The Athena lander will not be able to recharge its batteries due to the orientation of its solar panels.
Intuitive Machines Moon Lander Confirmed Dead After Toppling on Its Side
Category Archives: Unfiltered RSS
Nearly 1 million Windows devices targeted in advanced “malvertising” spree
Nearly 1 million Windows devices were targeted in recent months by a sophisticated “malvertising” campaign that surreptitiously stole login credentials, cryptocurrency, and other sensitive information from infected machines, Microsoft said.
The campaign began in December, when the attackers, who remain unknown, seeded websites with links that downloaded ads from malicious servers. The links led targeted machines through several intermediary sites until finally arriving at repositories on Microsoft-owned Github, which hosted a raft of malicious files.
Chain of events
The malware was loaded in four stages, each of which acted as a building block for the next. Early stages collected device information, presumably to tailor configurations for the later ones. Later ones disabled malware detection apps and connected to command-and-control servers; affected devices remained infected even after being rebooted.
Music labels will regret coming for the Internet Archive, sound historian says
On Thursday, music labels sought to add nearly 500 more sound recordings to a lawsuit accusing the Internet Archive (IA) of mass copyright infringement through its Great 78 Project, which seeks to digitize all 3 million three-minute recordings published on 78 revolutions-per-minute (RPM) records from about 1898 to the 1950s.
If labels’ proposed second amended complaint is accepted by the court, damages sought in the case—which some already feared could financially ruin IA and shut it down for good—could increase to almost $700 million. (Initially, labels sought about $400 million in damages.)
IA did not respond to Ars’ request for comment, but the filing noted that IA has not consented to music labels’ motion to amend their complaint.
Our Latest Look at Marvel’s Thunderbolts Touts Its Indie Cred
Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, and David Harbour star in the film, opening May 2.
Why Most Countries Are Struggling To Shut Down 2G
Global telecom operators are struggling to shut down aging 2G networks despite pressure to free up spectrum for 4G and 5G services, as the transition threatens to exclude millions of vulnerable users.
While Vietnam successfully decommissioned 2G in November 2024 by providing free 4G phones to low-income users, countries like South Africa and India have delayed shutdowns over concerns about cutting off phone access for millions. According to GSMA Intelligence, 61 countries have planned or initiated 2G network shutdowns to enhance bandwidth and reduce maintenance costs. For 2.5 billion people worldwide, smartphones cost about 30% of monthly income, keeping basic phones essential despite declining global feature phone sales.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Nintendo Trumpets Major Piracy Win As Significant For Entire Games Industry
We can talk until we’re blue in the face about the actual effects of software piracy, but it’s not hard to understand why companies like Electronic Arts and Nintendo get up in arms about it. Nintendo in particular has been highly aggressive in its efforts to scourge the web of unofficial ways to acquire and play its games, and it has just
The Easiest Ways to Spot an Unpaid Tolls Scam Text
I’ve recently rented a car in two different states. Both times I was asked if I wanted to pay an extra fee per day to avoid worrying about paying tolls—a crucial issue in some states, like Florida, that no longer accept cash on the road and sometimes won’t even allow you to pay online. Both times I declined, and set my Google Maps to “avoid tolls.”
I was reasonably confident Google would keep me safe from an unpaid toll ticket, but my heart still skipped a beat when, a few weeks ago, I got a text message letting me know I had unpaid I-Pass tolls from Illinois. But then I took a closer look at the text.
Missed toll texts are the latest scam
It turns out that texts purporting to be from a tolling administration telling you you have unpaid tolls and you have to pay up, or else face fines or even lose your driver’s license, are the latest in an unending stream of text-based phishing scams trying to get you to give up your personal info (and your money).
Transportation authorities in multiple states have issued warnings about these texts, which seem fairly legit at a glance. Typically they will purport to come from one of the major tolling programs—the E-ZPass in the northeast, FasTrak in California, I-Pass in Illinois. The text will inform you that you have an unpaid toll, provide a looming due date, and outline dire consequences for failing to pay up. Also included will be a handy, official-looking URL where you can make your payment.
Accessing that link will take you to a site that invites you to enter your credit card or banking information to settle your fine. And I’m sure you can imagine what happens from there, because you’ve just given your credit card number to a scammer.
