Over the last decade, television has undergone a drastic change thanks to the decline of television programming and the sudden rise of streaming services, which have dominated the entertainment industry ever since their inception. However, many point to the golden age of television emerging in the 2000s, years before Netflix, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime Video dominated the landscape, with shows like The Wire revolutionizing the medium.

The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is filled with violence and cruelty, and there is no shortage of disturbing scenarios in the game's main campaign. That said, dark moments are certainly not reserved for main story missions, and players can encounter all sorts of grim stories through exploration and side quests. One such story unfolds through a Stranger mission that becomes available during Red Dead Redemption 2's fourth chapter, and players who are not focused on completing optional content may have missed it.

We wont know what The Fantastic Four: First Steps is really about until it hits theaters this July. Or wont we? Im Polygons resident comic book expert, and Im ready to place some bets.I may not know the plot of Marvel Studios big swing on Marvels First Family, but I bet I can predict which comics its based on, just from the characters in the movie and the vibe of the trailer. If youre a screenwriter, director, production designer, or actor looking for inspiration for your period piece Fantastic Four movie featuring Galactus, the Silver Surfer, and whoever John Malkovich turns out to be playing these are the books youre most likely to be looking at.If Im wrong, Ill see you in July with an update and an apology. Even in the worst-case scenario, Ill still have recommended some very good comics. So, heres my bet: If you want to read anything to get up to speed before Fantastic Four: First Steps comes out, read these books, and in this order.If you read 1 comicRead Fantastic Four: Life Story by writer Mark Russell and artists Sean Izaakse, Francesco Manna, Carlos Magno, Z Carlos, and Angel Unzueta.This self-contained alternate universe miniseries isnt the biggest star in the Fantastic Four fundament, but its got a period piece hook that I cant imagine went unnoticed by the crew of First Steps. Life Story discards the traditional notion that long-running superhero comics exist in a Perpetual Now where Reed Richards has been roughly 40-ish for 60 years and places the Fantastic Fours origin story in the same decade that Fantastic Four #1 came out. Its characters grow and change in real time, so to speak, playing out the full life story of the superhero team alongside the actual historical events of the 20th and 21st centuries.Even more pertinently, Life Story features a version of the Fantastic Fours origin story in which Reed Richards and Galactus become psychically linked from the moment the Four got their powers. Reed comes back to Earth obsessed with preparing for a world-eating deadline that no one else believes in. Thats a plot hook that would be very useful for a screenwriter looking to reintroduce the Four and Galactus simultaneously, as First Steps appears to be.The best way to read Fantastic Four: Life Story is by picking up a hard or digital copy. But your cheapest option and this holds true for everything in this post is going to be to drop $9.99 on a month of Marvel Unlimited.If you read 2 comicsRead Fantastic Four #570-572 by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Dale Eaglesham.Jonathan Hickmans 2009-2012 run on the Fantastic Four (across the series Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four, and FF) is the defining Four story of the modern age, without competition. It plays with ideas that have already started to percolate out into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it eventually concludes in the same place the MCU is racing toward Secret Wars.For our purposes, and your enjoyment, Ive whittled it down to a three-issue arc thats satisfying to read on its own, introduces a major world-building element I would not be at all surprised to see in the MCU, and serves as a distillation of Reed Richards character down to its most basic and compelling elements. To describe the plot would be to spoil the whole thing, but suffice to say: It would be unbelievable if the folks behind Fantastic Four: First Steps had not looked to this comic for inspiration for Reed specifically, if not the plot of the movie overall.This spread of comics is included in the first volumes of Marvels Hickman/Fantastic Four collections and omnibuses (often under the title Fantastic Four: Solve Everything), but those havent been reprinted in a while and currently retail for large amounts of cash. Theres a new collection coming out in June (you can preorder through your local comic shop, Amazon, or Bookshop, etc.), but for now your best bet is to read these issues on Marvel Unlimited.If you read 3 comicsRead Fantastic Four #48-50 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.It might seem odd to drop in 48 issues into the original Fantastic Four series, rather than with their origin. But Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were reinventing superheroes as they went, and it took them a little while to refine what they were doing to get to the Fantastic Four that most resembles what weve got today. By issue 48, Kirby has settled into his character designs, Lee has settled into his character dynamics, and theyre putting together a story thats got a direct line to Fantastic Four: First Steps: The first appearances of Galactus and the Silver Surfer.This three-part story is a showcase of what was so electrifying and masterful about Kirby and Lees work together. Its got strong examples of Kirbys outside-the-box cosmic illustration, and the pillars of Marvels comics revolution in narrative: strange enemies, unpredictable adventures, and soap opera romantic twists. No, really, despite being about the Fantastic Fours first encounter with Galactus, there are still two different breakups and a whole meet-cute-to-romance arc in just these three issues.This arc also delivers a contained story the Surfer and Galactus while giving a good sense of the unique narrative structure of these old comics. Lee and Kirbys issues begin with conclusions, resolving whatever was set up in last months comic. Then they introduce a new challenge, weave in asides to various subplots, and finally ramp the tension up and end on another open-ended and tantalizing cliffhanger. Its very easy to see how these two masters of pulp adventure kept the reader engaged and salivating over the next installment, even though the broadness of their storytelling is no longer in style.Marvel has a collection with these issues thats not hard to find from retailers (Amazon, Bookshop, your LCS), but itll still set you back more than a single month of Marvel Unlimited.If you read 4 comicsRead Secret Wars by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribi.Its hard to talk about Secret Wars without sounding like hyperbole. Whether or not Marvel Studios manages to make its upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars movie into a hit, the 2015 miniseries will still be one of the best if not the best crossover event comics ever done.The actual plot of Secret Wars the multiverse undergoing a final collapse, Doctor Doom scrapping leftover bits of different worlds together and installing himself as god-king may not see many references in Fantastic Four: First Steps. But it also seems implausible that the movie would have been made without an eye to this comic. Not with First Steps teeing up Avengers: Doomsday, which will tee up Avengers: Secret Wars, with precious few movies between them.There are paperback editions of the series available for reasonable prices (Amazon, Bookshop, or buy it local!), but if you dont mind reading digitally its (say it with me) still more cost-effective to read them on Marvel Unlimited.

