gonna Give You Up emote after a satisfying kill. Like most, Roodie considers a Victory Royale a perfect excuse to break into dance. And Roodie has definitely been on the other end of an upsetting emote gloat. While Roodie can see Confrontational emotes, they also said they could live without emotes at all.I dont want to impact anyones gameplay enjoyment, Roodie said. So if they need to block out emotes, I can understand that.Water Me Loan, another Fortnite player, does have the Confrontational setting turned on, meaning that they cannot see the handful of animations blocked by Epic. But based on our interview, it seemed less like a conscious decision than simply the one available by default. On the whole, Water appreciates emotes.I believe that in-game emotes are a part of the Fortnite Experience, Water said, like Thanking the Bus Driver or Building a Fort.I would personally prefer it if other players see my emotes, because if they cant see then what would be the point? Water added.But regardless of whether or not players have confrontational emotes censored, its still likely that the setting hasnt curtailed hostile exchanges on the platform.90% of emotes are toxic, opined one Reddit user in a thread about confrontational emotes. Thats the whole point. Youre dancing on someones dead body. Its celebrating their death. No one enjoys watching an opponent emote on them.If anything, being denied access to potentially negative emotes may simply push players to become more creative in how they communicate with one another. Even a game like Club Penguin, which is aimed at a younger audience, sees its share of toxic behavior despite having standard protection measures such as chat filters.I had someone use the Avengers & Superman sprays along with the clown emoticon to call me an assclown, another Reddit user stated in a different thread about the ban. Together, the emotes depict the letters A and S next to a jester. I admit, I was too impressed with the effort to be that annoyed.This is also, in part, why combating toxicity is such a difficult undertaking in the first place. Systems can help, as evidenced by the Overwatch endorsement mechanic that encouraged some players to be on their best behavior. But no set of rules can possibly foresee how meaning evolves over time, and how it fluctuates depending on the people involved. Younger players on Fortnite, for example, may not perceive the banned banana emote as confrontational not when compared to other options, at least.One parent on Reddit noted last year that their 12-year-old son and his group of friends all consider the Griddy dance to be the ultimate insult.When you ask them why they like the Griddy they [reply] that they are sweats and they want the other player to know they are trash, the parent wrote, in reference to players who make an effort to dominate others. This is the mindset of a lot of boys this age. One of them said [they] use the Griddy because they want to be toxic.The ambiguity of it all is perhaps secondary to the breach of trust felt by some players who do not believe the setting should be on by default, as evidenced by the disappointment expressed in that same thread. Some fans dont understand why Fortnite doesnt ask players whether or not they want to opt into the setting.But if all players cant agree on what is or isnt confrontational, theres always the nuclear option.Fuck it ban every emote in the game, one player wrote in a Reddit thread on emotes from a disappointed Peely main. Theyre all toxic in one way or another.

It is always a good idea to get a little greenery in your home, and these days, the tech is advanced enough to help you actually take care of it. LG has developed a few new pieces of furniture that double as planters to bring a little more life into your home.These new pieces blend tech and nature in ways that we havent really seen yet, not only leveraging technology to help grow healthy plants, but also offering a sleek and stylish design that should look great in any home.The first of the new pieces is an upright lamp, which has a circular lampshade and a garden bed around two-thirds of the way up. The lamp itself actually has two types of lights built into it. There are downward-facing grow lights to help the plants underneath and upward-facing mood lights to keep a room lit up. And, that large base actually holds a 1.5-gallon water tank that will keep the plants hydrated. All of this is in a footprint that takes up very little space, helping make the piece apartment-friendly.On top of the floor-standing lamp model, LG is also launching another indoor garden appliance in the form of a side table. The side table is perhaps slightly less traditional in design than the floor lamp, but it still allows for a stylish indoor garden vibe, complete with a lamp for lighting as well as light to keep the plants growing.This is far from the first time that LG has experimented with indoor gardening appliances. The company first launched the LG Tiiun line in 2021, which was more explicitly designed for plant growth in indoor environments. The Tiiun appliance has two shelves, each of which can hold up to six seed packages. And, it even has a weather control system that allows the appliance to adjust its temperature for optimal growth.Theres no word on exactly when LGs new indoor garden appliances will be available, nor how much they will cost, but hopefully, companies like LG will continue to experiment with ways to bring nature indoors more, leveraging technology to keep plants healthy.For more information, visit lg.com.

