Warning: contains spoilers for Doctor Who episode “The Interstellar Song Contest” The Doctor and Belinda find themselves on Harmony Arena during the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest. But an evening of camp cosmic fun becomes a nightmare when horned aliens take over the space station – and the Doctor starts having strange visions. Spoilers ahoy. With “The Interstellar Song Contest”, Doctor Who might have given us its most blatantly self-selecting episode ever. When you hear the description ‘episode set during the Interstellar Song Contest featuring Rylan as himself’, you probably already know, broadly, whether it’s going to gel with your sensibilities. This puts a reviewer in a somewhat tricky position. I try as much as possible to take every episode on its own terms, and I’m very much of the view that Doctor Who contains more multitudes than most TV series, so there is always a place in the show for big, silly, populist spectacle. That being said, this is probably the episode I was looking forward to the least this season. I have no affection for the Eurovision Song Contest, especially in recent years. And while Rylan and Graham Norton admittedly acquit themselves pretty well here, as with the first Russell T Davies era, the showrunner’s enthusiastic engagement with contemporary TV and British celebrity culture can feel awkward, even slightly cringeworthy. Not only does it instantly date things, but it actually makes it harder to suspend disbelief and engage with the stories – having the likes of Davina McCall doing their familiar schtick puts the show that much closer to our reality, which I find just makes me ask questions I don’t want to be asking. All that being said, the idea of Rylan being frozen in stasis and unfrozen every year to host the Interstellar Song Contest is… kind of delightful. So, in conclusion, “The Interstellar Song Contest” is a land of contrasts. Actually, Bart Simpson’s immortal line has rarely felt more apropos. There is a lot going on here, arguably too much. Writer Juno Dawson has said that Davies pitched the concept as ‘Eurovision meets Die Hard’, with disaster movie elements, and the episode broadly fulfils that brief – it’s a perfectly workable concept, and if it had simply been allowed to be that, it might have hung together more cohesively. Ironically enough, the Eurovision / Rylan parts of the episode broadly work. It’s some of the other elements that unbalance proceedings, and while it’s pointless to speculate about which ideas were Dawson’s and which were imposed by upper management, it’s hard to believe that a guest writer would have been allowed to independently include the first appearance of Carol Anne Ford as Susan Foreman in proper mainline continuity televised Doctor Who since 1983. The Doctor’s sudden, unexplained visions of his long lost granddaughter are an absolutely huge curveball to throw into the episode, and they immediately suck all the oxygen out of the room. For viewers who know the significance of the character – and the actress, one of the last surviving links to the program’s very first episode, more than half a century go – it’s likely going to be a massive distraction. Why is this suddenly happening, where is she, when will they reunite, and oh yeah, why hasn’t the Doctor ever gone back for her (a continuity scab probably best left unpicked)? Meanwhile, viewers who aren’t familiar with Susan, even accounting for last season’s oblique mentions, are probably just thinking… huh? Presumably she’s going to feature in the two-part finale in some way – her appearance here will be even more confusing if not – but it feels like kind of an unfair requirement to foist on what should be the fun romp before the season’s concluding fireworks. The other big aspect of the episode that feels jarring is the Doctor’s rage. We’ve seen the character in vengeful mode before, punishing characters in far more baroque and existentially terrifying ways for comparatively less serious crimes. But not only does the Hellions’ plan feel like a gratuitous raising of the stakes that isn’t really earned – surely saving the one hundred thousand people floating in space would have been sufficient – the episode doesn’t really map out a solid trajectory for the Doctor to arrive at the point where he’s enthusiastically torturing Kid. We know it’s not because he thinks Belinda is dead – he’s aware that the people in space can theoretically be saved. Later he awkwardly describes being “triggered” because of the genocide of his own people, which just makes you wonder why trying to kill three trillion people wasn’t bad enough on its own, without the personal associations. The “ice in my heart” line is nice on paper, and delivered with appropriate contempt by Ncuti Gatwa, but it kind of implies that the Doctor is angry because he ended up briefly frozen in space himself, which feels weirdly petty. And the “I think it’ll be there forever now” at the end just feels bizarre. