One problem with Square Enix is that they love to tease fans with games that are nowhere near ready, and the latest victims are Final Fantasy VII Remake (revealed at E3 2015) and Kingdom Hearts 3 (revealed at E3 2013). While we may not be in for another Final Fantasy Versus XIII (FFXV) disaster, which ultimately took 10 years to be released, FF and KH fans are still in for a substantial wait, as new titles may not be released until 2020 at the earliest. I hope the games don’t already look dated by the time they finally come out.
In an outline of Square Enix’s financial briefings for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017, [Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke] Matsuda said about the following slide: “This slide shows our release lineup for FY2017/3 as well as for FY2018/3 and beyond. We plan to launch each of these upcoming titles in the next three years or so.” That would mean both Final Fantasy VII Remake and Kingdom Hearts III will be released by 2020. The former was first announced at E3 2015, and the former at E3 2013. Both are still without a narrower release window.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Final Fantasy VII Remake and Kingdom Hearts III Won’t Be Released Any Time Soon
Monthly Archives: May 2017
A ramble through some solutions for the Anthropocene
(credit: urbanfeel)
To say that David Biello’s new book, The Unnatural World, is not uplifting would be an understatement. Its upshot is that we have seriously f—ed up this planet, along with all of the organisms and ecosystems residing on it, and the situation is likely to get much, much worse. But that’s hardly news at this point.
Biello knows that something must be done to keep ourselves from putting yet more CO2 into the atmosphere and to counter or adapt to the effects of all the CO2 we’ve spewed thus far. His book is an attempt to explore our options for doing so. But the resulting book is rambling, disorganized, and disjointed, filled with belabored, needlessly complicated sentences like “China is living in the future past, a Dickensian steam punk sci-fi drama in Mandarin, complete with high heels and disfigured orphans.” (?)
Each paragraph feels like it barely holds together, let alone each chapter or the book as a whole. Still, The Unnatural World is sobering and important.
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Source: Ars Technica – A ramble through some solutions for the Anthropocene
A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated an Empire
Enlarge / An image of the Siege of Rhodes from the Süleymannâme, a chronicle of the Sultan’s life. (credit: Detail from the Süleymannâme)
Suleiman the Magnificent earned his epithet, at least militarily. The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for 46 years, he spent much of his time on campaign. Hungary and Persia felt the brunt of his martial genius, but perhaps his most famous victory was the Siege of Rhodes in 1522. It was a grudge match.
The island of Rhodes was a blemish on the Ottoman Empire’s record. It was held by the Order of St. John (also known as the Knights Hospitaller), and it withstood the Ottoman troops’ siege in 1480. The Order of St. John had first been established to care for sick pilgrims in the Holy Land, but had been beaten back and militarized as Christians lost control over the region. At Rhodes they stood firm, but both sides knew that more conflict was inevitable.
As soon as the enemy boats had disappeared over the horizon in 1480, the Order began raising and thickening the walls around their stronghold. By 1522, their fortifications stood against the barrage laid down by the naval blockade of Suleiman’s military. This did not discourage the Sultan. He knew there was another way in: underground.
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Source: Ars Technica – A 16th-century engineer whose work almost defeated an Empire
New Details On Sergey Brin's Plan For The World's Largest Aircraft
An anonymous reader shares The Guardian’s report on plans for a new aircraft that’s two-and-a-half times the size of a 747.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin is building a hi-tech airship in Silicon Valley destined to be the largest aircraft in the world, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the project. “It’s going to be massive on a grand scale,” said one, adding that the airship is likely to be nearly 200 meters [656 feet] long… Brin wants the gargantuan airship, funded personally by the billionaire, to be able to deliver supplies and food on humanitarian missions to remote locations. However, it will also serve as a luxurious intercontinental “air yacht” for Brin’s friends and family.