Facial expressions dont always reveal true emotionsbut that hasnt stopped AI from trying to analyze themanyway.How emotion recognition software strengthens dictatorships and threatens democracies, sourceImagine walking into a classroom where AI-powered cameras track students facial expressions, rating their attentiveness and engagement in real time. Or picture a security checkpoint where an AI system silently analyzes your micro-expressions and subtle head movements, assessing whether youre a potential threatwithout you even knowing. What might sound like science fiction is already a realityemotion recognition AI is actively turning our emotions into data points, analyzing, categorizing, and interpreting them through machine algorithms.Though not yet widespread, emotion recognition technology is already being developed and deployed by both governments and private companies. As its use expands, it raises important discussions about accuracy, ethics, and the role of AI in analyzing human emotions.The global emotion detection and recognition market size was valued at $21.7 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $136.2 billion by 2031Allied MarketResearchBut heres the problem: these systems dont actually work the way they claim toand youre lucky if they even tell you explicitly that youre being analyzed.Despite their growing adoption, emotion recognition technologies remain highly debated. These systems analyze facial expressions, vocal tones, and physiological signals to infer emotions, yet human emotions are complex, influenced by context, culture, and individual differences. While AI can detect patterns in outward expressions, accurately interpreting emotions remains a significant challenge, raising questions about reliability, privacy, and ethical considerations.Recognizing these risks, the European Unions AI Act takes a bold stance: it prohibits the use of emotion recognition AI in most scenarios. Regulators argue that the potential for discrimination, mass surveillance, and human rights violations far outweighs any supposed benefits.So, why exactly is emotion recognition AI so problematic? And should there be any exceptions for its use? Lets dive into the science, real-world examples, and legal justifications behind this landmark decision.Your face doesnt tell the whole storybut AI thinks itdoesIn theory, emotion recognition AI promises something revolutionary: the ability to read human emotions from facial expressions, voice tones, and physiological signals. The idea is simpleif humans can intuitively recognize emotions in others, why not train AI to do thesame?But theres a problem: humans dont express emotions in a universal, one-size-fits-all way. And yet, most emotion recognition systems operate under that flawed assumption, reducing complex human experiences into a set of predefined labels.How emotion recognition AI worksand why itsflawedEmotion recognition systems use machine learning models trained on large datasets of human expressions, speech, and biometric data. These systems primarily rely on facial expressionsAI scans micro-expressions (tiny, involuntary facial movements) and classifies emotions.Most of these systems, including, for example MorphCast, are built on Paul Ekmans Basic Emotions theory, which suggests that all humans express six universal emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise) in the sameway.Actor Tim Roth portraying facial expressions and their explanation, sourceBut is it truly set in stone that these six universal emotions are expressed through identical facial movements across allpeople?Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett (Harvard neuroscientist & psychologist), in her book How Emotions Are Made (2017), argues that emotions are not biologically hardwired or universal, but rather constructed by the brain based on context, culture, and past experiences. Her 2019 meta-study, which reviewed over 1,000 studies, found no consistent evidence for universal facial expressions tied to emotions.Dr. James A. Russell, who developed the Circumplex Model of Affect, also challenges the idea that emotions fit into fixed categories. He argues that emotions exist on a spectrum of valence (pleasant-unpleasant) and arousal (high-low) rather than being discrete, universal states.Dr. Jose-Miguel Fernndez-Dols, who studied real-world emotional expressions (e.g., Olympic athletes on the podium), found no universal correlation between facial expressions and emotions.Given these contradictions, should AI systems rely on assumptions that may be fundamentally flawed? Emotion recognition AI is built on potentially biased models that may fail to capture the full range of human emotional expression, leading to serious limitations:OvergeneralizationAssuming