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox! There’s also the issue that Kid has precious little juice as a villain. It’s unfortunate, as Freddie Fox has shown in Slow Horses that he can play a deliciously hissable piece of garbage, but the character isn’t threatening enough to be an effective antagonist and his plan is too psychotically over-the-top for us to feel any real sympathy for his plight. It ends up feeling like a waste of a huge dramatic move – one the show can’t exactly pull regularly – to have the Doctor’s uncontrollable rage unleashed on some random sneering emo, and it then feels jarring for the episode to flip almost instantly back into romp mode with the peppy rescue montage. It also contributes to the feeling that the episode can’t settle on a consistent tone – like the moment where Belinda and Cora are interrupted by the Dugga Doo alien. In theory it’s a fun black comedy beat to puncture the tension, and the kind of thing you should definitely do in an episode called “The Interstellar Song Contest”. But then, after the amusing “where’s that” exchange, Belinda has a tearful emotional moment with Cora, and the score swells, and clearly we’re supposed to now be taking things seriously again, but the Dugga Doo alien is still audibly singing in the background. It’s a comparatively small thing, but it adds to the feeling that the production doesn’t have enough control over the tone. There are bright spots, of course. Gary and Mike are very likeable everyman characters – it’s fun that they’re both instantly smitten with the Doctor, and that they both find it unexpectedly sexy seeing each other being competent at their jobs. The songs could generally stand to be a lot weirder and more alien, but Cora’s final ballad is soaring enough to land the final emotional beat (although the presumably accidental subtext that this is the only legitimate way for an oppressed people to make their voices heard is a tad awkward). The still, silent shot of all the bodies floating in space above the station is incredibly arresting. The Doctor and Belinda bonding over Eurovision is cute, even if it feels like the third episode in a row where Varada Sethu doesn’t get a massive amount to do. The Doctor flying through space propelled by a confetti cannon is just the kind of camp excess this sort of episode needs. And of course, there’s the ending, which leads directly into the first part of the finale. The TARDIS lights going red, combined with the portentous tolling of the Cloister Bell, is more than enough to sell the mavity of the situation – arguably more so than Mrs Flood stage whispering about Vindicators – and the doors being blown inward is an appropriately fiery full stop. Onward to “Wish World”. I love a good show. Grape? Doctor Who continues with “Wish World” on Saturday May 24th on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, and on Disney+ around the world.

The growth in developing and deploying large language models (LLMs) is closely tied to architectural innovations, large-scale datasets, and hardware improvements. Models like DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and LLaMA-3 have demonstrated how scaling enhances reasoning and dialogue capabilities. However, as their performance increases, so do computing, memory, and communication bandwidth demands, placing substantial strain on hardware. Without parallel progress in model and infrastructure co-design, these models risk becoming accessible only to organizations with massive resources. This makes optimizing training cost, inference speed, and memory efficiency a critical area of research. A core challenge is the mismatch between model size and hardware capabilities. LLM memory consumption grows over 1000% annually, while high-speed memory bandwidth increases by less than 50%. During inference, caching prior context in Key-Value (KV) stores adds to memory strain and slows processing. Dense models activate all parameters per token, escalating computational costs, particularly for models with hundreds of billions of parameters. This results in billions of floating-point operations per token and high energy demands. Time Per Output Token (TPOT), a key performance metric, also suffers, impacting user experience. These problems call for solutions beyond simply adding more hardware. Techniques like Multi-Query Attention (MQA) and Grouped-Query Attention (GQA) reduce memory usage by sharing attention weights. Windowed KV caching lowers memory use by storing only recent tokens, but can limit long-context understanding. Quantized compression with low-bit formats like 4-bit and 8-bit cuts memory further, though sometimes with trade-offs in accuracy. Precision formats such as BF16 and FP8 improve training speed and efficiency. While useful, these techniques often tackle individual issues rather than a comprehensive solution to scaling challenges. Researchers from DeepSeek-AI introduced a more integrated and efficient strategy with the development of DeepSeek-V3, designed to scale intelligently rather than excessively. Utilizing 2,048 NVIDIA H800 GPUs, the model achieves state-of-the-art performance while focusing on cost-efficiency. Instead of depending on expansive infrastructure, the team engineered the model architecture to work harmoniously with hardware constraints. Central to this effort are innovations such as Multi-head Latent Attention (MLA) for memory optimization, a Mixture of Experts (MoE) framework for computational efficiency, and FP8 mixed-precision training to accelerate performance without sacrificing accuracy. A custom Multi-Plane Network Topology was also employed to minimize inter-device communication overhead. Collectively, these components make DeepSeek-V3 a scalable and accessible solution, capable of rivaling much larger systems while operating on significantly leaner resources. The architecture achieves memory efficiency by reducing the KV cache requirement per token to just 70 KB using MLA, compared to 327 KB and 516 KB in Qwen-2.5 and LLaMA-3.1, respectively. This