How to spot a scam missed toll text
As scams go, this one isn’t very sophisticated. The scammers aren’t doing anything special to target you—they just have your phone number somehow and are including you in a mass spamming attempt in the hopes you’ll be too distracted to notice the obvious signs the message isn’t legit. So here are a few things to watch out for:
Do you even use this particular tolling service? In the last week, I’ve received half a dozen of these texts. Some of them are for services I’ve used and could conceivably owe money (like I-Pass, which operates in Illinois, one of the states I recently visited). Others, not so much: I didn’t even know California used something called “FasTrak” until I googled it. So take a beat to think: Is there a legitimate reason this tolling agency is asking me for money? I might have a missed E-ZPass toll, but I definitely don’t have a missed FasTrak toll.
Check the sender. One of the most obvious tells is the source of the text. Official automated texts will usually come from a 5-digit number. The texts I get telling me my E-ZPass has topped up, for example, come from “39769.” Scam texts will more likely come from a full phone number, likely an international one, with an unfamiliar country code at the start (I recently got one from a number that began with “+44,” indicating a number based in the U.K.). Another tell: If the sender is an email—especially if it’s from a free email service like Gmail or Outlook (I’ve even gotten a few from Hotmail, which hasn’t existed for years).
Non-hyperlinked URLs. When a message comes from a legitimate sender, any URLs included will likely be clickable. Scam texts will almost always have non-clickable URLs, with weird instructions either telling you to copy and paste the address into your browser, or to respond to the text with a Y, and then close and reopen it. This is an attempt to get around an iPhone security feature. Conveniently (for the scammer), once you’ve responded to a text and then reopened it, the link they sent you before will become clickable, taking you right to the site that will steal your payment info.
Look for other signs of an online scam. Chances are good the payment sites these URLs lead you to will also carry telltale signs of a phishing scam, like poor grammar, misspellings, or weird formatting. Luckily, all the ones I’ve been directed to visit via my most recent scam texts don’t actually work, suggesting that the sites are being taken down as fast as the scammers can put them up. But I keep getting more of them, so they probably aren’t going to stop trying.
AMD is releasing its latest Ryzen X3D processors on March 12
AMD has announced that it’s releasing its newest Ryzen X3D processors on March 12. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D were both introduced back at CES 2025, and are currently the most powerful gaming-focused processors the company sells.
The 9950X3D has 16 Zen 5 CPU cores, a max boost speed of 5.7GHz and second-generation 3D V-Cache tech for more efficient performance. In contrast, the 9900X3D comes with a more modest 12 CPU cores and a max boost speed of 5.5GHz. AMD’s 3D V-Cache tech is still the standout feature on these chips. The company introduced 3D V-Cache as a method of packaging cache modules on top of each other to provided less RAM-intensive performance. The tech was added to desktop processors first, before coming to laptop processors in 2023.
The 9950X3D’s 3D V-Cache packaging allows it to be 20 percent faster than Intel’s Core i9 285K across 40 different games, according to stats AMD shared when it announced the chip. It’s also supposed to be at least 10 percent faster across certain content creation apps, too. When you take into account AMD’s recently released Radeon 9070 GPUs, the company has the pieces you need to make a pretty compelling gaming PC.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 900X3D will be available to order on March 12. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D will start at $699 and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D starts at $599.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/amd-is-releasing-its-latest-ryzen-x3d-processors-on-march-12-195656335.html?src=rss
Chatbots Convinced Idiots They Cracked the Code on a Sculpture in the CIA’s Backyard
Please give Jim Sanborn some peace.
Split Fiction Is A Smash Hit By Every Metric And A Lesson To EA And Others
As I write this sentence, the latest co-op adventure game from Hazelight, Split Fiction, hasn’t even been out for 48 hours. Yet based on player count numbers, Metacritic rankings, reviews, and player ratings, it is already one of EA’s most successful and critically acclaimed games in years. And hopefully, EA and other…
17 Movies About Real Women Who Changed History
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
International Women’s Day, in one form or another, has existed since around 1909—placing the holiday’s inception roughly in line with the early days of film. It seems fitting, then, to take a look at movies that examine and celebrate the accomplishments (and trials) of real women in history. This isn’t an exhaustive list of movies about women who’ve changed the world (or at least changed their worlds), and there are plenty of very important women whose lives have never been touched by filmmakers (and others, sadly, with movies that aren’t streaming—I’m looking at you Hypatia of Alexandria and Agora). But, like International Women’s Day itself: It’s a start.