a frown always means sadness, or a smile always means happiness, without considering nuance orintent.Cultural BiasTrained mostly on Western facial datasets, making it less accurate for people from different cultural backgrounds.Context IgnoranceAI does not consider the situation, missing key social or environmental cues that shape emotional meaning.In short, if humans themselves struggle to define emotions universally, how can AI be expected to get itright?Bias, surveillance, and loss ofprivacyEmotion recognition AI doesnt just raise questions about scientific validityit also comes with severe ethical and human rights implications. These systems rely on highly sensitive biometric data, yet their deployment often lacks transparency, oversight, and consent. This raises critical concerns about privacy, discrimination, and mass surveillance.Privacy RisksEmotion recognition requires the mass collection of biometric data, including facial expressions, voice patterns, and physiological signals. The problem? Many of these systems operate without informed consent. From AI-powered job interviews to retail surveillance, people are often analyzed without even knowing it, making it nearly impossible to opt out or challenge potentially biased assessments.Discrimination RisksEmotion recognition AI doesnt perform equally across all demographicsand this inequality can have serious consequences.Racial Bias: Studies show that emotion recognition AI is less accurate for people of color, frequently misinterpreting neutral expressions as angry or untrustworthy.Neurodiversity Blind Spots: AI models fail to account for neurodivergent individuals, such as autistic people, whose emotional expressions may differ from neurotypical patterns. As a result, these systems may wrongly flag autistic individuals as deceptive, unengaged, or even suspicious, reinforcing harmful stereotypes.Mass surveillance & social controlEmotion recognition technology is increasingly used as a surveillance tooloften with authoritarian implications.In China, schools have implemented emotion AI to monitor student attentiveness, tracking facial expressions to determine whether students are engaged in class. Following Paul Ekmans theory, the devices tracked students behavior and read their facial expressions, grouping each face into one of seven emotions: anger, fear, disgust, surprise, happiness, sadness and what was labeled as neutral. This raises concerns about mental autonomy and forced emotional conformity.In Law Enforcement, some agencies have experimented with predictive policing, using emotion AI to detect aggressive behavior in public spaces. However, preemptively labeling individuals as threats based on AI-driven emotion analysis is not only scientifically unreliable but also deeply dystopian.AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, sourceThe UX dilemma: Designing for emotionAIEmotion recognition AI presents a paradox for UX designers: on one hand, it promises more intuitive, emotionally aware interfaces; on the other, it risks misinterpreting emotions, reinforcing biases, and eroding user trust. This creates a fundamental dilemma:Should UX designers embrace emotion AI to create smarter interactions?Or does its flawed science and ethical concerns make it too risky to use atall?At its core, UX design is about understanding and improving human experiencesbut how can we do that when AI itself misunderstands emotions?Proponents of emotion AI argue that systems capable of recognizing and responding to emotions could enhance digital experiencesmaking virtual assistants more empathetic, customer service more responsive, and online learning more adaptive. A well-designed emotion-aware system could adjust its tone, recommendations, or interactions based on the users emotional state.But heres the problemAI does not actually understand emotions; it simply detects patterns in expressions, tone, or biometrics and labels them. This raises a critical UXissue:What happens when AI gets itwrong?How does a user challenge an incorrect emotional assessment?Should interfaces present AI-detected emotions as facts, probabilities, or just suggestions?If an AI misreads frustration as aggression, or politeness as happiness, it could lead to misguided interactions, biased decisions, or even harmespecially in high-stakes areas like mental health, hiring, or education.This puts UX designers at a crossroads. Should we build interfaces that rely on AIs limited understanding of emotions, knowing the risks of bias and misinterpretation? Or should we push back, advocating for systems that respect emotional complexity rather than reducing it to datapoints?Perhaps the real challenge is not how to perfect emotion recognition AIbut whether we should be designing for it atall.The UX of emotion recognition: Can AI truly read feelings? was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A UX perspective on the geopolitical AI raceContinue reading on UX Collective