reduction is accomplished by compressing attention heads into a smaller latent vector jointly trained with the model. Computational efficiency is further boosted with the MoE model, which increases total parameters to 671 billion but only activates 37 billion per token. This contrasts sharply with dense models that require full parameter activation. For example, LLaMA-3.1 needs 2,448 GFLOPS per token, while DeepSeek-V3 operates at just 250 GFLOPS. Also, the architecture integrates a Multi-Token Prediction (MTP) module, enabling the generation of multiple tokens in a single step. The system achieves up to 1.8x improvement in generation speed, and real-world measurements show 80-90% token acceptance for speculative decoding. Using a system interconnected by CX7 400 Gbps InfiniBand NICs, DeepSeek-V3 achieves a theoretical TPOT of 14.76 milliseconds, equal to 67 tokens per second. With higher-bandwidth setups like NVIDIA GB200 NVL72 offering 900 GB/s, this number can be reduced to 0.82 milliseconds TPOT, potentially achieving 1,200 tokens per second. The practical throughput is lower due to compute-communication overlap and memory limitations, but the framework lays the foundation for future high-speed implementations. FP8 precision further adds to the speed gains. The training framework applies tile-wise 1×128 and block-wise 128×128 quantization, with less than 0.25% accuracy loss compared to BF16. These results were validated on smaller 16B and 230B parameter versions before integration into the 671B model. Several key takeaways from the research on insights into DeepSeek-V3 include: MLA compression reduces KV cache size per token from 516 KB to 70 KB, significantly lowering memory demands during inference. Only 37 billion of the 671 billion total parameters are activated per token, dramatically reducing compute and memory requirements without compromising model performance. DeepSeek-V3 requires just 250 GFLOPS per token, compared to 2,448 GFLOPS for dense models like LLaMA-3.1, highlighting its computational efficiency. Achieves up to 67 tokens per second (TPS) on a 400 Gbps InfiniBand network, with the potential to scale to 1,200 TPS using advanced interconnects like NVL72. Multi-Token Prediction (MTP) improves generation speed by 1.8×, with a token acceptance rate of 80-90%, enhancing inference throughput. FP8 mixed-precision training enables faster computation with less than 0.25% accuracy degradation, validated through extensive small-scale ablations. Capable of running on a $10,000 server equipped with a consumer-grade GPU, delivering nearly 20 TPS, making high-performance LLMs more accessible. In conclusion, the research presents a well-rounded framework for building powerful and resource-conscious large-scale language models. By directly addressing fundamental constraints, such as memory limitations, high computational costs, and inference latency, the researchers demonstrate that intelligent architecture-hardware co-design can unlock high performance without relying on vast infrastructure. DeepSeek-V3 is a clear example of how efficiency and scalability coexist, enabling broader adoption of cutting-edge AI capabilities across diverse organizations. This approach shifts the narrative from scaling through brute force to scaling through smarter engineering. Check out the Paper. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 90k+ ML SubReddit. Sana HassanSana Hassan, a consulting intern at Marktechpost and dual-degree student at IIT Madras, is passionate about applying technology and AI to address real-world challenges. With a keen interest in solving practical problems, he brings a fresh perspective to the intersection of AI and real-life solutions.Sana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Meet LangGraph Multi-Agent Swarm: A Python Library for Creating Swarm-Style Multi-Agent Systems Using LangGraphSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/ByteDance Introduces Seed1.5-VL: A Vision-Language Foundation Model Designed to Advance General-Purpose Multimodal Understanding and ReasoningSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Researchers from Tsinghua and ModelBest Release Ultra-FineWeb: A Trillion-Token Dataset Enhancing LLM Accuracy Across BenchmarksSana Hassanhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/sana-hassan/Coding Agents See 75% Surge: SimilarWeb’s AI Usage Report Highlights the Sectors Winning and Losing in 2025’s Generative AI Boom

Senior Lighting / Compositing Artist - Temp (SFD / Cinematics)Blizzard EntertainmentIrvine California 92618 United States of America1 hour agoApplyTeam Name:CinematicsJob Title:Senior Lighting / Compositing Artist - Temp (SFD / Cinematics)Requisition ID:R025349Job Description:We pride ourselves in forging amazing worlds and experiences for our players to dive into here at Blizzard. To accomplish these epic goals, we need committed, passionate, and creative people with amazing talent. We value a tight-knit team that celebrates artistic passion and pushing the creative bounds. If you dream of pushing your talents to help us build the next exciting Blizzard experience, then this could be the position for you.The Blizzard Entertainment Animation team is seeking an experienced senior lighting /compositing artist to jump into working on Blizzard’s imaginative worlds. We are looking for someone with the experience and passion to make our shots epic (Both pre-rendered and real time contents).This role is anticipated to be a hybrid work position, with