Colette (2018)
Rural village girl Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (played by Keira Knightley) begins an affair with Henry Gauthier-Villars, the author known only, absurdly, as “Willy.” He supplements his income by hiring ghostwriters to produce works to be released under his more bankable name and, when he realizes that Colette isn’t without storytelling talent of her own, he comes to see her as a source of free material for the Willy brand. As her works become increasingly successful, Colette finds herself unwilling to be locked in a closet toiling for her husband, instead coming to assert her own artistic (and sexual) agency as one of the most important French writers of the last couple of centuries. Her ultimate independence and popularity among women readers helped to change the ways in which books are marketed while also broadening the range of topics (including a lot more sex, and not all of it straight) about which women could be seen to discuss in print. You can stream Colette on Prime Video.
Hidden Figures (2016)
There’s nothing easy about orbital mechanics (I’m told—I count on my fingers), and Hidden Figures tells a story of math involving three women: Katherine Goble Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe). Long neglected by history books, Hidden Figures dramatizes the stories of the Black women who performed complex calculations in an era before computers, and then became expert programmers once machines were introduced. Their calculations put John Glenn into space. You can rent Hidden Figures from Prime Video.
Norma Rae (1979)
Sally Field (who won an Oscar) plays the title’s Norma Rae Webster, based pretty squarely on real-life union organizer Crystal Lee Sutton. A factory worker in North Carolina is fired for running off a union sign on the company printer, leading to the climactic, indelible moment when she brings the factory to a complete standstill. One of the most memorable moments in American movie history—when Norma Rae stops the factory with her hand-scribbled “union” sign—is straight from history, and it made Sutton a labor icon. You can stream Norma Rae on Watch TCM.
Live Nude Girls Unite! (2000)
Sex work is work, and workers in the industry face challenges both universal and unique in fighting for wages or improved conditions. In the late 1990s, the staff at the Lusty Lady, a San Francisco peep show, were faced with arbitrary wage policies, racism, and lacked even the most basic job perks while dealing with problem customers without management support. When the staff threatened a strike, management wouldn’t even concede that what the women did was a real job; as though they were doing it for fun. So they got organized, resulting in a truly groundbreaking moment in labor history, even if sex workers still struggle for recognition. Filmmaker Julia Query actually worked at the club and brings a sharp insider’s perspective to this documentary. You can stream Live Nude Girls Unite! on Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video.
On the Basis of Sex (2018)
Felicity Jones stars as a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who, later in life, became the Supreme Court Justice most likely to appear on a T-shirt. The consequences of the end of Ginsburg’s career are very much present, but the movie takes us back to the very beginning, with the Harvard law-school student caring for her ailing husband and young daughter while studying. Despite graduating at the top of her class, she’s unable to find work until she’s introduced to case involving a man who was denied a tax deduction for nursing care of his aging mother because the law was limited to either a woman or a husband. Ginsburg came to believe that a precedent in a case involving a man facing sex discrimination could be used in later cases involving women; while it didn’t have quite that impact as precedent, it did lead to changes in law and Ginsburg’s success paved the way for other women in American law. You can stream On the Basis of Sex on Netflix or rent it from Prime Video.
Harriet (2019)
A woman aided by the Underground Railroad system, Harriet Tubman (played here by Cynthia Erivo) quickly became one of its most effective conductors, and is now remembered as the most important single name in the entire operation, an unquestioned leader who approached the quest for freedom with a religious (literally) zeal. Later, she lead soldiers in battle during the Civil War before becoming a leader in the suffragist movement. A $20 bill with her face on it seems like the least we can do, but in the meantime, Kasi Lemmons’ thrilling and heartfelt, if occasionally formulaic, biopic will have to do. You can stream Harriet on Hulu or rent it from Prime Video.
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s essential historical drama makes as clear a case as any film does for the distinct power of silent cinema, with Renée Jeanne Falconetti offering one of the medium’s most profound performances. Interrogated by the French clerical court relentlessly about her belief in her own mission from God, Joan remains steadfast even as it seems that the very architecture around her is closing in to damn her. In the end, whether she’s right or wrong, it feels as though Joan’s defiant face is the only authentic thing in her increasingly confined world, and her status as a martyr to women in western religion is made secure. You can stream The Passion of Joan of Arc on Max, Tubi, and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video.