The United States Postal Service has temporarily stopped accepting inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, and according to Wired, it's already causing huge problems with e-commerce shipments to the US. USPS posted the notice on its website, announcing that the suspension will be in place "until further notice." As Wired notes, the international parcel suspension is a direct result of the Trump administration's order to end import tax exemption for small packages shipped into the US worth less than $800. The administration also imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on goods imported from China.The "de minimis" import tax exemption rule allows e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu to sell to customers in the US while keeping prices on their platforms low. It was originally intended to make it easier to send gifts stateside, but the US government has been considering removing or altering it in recent years due to the rise of e-commerce shipments. Now, the Trump administration has removed it completely, and so quickly, that shipping companies are apparently scrambling to find a way to get packages into the US.A Canadian trucking company owner told Wired that his trucks were turned away at the border because they contained packages from China. The owner said that border control was "actually going through the trucks and randomly checking the packages." He explained that it won't be easy to sort packages to remove everything coming in from China, so this development would most likely cause delivery delays.According to US Customs, there were over 1.36 billion de minimis shipments to the US within the 2024 fiscal year. If the agency decides to hold all de minimis shipments at the border, that means they may have to process around 3.7 million packages a day to check how much import taxes and other additional fees the receiver or buyer has to pay. That could cause a massive backlog in shipments. A customs and trade management business executive told Wired that the government could choose to keep packages moving instead and to charge people for the fees retroactively. In the future, though, China's e-commerce platforms could start adding those fees, along with the 10 percent tariff now required for Chinese goods, to a customer's total amount, making it more expensive to buy from websites like Shein and Temu.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/usps-suspends-all-packages-from-china-including-e-commerce-purchases-140013219.html?src=rss

Microsoft's annual Build developer conference will take place in Seattle and run from May 19 to May 22, the company announced on X. There are no details on what will be announced, but you can be fairly sure it'll match or beat Build 2024 in terms of AI-related products and services.Artificial intelligence played a large part in last year's conference, featuring in areas ranging from Windows search to Copilot+ to Microsoft Paint. In fact, a day before Build 2024, Microsoft unveiled its new Surface Pro PC powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, capable of hitting 45TOPS of neural processing power.Were building a new path forward. Come join us at #MSBuild, May 19 22, 2025. https://t.co/MflbdY5UAh pic.twitter.com/YbRLwmepK1 Microsoft Events (@events_msft) February 4, 2025 The same sort of thing might happen this year, as rumors say that Microsoft could launch new Surface models later this year, including a laptop and 2-in-1, both using Windows on Arm with Qualcomm's latest PC-oriented chips. In fact, Qualcomm could also unveil a successor to the X Elite, which first arrived in October 2023. It's fair to say that the Windows 11, along with the company's Microsoft 365 suite, will see substantial AI enhancements announced for Build 2025.Microsoft has substantially changed its approach to AI in the intervening year as well. It's no longer wedded as closely to OpenAI and ChatGPT, having recently announced that it's bringing DeepSeek to Copilot+ PCs and Azure cloud. All of that adds up to what will likely be a very AI-intensive developer conference, even if a large chunk of the public isn't sold on it yet.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/microsofts-build-2025-developer-conference-kicks-off-on-may-19th-133025358.html?src=rss

Move follows US introduction of tariffs on Chinese imports and removal of long-standing duty-exemption rule.

Israeli spyware company Paragon says the US government is a customer, shortly after it was called out by WhatsApp for targeting journalists.