some work on-site and some work-from-home. The potential home studio for this role is Irvine, CA. However, we understand each person’s circumstances may be unique and will work with you to explore other possible options, including remote work arrangements.We have two temporary roles open. One is roughly a 5-month term, and the other is roughly a 7-month term.What You Bring to the TablePriorities can often change in a fast-paced environment like ours, so this role includes, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities:Design and implement lighting of characters and environments for shots that meet and enhance the given art direction.Maintain the overall look, color balance, and quality for assigned shots and sequences to create uniformity in all finished work.Work with the FX department for integrating and developing FX.Work closely with VFX supervisors, Art Directors, Producers, Lighting/Compositing Supervisor and Leads to achieve the final look.Accountable for achieving productivity and quota targets.Ultimately responsible for completing and quality control all lighting and compositing of shots.Minimum RequirementsExperienceA minimum of 7 years’ experience in the game, TV, feature film or commercial production environment.Previous experience working with Directors, Lighting Supervisors, and/or Leads to develop, define, and maintain lighting and compositing setups.Knowledge & SkillsA demo reel displaying a firm artistic understanding of light and composition.Have a strong knowledge of Katana, Nuke, Maya, Linux, Renderman-RIS, Redshift and a decent understanding of modern game engines. Can easily adapt to new pipelines and proprietary lighting tools.Able to plan and implement complex 3D lighting scenes, including working with layers and passes.Able to determine the best approach to tackle lighting and compositing challenges and develop the final overall look.Key AttributesAble to perform tasks associated with the compositing and lighting process, including 2D tracking, layering of elements, color grading, roto work, projection of elements, and extensive 3D compositing.Comfortable working in an “iteration intensive” shot pipeline.Extra PointsExperience in working in a full 3D Animated Pipeline.Experience in working in a real-time Game Engine Pipeline.Required Application MaterialsResumeCover Letter (optional)Link to a portfolio/reel. Provide a demo reel and description of your work per shot.Your PlatformBest known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.Our WorldActivision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty ®, World of Warcraft® , Overwatch ®, Diablo ®, Candy Crush ™ and Bubble Witch ™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.RewardsWe provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/ .In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $44.67 - $82.60 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable. Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

Villa 144 / Lin3rd ArchitectsSave this picture!© Parham TaghioffHouses•Bushehr, Iran Architects: Lin3rd Architects Area Area of this architecture project Area:  313 m² Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2025 Photographs Photographs:Parham TaghioffMore SpecsLess Specs Save this picture! Text description provided by the architects. Dwelling emerges through a presentful, dynamic, and constructive dialogue between the subject and the place. Villa 144 is situated near Bushehr, a city in southwestern Iran along the Persian Gulf, characterized by a hot and humid climate. The residential architecture of old Bushehr, shaped mainly during the 18th and 19th centuries, features unique traits such as narrow, labyrinthine alleyways, making it one of the most expressive and unconventional narrations of Iran's traditional residential architecture.Save this picture!The villa's structure comprises three white cubes that interlock at varying levels, defining both interior and exterior spaces. At the intersection of these cubes lies the main entrance, which acts as a pivotal boundary between the primary living area, bedrooms, and the western and eastern courtyards. The arrangement of sliding and overlapping cubes evokes a sense of lightness and suspension, subtly echoing a defining spatial quality of Bushehr's historic homes. Along the path to the entrance, the main living room cube appears to float above a reflecting pool clad in turquoise glazed Iranian tiles. In the region's intense heat, the presence and sound of water offer a soft, sensory counterpoint and create a moment of gentle release.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The main living room is the most transparent and outward-facing space, visually and functionally linked to the villa's four courtyards. In the living room, the focal point is not a television but an antique Heriz rug —a masterpiece of Persian weaving—displayed as a framed artwork on the wall. Similarly, the kitchen's window seat, adorned with handwoven Zanjan rugs, reflects a deliberate practice to reveal Persian carpets in settings that amplify their symbolic, aesthetic, and spatial resonance. A 3.3-meter-long corridor connects the main entrance to the living room and kitchen. The walls of this corridor are built from coral stones sourced from the shores of Bushehr—once the principal construction material in the region's historic buildings—while its ceiling and floor are clad in raw iron sheets.Save this picture!Save this picture!The villa's landscape has been designed