One source put the project’s price tag at $100m to $150m. Igor Pasternak, an airship designer who was involved in the early stages of the project, believes airships could be as revolutionary for the trillion-dollar global cargo market as the internet was for communications. “Sergey is pretty innovative and forward looking,” he said. “Trucks are only as good as your roads, trains can only go where you have rails, and planes need airports. Airships can deliver from point A to point Z without stopping anywhere in between.”
The Guardian quips that while Brin’s plans may stay secret for a while, “the good news is that the first flight test of such an enormous aircraft will be impossible to hide.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – New Details On Sergey Brin’s Plan For The World’s Largest Aircraft
We've Spent Way Too Much Time Not Playing Video Games On Our Microwaves
You should probably be playing video games on your microwave or doing absolutely anything other than watching it slowly count down while your leftovers are getting nuked.
Source: Gizmodo – We’ve Spent Way Too Much Time Not Playing Video Games On Our Microwaves
Apple Developing Dedicated AI Chip Called Apple Neural Engine
The fruit company is working on a dedicated chip for powering AI on its devices. Currently in testing in prototype iPhones, the silicon internally dubbed “Apple Neural Engine” is expected to improve the handling of tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence: some examples would be facial and speech recognition. We could actually see battery improvements in devices using this chip, as work would be offloaded from the main processor and graphics chip.
Though Apple devices already sport forms of AI technology — the Siri virtual assistant and basic computer vision assets — a dedicated chip would further improve user experience. In addition, offloading AI-related computational processing from existing A-series SoCs could improve the battery life of portable devices like iPhone and iPad. If it comes to fruition, the strategy would be similar to chips introduced by competing manufacturers, including Google and its Tensor Processing Unit.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Apple Developing Dedicated AI Chip Called Apple Neural Engine
Amazon UK's New Video Options Will Require a TV License
Amazon announced this week it will offer live television channels for the first time in Europe and the UK, but Prime Video subscribers will need to be covered by a TV License before gaining access to channels that include Discovery, Eurosport, and ITV. Basically, an extra subscription fee will be tacked on if you are a Brit who isn’t properly licensed yet. Over the pond, a TV License costing $188 is required for watching or recording live TV, either through your TV or live online through a website.
…the TV Licensing agency is reminding people that as Amazon UK rolls out its new Channel add-ons with live TV, it means that viewers are again responsible for paying the fee. Amazon’s packages include channels like Eurosport, ITV Hub+ and Discovery, so as TV Licensing spokesperson Jason Hill explains “If you watch or record live TV, either through your TV or live online through a website, then you need to be covered by a TV License…around 94 per cent of people are correctly licensed so are already covered to watch live TV online.” Currently, an annual color TV License costs £147.
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Amazon UK’s New Video Options Will Require a TV License
A year of digging through code yields “smoking gun” on VW, Fiat diesel cheats
Enlarge / Volkswagen AG Turbocharged Direct Injection (TDI) vehicles sit parked in a storage lot at San Bernardino International Airport (SBD) in San Bernardino, California, U.S., on Wednesday, April 5, 2017. Volkswagen agreed last year to buy back about 500,000 diesels that it rigged to pass US emissions tests if it can’t figure out a way to fix them. In the meantime, the company is hauling them to storage lots, such as ones at an abandoned NFL stadium outside Detroit, the Port of Baltimore and a decommissioned Air Force base in California. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit: Getty Images)
Researchers from Bochum, Germany, and San Diego, California, say they’ve found the precise mechanisms that allowed diesel Volkswagens and Audis to engage or disengage emissions controls depending on whether the cars were being driven in a lab or driven under real-world conditions. As a bonus, the researchers also found previously-undisclosed code on a diesel Fiat 500 sold in Europe.
Auto manufacturers have been cheating on emissions control tests for decades, but until recently, their cheats were fairly simple. Temperature-sensing or time-delay switches could cut the emissions control system when a car was being driven under certain conditions.
These days, cars are an order of magnitude more complex, making it easier for manufacturers to hide cheats among the 100 million lines of code that make up a modern, premium-class vehicle.