Google Gemini is pretty good at created games on the fly even ones that might remind you of the classics, like Zork.

Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.

Its hard to imagine any industry not having to contend with the deepening sociopolitical division in Americabrand marketing included.McCann Worldgroups intelligence unit Truth Central creates studies on what their clients are grappling with including data privacy, wellness, and Gen Z. And the past few years have paved a clear path toward their latest study: The Truth About America, which the team exclusively unveiled this weekend at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW.We saw that not just our clients in America but our clients everywhere were asking more and more questions about America. What is going on in this moment? How do we navigate this market? says Laura Simpson, chief intelligence officer of McCann Worldgroup and president of McCann Truth Central. I think other markets always look to America for a lead on some of those issues. So when it feels like things are changing, I think everywhere clients want to understand why its changing and how its changing and how they should be responding.[Image: McCann]And whats evolving is the idea of the American Dream.Concerns of inflation, the war of DEI, automation, and more have made 72% of Americans believe theres never been a more complicated time to be an American, according to the study. And that sentiment has contributed to what the study calls the Dream Gap, the growing divide between what Americans want out of life versus the actual accessibility to those aspirations.While 52% of Americans believe the American Dream still exists today, 70% say its harder to get ahead no matter how hard they work. Deeper still, 77% of Americans believe the country still provides good opportunities, but theyre becoming more concentrated among fewer people.[Image: McCann]Despite the division, McCanns study asserts there are forces that are holding the country together, namely creativity, which 88% of respondents said has the power to unite people.We know creativity is a strong force capable of bridging divides and helping to shape the future of our country, says Elly Dembo, global head of data and intelligence at McCann. And we believe that brands have the power to reignite a culture of creativity in America again.Brands have, to some extent, always existed to show people what could be: Here is a vision, a world, a dream, something that you could aspire to, Simpson adds. That tension between dreaming and reality and frustrations has been really pronounced in America over the last few years. And we want to be in a position to help guide our clients: How much should you be dialing up dream and aspiration versus being more of a mirror to the reality of what people are experiencing in their daily lives?You can find the full results of The Truth About American study here.

Featuring Tarana Burke, Author, Activist, Founder of the Me Too Movement. Moderated by Yasmin Gagne, Staff Editor. Just eight years ago, the Me Too movement inspired a viral hashtag, sparked a global conversation, and championed the voices of survivors. But it didnt take long for opposing forces to mobilize. In the past few years, weve seen the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the platforming of influencers who proudly self-identify as incels, and sitting politicians perpetuating sexual abuse. Join Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too movement and chief visionary officer of Me Too International, for a one-on-one conversation exploring what it means to plan for the movements future while existing in a climate thats hostile to its mission.

Apple is working on bolstering future Apple Intelligence efforts by working on AirPods with built-in cameras.AirPods ProOne of the many ways Apple has moved forward with Apple Intelligence is the introduction of Visual Intelligence, a feature that is used to acquire information and to get details of real-world items using an iPhone 16. However, Apple is also considering making a version that doesn't involve you pointing an iPhone camera at things in the first place.According to Mark Gurman in Sunday's newsletter for Bloomberg, Apple is "actively developing" a product that can combine AirPods with cameras. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

id Softwares DOOM: The Dark Ages promises a lot, from bigger levels and the largest most expansive campaign yet, to a heavier, tankier Slayer. Its weapons are no different, with game director Hugo Martin hyping almost every weapon as created from scratch.Martin and producer Marty Stratton spoke to PC Gamer for its 408th issue, with the former noting, I think only the shotguns are the same. The Plasma is so different, so the rest are brand new. That was by design, really making sure we were giving you new tools to master.The new Plasma Gun is the Accelerator, which is basically an SMG plasma rifle. So its short range, high rate of fire, and its very fun.You got to have your classics, its a Doom game. You got to have a plasma rifle. You got to have the shotguns. But then what else can we make? So we started every gun from scratch, said Martin. Of course, there are also new melee weapons like the Shield Saw and Flail.While some weapons like the Chaingun and Rocket Launcher return (with their changes yet to be detailed), you wont see the likes of the Heavy Cannon from DOOM Eternal. To put that back in players hands at the start of Dark Ages, I mean, its going to start feeling like a DLC because theyve already mastered that tool.The goal is to provide players with a whole new tool kit to discover, learn, and master. Thats going to ensure that we can have a real, balanced experience. And we dont have to immediately start jacking up the difficulty because were giving you a tool you already mastered in the previous game.DOOM: The Dark Ages launches on May 15th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It will also be available on day one for Game Pass. Check out our interview with the development team for more, and stay tuned for further updates.