Suffragette (2015)
Blending real-life figures like Emmaline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) and Emily Davison (Natalie Press) with leads more loosely based on actual suffragettes, the film explores the voting rights movement in Britain of the early 20th century through the eyes of 24-year-old laundry worker Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan). Though only reluctantly caught up in the struggle, Maud gradually becomes radicalized when she witnesses the cost that other women are paying for their activism. Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson, and Ben Whishaw make up some of the rest of the impressive cast. You can stream Suffragette on Peacock or rent it from Prime Video.
Madame Curie (1943)
Though there are elements of melodrama here, at least on the surface, this classic Hollywood biopic from director Mervyn LeRoy has a deep appreciation for the hard mental and physical labor involved in scientific breakthroughs. Greer Garson stars as Marie Curie, working alongside her husband, Pierre (Walter Pidgeon) as she begins a study of pitchblende rock that leads her to the discovery of uranium, and that begins a long and intensive process of refining the substance such that its properties can be fully studied. You can rent Madame Curie from Prime Video.
Little Women (2019)
While decidedly not a biography, this specific adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel does a better job than many biopics at capturing something of the spirit of the author. Played here by Saoirse Ronan, Jo March has always been a bit of a stand-in for the similarly unconventional Alcott, a parallel that director Greta Gerwig takes a step further in the movie’s climax. She deliberately blends the novel’s reality with Alcott’s life story, reminding the viewer that Little Women, while groundbreaking, wasn’t entirely the book that Alcott set out to write. There’s a great biopic about Alcott yet to be made, but, in the meantime, this 2019 adaptation of her most influential work pays tribute to the writer in smart ways. You can rent Little Women from Prime Video.
Barbie (2023)
Sticking with Greta Gerwig for a moment, and on the subject of movies that come at their subjects sideways, Barbie pays tremendous tribute to the doll’s creator Ruth Handler (played here Rhea Perlman), even as the inventor and magnate only gets limited screen time. Set in matriarchal Barbieland, the film finds Margot Robbie’s Barbie doll escaping into the real world to discover both her own worth as an icon and the limitations placed on her that she’s never understood. After a couple of cameos, Ruth shows up in the final act to put a button on her creation’s journey, both in the movie and in the real world. A full-length biopic about the creation of Mattel (and Handler’s IRS issues) could doubtless be fascinating, but couldn’t possibly do a better job of relaying her cultural impact. You can stream Barbie on Netflix and Max or rent it from Prime Video.
The Death and Life of Martha P. Johnson (2017)
Using a belated investigation into Johnson’ mysterious death as a framing device, the film follows activist Victoria Cruz’s exploration of the lives of Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and other key figures in the early days of the gay liberation and trans rights movements. While death is the starting point, the movie focuses on the messy and strident vibrancy of Johnson’s life and work, and speaks to the challenges and sacrifices for the progress that’s been made (and sometimes un-made) in LGBTQIA+ equality. You can stream The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson on Netflix.
Queen of Katwe (2016)
A kid from one of Kampala, Uganda’s biggest slums, forced to drop out of school at age nine, Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) had the good fortune to meet chess coach Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) at a young age. This smart, feel-good movie charts her real-life progress to the top of the chess rankings first in Uganda, before she competes globally. It might be a bit early to suggest that Mutesi has changed history (her first Candidate title came in 2012), but she’s certainly providing inspiration for Ugandan women across a number of fields. You can stream Queen of Katwe on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video.
Frida (2002)
Stepping from the shadow of her, at one time, more famous husband Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina), Frida Kahlo became one of Mexico’s most important artists, blending intimate themes with revolutionary ideas and blurring gender lines—as she did in her own life—and chronicling her own disabilities in ways unheard of at the time. She and her art gave voice to a budding Mexican nationalist movement, and her life serves as a reminder that art can move nations at least as powerfully as traditional politics. Salma Hayek stars in this ultra-stylish adaptation from director Julie Taymor, one that earned multiple Academy Award nominations. You can stream Frida on Paramount+ or rent it from Prime Video.