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Source: Ars Technica – A year of digging through code yields “smoking gun” on VW, Fiat diesel cheats
Indie Game Emily Is Away Too Celebrates the Wild West of Early Social Media
Ah, the good old days of early 2000s internet, when you could easily share copyrighted music on YouTube, Facebook poking was still a thing, and Instant Messenger could make or break a friendship.
Source: Gizmodo – Indie Game Emily Is Away Too Celebrates the Wild West of Early Social Media
Lines Snaked Through Entire Park for Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy Ride Debut
Looks like the hype was real. Disney’s ride for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy—Mission: Breakout! opened at Disney’s California Adventure on Saturday… and the effects could literally be felt everywhere in the park.
Source: Gizmodo – Lines Snaked Through Entire Park for Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Ride Debut
Even For Businesses, Chrome Is The Top Browser
An anonymous reader shares Computerworld’s interview with David Michael Smith of Gartner.
“Most enterprises still have a ‘standard’ browser, and most of the time, that’s something from Microsoft. These days it’s IE11. But we’ve found that people actually use Chrome more than IE… It’s the most-used browser in enterprise,” he said… IE retains a sizable share — Smith called it “a significant presence” — largely because it’s still required in most companies. “There are a lot of [enterprise] applications that only work in IE, because [those apps] use plug-ins,” Smith said, ticking off examples like Adobe Flash, Java and Microsoft’s own Silverlight. “Anything that requires an ActiveX control needs IE.” Many businesses have adopted the two-prong strategy that Gartner and others began recommending years ago: Keep a “legacy” browser to handle older sites, services and web apps, but offer another for everything else…
Chrome, said Smith, is now the “overwhelming choice” as the modern enterprise browser… Smith wasn’t optimistic that Edge would supplant Chrome, even when Windows 10 is widely deployed on corporate computers in the next few years. “Edge certainly will have opportunities” once Windows 10 is the enterprise-standard OS, “but I would say that Chrome has a lot of momentum, largely for the fact that it is so popular on the internet.”
While a year ago Chrome and Microsoft’s browsers both held 41% of the browser market share, now Chrome holds 59% to just 24% for both IE and Edge combined.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Even For Businesses, Chrome Is The Top Browser
After Math: That took long enough
It’s been a big week of things finally happening. Uber’s making good on the backpay it owes its drivers, Target settled its data breach lawsuits and some semen that spent nearly a year in space proves to still be viable. Numbers, because how else wil…
Source: Engadget – After Math: That took long enough
Racer Graham Rahal tells us about his Indy 500 preparations
Enlarge / Graham Rahal during practice for the Indianapolis 500 this year. (credit: Michael Hickey | Getty Images)
The 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 is just one of the big races taking place this Memorial Day weekend. And ahead of the big event—which has seen plenty of interest this year as F1 star Fernando Alonso is joining the fun—we spoke with racer Graham Rahal about his approach to the race.
Rahal is the son of Bobby Rahal, a very successful racer in his own right (with three IndyCar championships and an Indy 500 win to his name). In fact, Graham even races for his father’s team.
Driving an IndyCar, particularly for 500 miles at Indianapolis, is quite a challenge. Unlike many other racing series, the cars are extremely physical, lacking power steering. And they don’t have quite the same level of driver aids and electronic support systems that other series like Formula 1 or the World Endurance Championship allow.
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Source: Ars Technica – Racer Graham Rahal tells us about his Indy 500 preparations
Pretty Soon Electric Cars Will Cost Less Than Gasoline
New reports suggest that electric cars will actually cost less than gas-powered cars by as early as 2025. The major reason for this is falling battery prices: batteries account for about half the cost of an EV, yet they are forecasted to fall by 77 percent between 2016 and 2030. Some manufacturers believe that ownership costs of EVs will already equal conventional internal combustion engine vehicles by the early 2020s.