to offer multiple pathways, allowing visitors to explore the garden in various intended and unintended ways. These routes provide deeper engagement and a more profound understanding of both the garden and the villa. The garden is a collection of native and nostalgic trees of Bushehr, including different varieties of bougainvillea (the most beloved tree in Bushehr), several types of the Ficus family, six rescued mature eucalyptus trees, and the majestic silk tree—the most striking tree of Bushehr. Throughout the design process, we excavated prominent archetypes of Persian—and more specifically, Bushehri—architecture, distilled their functional essence, and reconfigured them to align with contemporary lifestyle.Save this picture!In traditional Bushehri architecture, there are no cul-de-sacs. Instead, users move through a network of narrow alleys—reminiscent of Borges' labyrinths—allowing for layered, narrative-based spatial experiences. In the design of Villa 144, inspired by this ethos and with the aim of deepening subject-place interaction, the structure has been intentionally freed from spatial dead ends. The result is a layout that invites a more intuitive, intertwined, and multi-narrative engagement with place.Save this picture! Project gallerySee allShow less About this officeLin3rd ArchitectsOffice••• Published on May 16, 2025Cite: "Villa 144 / Lin3rd Architects " 16 May 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1030148/villa-144-lin3rd-architects&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save世界上最受欢迎的建筑网站现已推出你的母语版本!想浏览ArchDaily中国吗?是否 You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream

UX/UI Designer - Overwatch 2 | Irvine, CABlizzard EntertainmentIrvine California 92618 United States of America1 hour agoApplyTeam Name:OverwatchJob Title:UX/UI Designer - Overwatch 2 | Irvine, CARequisition ID:R025331Job Description:The Overwatch team is looking for an accomplished UI/UX designer, specifically at a mid-level, with several years of experience creating engaging and immersive user interfaces. The work will be at the core of our player experience, from the intro screen to the in-game HUD. Our ideal candidate will understand the project vision and create user experiences that will be both intuitive and stay true to the visual identity of the game.We will be asking you to work within our very collaborative team to create concepts and take them from a UX flow all the way to in-game UI. You will be working closely with other UI/UX designers, system & gameplay designers, engineers and design/art leads to create awesome features for Overwatch.Responsibilities for a UX Designer include:Create concepts, flows, layouts, mock-ups and prototypesCollaborate with artists, engineers, and designers to create and implement a polished and fluid interface, leading to great user experienceDesign game interfaces that complement and develop the Overwatch styleWork together with the team throughout the design process, gathering actionable feedback and iterating at the appropriate levelsRequirements for a UX Designer:Ideal candidate has a minimum of 3-5 years of experience in UX/UI design, including some experience on AAA title(s)Experience designing for multiple platforms – PC, ConsolesCreate and maintain UX wireframes and flows with Figma, XD, or other prototyping toolsWork with UI Design to create well thought out and polished designs our players will enjoyExperience with front-end implementation (e.g., XAML, HTML5)Able to communicate the UI/UX process effectivelyPositive attitude and an ability to receive and provide objective feedbackAble to work creatively in a demanding team environment while helping othersPassion for playing and making gamesPluses:Proficient in After Effects, Adobe Animate, or other motion graphic toolsShipped at least one AAA game as a UI/UX designerCan apply an existing aesthetic to your layouts and prototypesExperience in designing UI/UX for multiplayer gamesKnowledgeable about online gameplay and first-person shootersSubmission / Portfolio requirements:Cover Letter is requiredPortfolio demonstrating relevant artistic and design skills requiredOnly online artwork submissions will be accepted (e.g. website, blog or online album)Must be willing to complete a UI/UX test if requested to do soYour PlatformBest known for iconic video game universes including Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment experiences. Blizzard Entertainment has created some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed and genre-defining games over the last 30 years, with a track record that includes multiple Game of the Year awards. Blizzard Entertainment engages tens of millions of players around the world with titles available on PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.Our WorldActivision Blizzard, Inc., is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. We are home to some of the most beloved entertainment franchises including Call of Duty®, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, Candy Crush™ and Bubble Witch™. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!Our ability to build immersive and innovate worlds is only enhanced by diverse teams working in an inclusive environment. We aspire to have a culture where everyone can thrive in order to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. We provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered!The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! We are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply.We are committed to working with and providing reasonable assistance to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. If you are a disabled individual requiring an accommodation to apply for an open position, please email your request to accommodationrequests@activisionblizzard.com. General employment questions cannot be accepted or processed here. Thank you for your interest.We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, among other characteristics.RewardsWe provide a suite of benefits that promote physical, emotional and financial well-being for ‘Every World’ - we’ve got our employees covered! Subject to eligibility requirements, the Company offers comprehensive benefits including:Medical, dental, vision, health savings account or health reimbursement account, healthcare spending accounts, dependent care spending accounts, life and AD&D insurance, disability insurance;401(k) with Company match, tuition reimbursement, charitable donation matching;Paid holidays and vacation, paid sick time, floating holidays, compassion and bereavement leaves, parental leave;Mental health & wellbeing programs, fitness programs, free and discounted games, and a variety of other voluntary benefit programs like supplemental life & disability, legal service, ID protection, rental insurance, and others;If the Company requires that you move geographic locations for the job, then you may also be eligible for relocation assistance.Eligibility to participate in these benefits may vary for part time and temporary full-time employees and interns with the Company. You can learn more by visiting https://www.benefitsforeveryworld.com/ .In the U.S., the standard base pay range for this role is $37.26 - $68.93 Hourly. These values reflect the expected base pay range of new hires across all U.S. locations. Ultimately, your specific range and offer will be based on several factors, including relevant experience, performance, and work location. Your Talent Professional can share this role’s range details for your local geography during the hiring process. In addition to a competitive base pay, employees in this role may be eligible for incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is not guaranteed. While we strive to provide competitive offers to successful candidates, new hire compensation is negotiable. Create Your Profile — Game companies can contact you with their relevant job openings. Apply

Jump ToNo matter who it is, from Goro to General Grievous, you just can’t trust a guy with more than two arms. The creep factor is part of it, but I think you just learn fast that while two of those arms are fine, the most devastating attack always comes, from the other two arms you didn’t even know were there. Suggested ReadingNintendo Switch 2 Price Is Set at $450 for Now, But Could Go Higher Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingNintendo Switch 2 Price Is Set at $450 for Now, But Could Go Higher Share SubtitlesOffEnglishNintendo Switch 2 Price Is Set at $450 for Now, But Could Go HigherRead More: That goes double for the Lampmaster boss, who’s one of the more persistent pains in the ass you’ll meet in your travels through the Paintress’ domain in Clair Obscur, and they’re all arms. That doesn’t mean they’re invincible, but it does mean you’re gonna be putting in a little overtime taking this ugly son of a bitch down. Let’s hit the lights. Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / Justin Clark / KotakuYou’re gonna be playing around with Free Aim a lot during the course of this fight; That’s really the main gimmick with this guy. That won’t be a huge problem later on, for reasons we’ll get into, but at the outset, it means blowing a lot of AP on things that aren’t the major skills you need to do the real damage. So, anything you can slap onto your characters to keep them flush with AP is gonna be your best friend. Thankfully, aside from an obvious resistance to Light, they don’t have any other major restrictions. So, getting some good Burn Pictos/Lumina going is gonna be pretty effective here, same for letting Sciel load up some Foretell. Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / Justin Clark / KotakuSo, the second you get control, you’re gonna want to spend the AP to Free Aim and shatter the lamps floating around Lampmaster’s head before they fire a couple of hard-hitting projectiles at you. Feel free to take out all four, but if you’ve got the reflexes, you can keep one lamp alive just to parry that shot for massive damage. Aside from that, Lampmaster’s got a fairly basic move set of combos and jump attacks. The big issue is that there’s so many goddamn arms that it’s hard to figure out where the hit’s coming from. The easy tip is that only one of the arms is holding the sword, but even that can be hard to see at this stage thanks to the dark background. Still, if you can get a visual grasp on it, that’s what you’re keying off of.The only other move of note is an energy blast where the lights in their hands turn purple and they hit you with a wave of Dark energy. The dodge timing on that is that it’s hitting after the second gathering of purple energy. Go with the visual cue on that.Aside from those, they have no weaknesses and is only resistant to Light. You’re mostly just laying into this guy with any and everything you’ve got. Stack up a ton of Burns and Overdrives, that lifebar will go down fast. Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / Justin Clark / KotakuAnd just when everything seems to be going so well, you find out this asshole has a second phase. Here, their sword combo is now four hits and has some genuinely weird delays and timing that makes it hard to dodge. Best we can tell you there is that their sword will shake a little before the first hit swings down; and the big delay is between the second and third hits. The good news is it’s easier to see them against the new backdrop, and no individual hit in the combo is dangerous on its own, just try your damndest not to eat all four strikes. They also get a second four-hit combo that’s easier to dodge, but the final hit has them flying backwards to charge at you. There’s a subtle audio cue when the charge is coming, and it’s easily parried. Take advantage of that. The real new shit in their arsenal includes a move where they summon a sword made of light after a strange ritual with the lamps. The dodge timing on the sword of light’s not terrible, just wait for them to spin around after drawing the sword. But here’s a better idea: Stop them from pulling that shit in the first place. Just before he busts out the new sword, you’ll get a message about them performing a strange ritual with their lamps. The lamps in their hand will glow red in a particular order. Your job is to shoot those four lamps in Free Aim in that exact order. Get it right, and Sword of Light never happens, and you do a nice chunk of damage to Lampmaster in the process. They also have a Ball of Light attack that telegraphs itself from a mile away, but you’ll need to jump the attack. Screenshot: Sandfall Interactive / Justin Clark / KotakuAs before, keep up the steady Burning for passive damage, and unload with everything you have, they’ll go down, but recognizing the dodge on these attacks is crucial. When they’re done for, you’ll get the At Death’s Door Picto along with a Shape of Life, some Chroma Catalysts, and some permanent emotional damage once a certain someone shows up and...well, you’ll see. Bring Kleenex. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PCs.

Home Google Is Working on a DeX-like Android Experience – New Competition for Samsung? News Google Is Working on a DeX-like Android Experience – New Competition for Samsung? 5 min read Published: May 16, 2025 Key Takeaways Google’s Android 16 beta build gives us a sneak peek into its latest Android Desktop mode. Similar to Samsung’s DeX, it has taskbars at the bottom and floating windows for multitasking. This will make DeX-like experiences cheaper and increase OEM competition. Google has been, for quite some time, trying to emulate Samsung’s DeX success. Well, there’s finally some development on that initiative with the latest beta build of Android 16. Google is actively working on a new Android desktop mode, very similar to DeX. Whatever limited information has been made publicly available shows a very similar interface to Samsung DeX. There’s an Android taskbar at the bottom with all recent and pinned apps, which also houses the app drawer. Just like Samsung, you’ll get various floating windows that can be used for multitasking. The beta mode shows that you can freely move and resize windows and drag-and-drop content from one app to another, just as you can do on a Windows laptop. Remember, Google had introduced desktop windowing for its Android tablets with the Android 15 release. This allowed users to run multiple apps simultaneously and resize windows on their tablets. However, this worked only on built-in displays. It looks like Google is trying to build on this basic version of windowing to develop a full-fledged desktop UI for Android. The exact launch of the feature cannot be confirmed as of now. However, experts expect it to go live with the Android 17 release next year. The 2025 Android 16 might be too soon for a full feature release. How Can It Affect OEMs and Competition? A positive impact would be that it would make PC experiences more affordable for remote workers, college students, and those on a budget. Currently, only high-end devices from Samsung and Motorola can offer the full desktop user interface experience. Sure, you can get the Samsung Galaxy S8, S9, or S10 for DeX features for around $150-$200. However, all these devices are limited to just 4GB of RAM, which limits desktop performance. You won’t be able to multitask with fluidity and may experience glitchy interfaces. For the best DeX experience, you need something like a Samsung Galaxy S23 FE costing around $230-$260 or the S21 Ultra costing $250+. Now, with the introduction of Android’s native desktop solution, the cost of a DeX-like experience will come down. Budget smartphones offering 8GB of RAM for under $150 may achieve comparable DeX performance to high-end Samsung phones. This will also bring a need for differentiation between OEMs. Till now, they could develop different desktop experiences and market them as their USP, which is something Motorola has done. However, now that we’re on the verge of a unified Android desktop experience, these differentiations might die down, seeing as OEMs might ditch costly custom UIs. Image Credit – Android Authority It’s true that Google is miles behind Samsung when it comes to desktop experiences. However, every technology has a saturation point beyond which new innovations are slow. Ask yourself, what more can Samsung introduce in their DeX features? It’s already a near-complete product. Even if they do introduce something new, the developments will be slow. Image Credit – Samsung Business