Elizabeth (1998)
Cate Blanchett plays Queen Elizabeth I, a woman of whom you might have heard, a wildly unlikely heir to the throne of England who became the modern British monarchy, securing her country militarily in a fraught time while solidifying a religious framework that’s with us to this day. In many ways, it’s a film about choices: We meet Elizabeth first as a young woman with no expectation of rule, but see that, as she gains power, her options contract rather than expand. Given the enormous pressure to select a husband, and the limitations placed on her choice, she ultimately opts for public celibacy as the “Virgin Queen,” reflecting, in a way, the impossible divide modern women must often navigate between career and family. Women in history are often seen working behind the scenes to change the world but, in Elizabeth, we have someone who very much took center stage. You can stream Elizabeth on Starz or rent it from Prime Video.
The Lady (2011)
Aung San Suu Kyi’s legacy has been complicated by failures of leadership (to say the least) during her later role as State Counsellor of Myanmar, but there’s no question that her impact on the history of that country and its halting moves away from military rule has been immense. The daughter of an independence leader, the movie sees her living a comfortable life in England before being drawn into the politics of her homeland, becoming a leader and figurehead for independence and democracy. Michelle Yeoh gives a thoroughly impressive performance as the complex Nobel laureate. You can stream The Lady on Tubi or rent it from Prime Video.
Battle of the Sexes (2017)
Emma Stone and Steve Carell star here as Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in the lead-up to the titular “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. King is a top women’s tennis player, frustrated that the payouts for matches are dramatically lower than anything men would be expected to play for. Riggs, meanwhile, is struggling in his marriage and finances because of a gambling addiction. He hits upon the idea of a flashy, money-making exhibition match with a very reluctant King, reasoning that, even well past his prime, he’s perfectly capable of beating even the best woman player. She’s eventually convinced to join in and the rest is sports (and queer) history. You can rent Battle of the Sexes from Prime Video.
WB Offers Replacements, Not Refunds, for Hundreds of Rotting DVDs
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has confirmed widespread issues affecting DVDs manufactured between 2006-2008 that are experiencing premature disc rot. The company is offering replacements for affected titles but no refunds, even when replacements aren’t possible.
The problem manifests in various ways: complete disc failure, freezing midway through playback, or menu issues. Movie critic Chris Bumbray recently discovered several of his classic film DVDs had deteriorated, including titles not available digitally. DVD collectors have documented this issue for years via YouTube and forums, with speculation that a Pennsylvania manufacturing plant used subpar materials.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
U.S. Measles Outbreak Tops 200 Cases as Second Death Investigated
12 U.S. states now have confirmed measles cases.
VR Design Unpacked: Why ‘Embodiment’ is More Important Than ‘Immersion’
Our series Inside XR Design examines specific examples of great XR design. Today we’re looking at the game Synapse and exploring the concept of embodiment and what makes it important to VR games.
Editor’s Note: It’s hard to believe a whole year has passed since this piece was first published, but it’s insights are as relevant as ever in 2025! We’re bumping it back up to our front page to continue the discussion around embodiment as a crucial design concept for compelling VR content.
You can find the complete video below, or continue reading for an adapted text version.
Defining Embodiment
Welcome back to another episode of Inside XR design. Today I’m going to talk about Synapse (2023), a PSVR 2 exclusive game from developer nDreams. But specifically we’re gonna to look at the game through the lens of a concept called embodiment.
So what the hell is embodiment and why am I boring you talking about it rather than just talking about all the cool shooting, and explosions, and smart design in the game? Well, it’s going to help us understand why certain design decisions in Synapse are so effective. So stick with me here for just a minute.
Embodiment is a term I use to describe the feeling of being physically present within a VR experience. Like you’re actually standing there in the world that’s around you.
And now your reasonable response is, “but don’t we already use the word immersion for that?”
Well colloquially people certainly do, but I want to make an important distinction between ‘immersion’ and ‘embodiment’.
‘Immersion’, for the purposes of our discussion, is when something has your complete attention. We all agree that a movie can be immersive, right? When the story or action is so engrossing it’s almost like nothing outside of the theater even exists at that moment. But has even the most immersive movie you’ve ever seen made you think you were physically inside the movie? Certainly not.
And that’s where ’embodiment’ comes in. For the sake of specificity, I’m defining immersion as being about attention. On the other hand, embodiment is about your sense of physical presence and how it relates to the world around you.
So I think it’s important to recognize that all VR games get immersion for free. By literally taking over your vision and hearing, for the most part they automatically have your full attention. You are immersed the second you put on a headset.