…research from Bloomberg New Energy Finance indicates that falling battery costs will mean electric vehicles will also be cheaper to buy in the U.S. and Europe as soon as 2025. Batteries currently account for about half the cost of EVs, and their prices will fall by about 77 percent between 2016 and 2030, the London-based researcher said. “On an upfront basis, these things will start to get cheaper and people will start to adopt them more as price parity gets closer,” said Colin McKerracher, analyst at the London-based researcher. “After that it gets even more compelling.”
Discussion
Source: [H]ardOCP – Pretty Soon Electric Cars Will Cost Less Than Gasoline
I was struck by lightning yesterday—and boy am I sore
(credit: Aurich Lawson / Derek Riggs)
Around Memorial Day weekend four years ago, Ars Technical Director Jason Marlin was simply minding his own business in a new home office, enjoying Carolina thunderstorms after recently moving to Asheville, North Carolina. He’ll never forget what happened next. Since our pals at Mosaic recently dug deep into the aftermath of lightning strikes, we thought we’d share Jason’s first-person account once more. This story from our archives first ran in May 2013.
“Sir, look at me—did you have any shoes on?” asked the emergency medical tech. “Were you wearing shoes when you were struck?”
“Huh?” I wondered, a little dazed. “What’s with the shoe obsession?”
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Source: Ars Technica – I was struck by lightning yesterday—and boy am I sore
Sorry Folks, Luke and Leia's The Last Jedi Reunion Is Still a Mystery
Rumors have been circulating for months that Luke and Leia would finally reunite in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, thanks in no small part to their touching Vanity Fair portrait. Our collective hopes skyrocketed when it appeared Star Wars expert Pablo Hidalgo revealed their reunion in the upcoming film— but according to…
Source: Gizmodo – Sorry Folks, Luke and Leia’s The Last Jedi Reunion Is Still a Mystery
Working Theory In Jet Crash: IPhone In Cockpit Is To Blame
Apple Insider reports:
Apple on Friday said that it’s open to cooperation with French authorities, who are exploring the possibility that two of the company’s devices were linked to the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 in 2016. The flight’s first officer may have plugged an iPhone 6s and an iPad mini 4 into the wrong socket in the jet’s cockpit, French officials told Le Parisien. That may have triggered runaway heat, in turn sparking a fire.
At the moment, the investigation is being helped by an engineer from the French National Center for Scientific Research, as well as two people fron the French defense ministry, including a physics professor and an engineer specializing in batteries. Results from the investigation should be submitted by Sept. 30. Apple told the Parisien that it wasn’t aware of evidence linking its devices to the EgyptAir disaster.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – Working Theory In Jet Crash: IPhone In Cockpit Is To Blame
Latest OnePlus 5 Leak Shows Stacked Dual Rear Cameras
Leaked photos of the OnePlus 5 have just made their way to the Internet. The pictures confirm how the dual rear cameras and fingerprint sensor will be incorporated, and corroborate much of the information that was leaked about the flagship smartphone this past month.
The OnePlus 5 appears to include a vertical dual rear camera arrangement
Source: Hot Hardware – Latest OnePlus 5 Leak Shows Stacked Dual Rear Cameras
Brother's Top-Selling All-In-One Laser Printer Is Back Down to $100
If you’re still wrestling with a terrible inkjet printer at home, do yourself a solid and pick up the reliable Brother HL-2380DW monochrome laser printer for just $100 today.
Source: Gizmodo – Brother’s Top-Selling All-In-One Laser Printer Is Back Down to 0
Tesla Confirms Model S Superiority Over Newcomer Model 3 With Specs Showdown
The Model 3 might be the latest electric vehicle in the works from Tesla, but the company is going out of its way to let you know that it isn’t the “greatest”. The Model S went into production in June 2012, and has since become the poster-child for the company’s advances in EV and autonomous driving development. But the “3” in the designation
Source: Hot Hardware – Tesla Confirms Model S Superiority Over Newcomer Model 3 With Specs Showdown