Insights Google, on the other hand, has a lot to do, which can be achieved at a faster pace compared to Samsung. The technology gap we see now can be closed down quickly in the next 3 to 4 years, beyond which the two providers may be more or less at par. Can Mobile Desktop Experiences Replace Laptops? While we are at it, let’s briefly discuss whether the mobile desktop experience can replace laptops. In a nutshell, we don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. Mobiles and laptops are meant for two distinct uses, even though there are several overlaps. Sure, you might be able to do 70% of the work that you do on a laptop by hooking up your mobile with an external screen. For example, you can browse the internet, write an article, send an email, attend a video conference, and so on. However, several uses that require massive computing power may not be handled well by such setups. At least not now. For instance, you cannot edit a professional video or develop new software on DeX. Additionally, there are a lot of software limitations as well. Not every app right now is optimized for the DEX experience. It would require a lot of time and investment to achieve this level of optimization. Next, there’s the issue of form factor. A laptop is a compact, complete product that you can use anywhere on the go. Now, imagine if you only have a desktop UI-enabled phone. You still need a dedicated display, keyboard, and mouse to set up the whole thing, which isn’t half as convenient as using a laptop. Then there’s the cost angle. While a laptop is an all-in-one device, going the desktop-phone route means buying a monitor, keyboard, and mouse separately, which can easily add up. What starts as a budget-friendly idea quickly becomes a piecemeal setup that could cost more than a mid-range laptop, without delivering the same seamless experience. All in all, mobile-enabled desktop experiences have a long way to go before they can come close to replacing laptops. Krishi is a seasoned tech journalist with over four years of experience writing about PC hardware, consumer technology, and artificial intelligence.  Clarity and accessibility are at the core of Krishi’s writing style. He believes technology writing should empower readers—not confuse them—and he’s committed to ensuring his content is always easy to understand without sacrificing accuracy or depth. Over the years, Krishi has contributed to some of the most reputable names in the industry, including Techopedia, TechRadar, and Tom’s Guide. A man of many talents, Krishi has also proven his mettle as a crypto writer, tackling complex topics with both ease and zeal. His work spans various formats—from in-depth explainers and news coverage to feature pieces and buying guides.  Behind the scenes, Krishi operates from a dual-monitor setup (including a 29-inch LG UltraWide) that’s always buzzing with news feeds, technical documentation, and research notes, as well as the occasional gaming sessions that keep him fresh.  Krishi thrives on staying current, always ready to dive into the latest announcements, industry shifts, and their far-reaching impacts.  When he's not deep into research on the latest PC hardware news, Krishi would love to chat with you about day trading and the financial markets—oh! And cricket, as well. View all articles by Krishi Chowdhary Our editorial process The Tech Report editorial policy is centered on providing helpful, accurate content that offers real value to our readers. We only work with experienced writers who have specific knowledge in the topics they cover, including latest developments in technology, online privacy, cryptocurrencies, software, and more. Our editorial policy ensures that each topic is researched and curated by our in-house editors. We maintain rigorous journalistic standards, and every article is 100% written by real authors. More from News View all View all

Here's what we looked at this week:French company Cyclauto revives a modular cargo bike design from the 1930s. The Rivian R1T's brilliant "seamless tailgate" design feature provides a way better UX for unloading.Škoda's futuristic Slavia B electric motorcycle concept. Joe Doucet's OLO Table, made with Polygood Oyster, gives new life to old refrigerators, keyboards and computer mice.This Aura Triple Boost Pro adds three unfolding screens to your laptop.At the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, an interesting twist on the sunken living room (though that's not what it's supposed to evoke).Automatic photo timestamp/location-stamp apps for keeping track of projects.Laurids Gallée's Tralucid Stools are both crisp and blurry.The forgotten trade of the patternmaker: How metal objects used to first be made out of wood.The origins of the first mass-market tool chest, by H. Gerstner & Sons.Peter Ivy's gorgeous Rokkakei hand-blown glass pendant lamps.Acrobatic artist Bastien Dausse's low-tech wall-walking invention. I bet there's a fun commercial application for this.Hozo designs a better cordless ultrasonic cutter, with both UX and safety improvements.The Bzigo Iris is an in-room mosquito tracking device that lets you easily kill them.All 17 components of Freitag's Mono[PA6] bags are completely monomaterial and recyclable.For the Boat Life crowd, fun floating furniture by Bote.Design opportunity: Create a better portable tufting frame.The Pivotal Helix: A cute, goofy-looking personal electric flying machine.Industrial design case study: Tactile helps Milwaukee develop their digital level.