But some VR games manage to push us one step further. They don’t just have our attention, they make us feel like our whole body has been transported into the virtual world. Like you’d actually feel things in the game if you reached out and touched them.
Ok, so immersion is attention and embodiment is the feeling of actually being there.
And to be clear, embodiment isn’t a binary thing. It’s a spectrum. Some VR games are slightly embodying, while others are very embodying. But what makes the difference?
That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about with Synapse.
Cover You Can Feel
At first glance, Synapse might look like a pretty common VR shooter, but there are several really intentional design decisions that drive a strong sense of embodiment. The first thing I want to talk about is the cover system.
Every VR shooter has cover. You can walk behind a wall and it will block shots for you. But beyond that, the wall doesn’t really physically relate to your actual body because you never actively engage with it. It’s just a stationary object.
But Synapse makes walls and other cover interactive by letting you grab it with your hand and pull your body in and out of cover. This feels really natural and works great for the gameplay.
And because you’re physically moving yourself in relation to the wall—instead of just strafing back and forth with a thumbstick—the wall starts to feel more real. Specifically, it feels more real because when you grab the wall and use it as an anchor from which to move, it’s subconsciously becoming part of your proprioceptive model.
Understanding Proprioception
Let’s take a second here to explain proprioception because it’s a term that comes up a lot when we’re talking about tricking our bodies into thinking we’re somewhere else.
The clearest example I’ve ever seen of proprioception in action is this clip. And listen, I never thought I’d be showing you a cat clip in this series, but here we are. Watch closely as the cat approaches the table… without really thinking about it, it effortlessly moves its ear out of the way just at the right time.
This is proprioception at work. It’s your body’s model of where it is in relation to the things around you. In order for the cat to know exactly when and where to move its ear to avoid the table without even looking at it, it has to have some innate sense of the space its ear occupies and how that relates to the space the table occupies.
In the case of the cover system in Synapse, you intuitively understand that ‘when I grab this wall and move my hand to the right, my body will move to the left’.
So rather than just being a ‘thing that you see’ walls become something more than that. They become relevant to you in a more meaningful way, because you can directly engage with them to influence the position of your body. In doing so, your mind starts to pay more attention to where the walls are in relation to your body. They start to feel more real. And by extension, your own body starts to feel more present in the simulation… you feel more ‘embodied’.
Mags Out
And walls in Synapse can actually be used for more than cover. You can also use them to push magazines into your weapon.
Backing away from embodiment for just a second—this is such a cool design detail. In Inside XR Design #4 I spent a long time talking about the realistic weapon model in Half-Life: Alyx (2020). But Synapse is a run-and-gun game so the developers took a totally different approach and landed on a reloading system that’s fast paced but still engaging.
Instead of making players mess with inventory and chambering, the magazines in this game just pop out and float there. To reload, just slide them back into the weapon. It might seem silly, but it works in the game’s sci-fi context and reduces reloading complexity while maintaining much of the fun and game flow that comes with it.
And now we can see how this pairs so beautifully with the cover game’s cover system.
The game’s cover system takes one of your hands to use. So how can you reload? Pushing your magazine against the wall to reload your gun is the perfect solution to allow players to use both systems at the same time.
But guess what? This isn’t just a really clever design, it’s yet another way that you can engage with the wall—as if it’s actually there in front of you. You need to know if your arm is close enough to the wall if you’re going to use it to reload. So again, your brain starts to incorporate walls and their proximity into your proprioceptive model. You start to truly sense the space between your body and the wall.
So both of these things—being able to use walls to pull yourself in and out of cover, and being able to use walls to push a magazine into your gun—make walls feel more real because you interact with them up close and in a meaningful way.
And here’s the thing. When the world around you starts to feel more real, you start to feel more convinced that you’re actually standing inside of it. That’s embodiment. And let’s remember: virtual worlds are always ‘immersive’ because they necessarily have our full attention. But embodiment goes beyond what we see—it’s about what we feel.
And when it comes to reaching out and touching the world… Synapse takes things to a whole new level with its incredible telekinesis system.
Continue on Page 2: Extend Your Reach »
The post VR Design Unpacked: Why ‘Embodiment’ is More Important Than ‘Immersion’ appeared first on Road to VR.
Jon Favreau’s New Project Offers a Reminder There’s More to Him Than Star Wars
The Mandalorian and Grogu director will shepherd an Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series for Disney+.
GTA V Enhanced Is Off To A Rocky Start On PC, Steam Gamers Are Pissed
The gaming world might be scouring for clues about Grand Theft Auto 6 and speculating about its price, but Rockstar hasn’t forgotten about GTA V. It recently released a massive update for the PC version of the game. It’s supposed to be the definitive way to play GTA V, bringing over upgrades the console version got a few years ago, alongside
Russia Is ‘Grooming’ Global AI Models to Cite Propaganda Sources
Instead of targeting human readers, Russian propaganda mills have pivoted to manipulating AI models instead.
Age of Famous Neanderthal Hybrid Child Pinpointed With Breakthrough Method
The new approach to radiocarbon dating could soon be applied to other Paleolithic human sites, improving our understanding of the timing of ancient populations’ movements and interactions.
Five Ways to Lower Your Pool Maintenance Costs This Summer
There’s something magical about having a pool you can just dip into any time you want. That’s why it’s estimated there are nearly 11 million pools in the U.S., most of them residential.
But pools are expensive. Aside from the price of installing one, it can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 annually to own and maintain a pool, which is why it’s often advisable not to add a pool to your home if you’re thinking of selling it someday. If your house already has a pool, or you want those summertime pool parties more than you want your money, you can at least cut down on those pool maintenance costs with a few simple steps.
Use a pool cover
One of the easiest ways to lower your pool maintenance costs is to use a pool cover. Covering your pool when you’re not using it has several distinct benefits:
-
It slows evaporation, which saves you money because you won’t have to refill your pool as often.
-
It keeps the pool cleaner by keeping debris out of the pool, which can help your pool filtering system last longer because it won’t be under as much stress.
-
It reduces the amount of chemicals you’ll need to put into the water—these chemicals break down easily in sunlight, so the more the pool is covered, the longer they will last.
-
It will keep the water warmer, reducing the need to run a heater.
Filter at night
Many people run their pool filters 24 hours a day. That’s understandable, because no one likes to dive under the water and discover dead bugs, rotting leaves, and other gross stuff floating around. But most pools only need to be filtered about eight hours a day to get a full “turnover” of the water, depending on the volume of your pool and the gallons per minute (GPM) your filter can handle.
Running the filter for those eight hours at night has another benefit: Chances are electricity is cheaper then, so you’ll pay less overall to keep your pool clean.
Clean the filter
While the rule of thumb for cleaning out your pool’s filter is to do it every few months, the more often you clean it the more efficiently your filter will run, and the less wear and tear you’ll put on it. You can see physical evidence of this by checking your filter’s pressure (measured in pounds per square inch, or PSI). If it’s above the normal range (typically anywhere between 10-25 PSI depending on the size of your filter and pool), it’s working harder than it should be. Cleaning out your filter twice a month is probably ideal, especially if your pool is located in a spot that causes it to fill up with debris regularly. It’ll save you money in the long run because your pool systems will last longer.
Keep the chemicals and water level in balance
A pool is a system, and that system has to be kept in balance:
-
Chemicals. A large standing body of water will quickly turn into a swampy mosquito farm if you don’t treat it with a cocktail of chemicals, including sanitizer (usually stabilized chlorine). Checking the pH level, chlorine, alkalinity, and other factors on a regular basis will reduce your maintenance costs because it will reduce the frequency of bacterial and algae blooms, and keeping the acidity level of your water low will protect your equipment from damage.
-
Water. One of the simplest things you can do to keep your pool maintenance costs low is not overfill your pool. If you fill it to the brim, every time someone steps (or dives) into it a large volume of water will be wasted as it sloshes over the rim. Over time you’ll be paying to refill the pool more than you should be.
Add a dark-colored pool liner
If you’re paying to keep your pool warm, you should consider putting in a dark-colored liner. This can be a DIY job—you’ll need to drain the pool, remove the old liner if you have one, and install the new one—though you’ll be better off hiring professionals.
A darker pool liner will keep the water naturally warmer because it will absorb more of the sun’s energy. You could also install a solar-powered heating system, of course, but that will cost a lot more than a liner.
Archaeologists Find Creepy 2,400-Year-Old Puppets Atop El Salvador Pyramid
Two archaeologists discovered the ceramic figurines—possibly used as puppets—at the top of a pyramid, and three of them have adjustable heads.