He’s also a big fan of the original Unreal Tournament, says Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. Tencent CEO Pony Ma is one of the wealthiest men in the world. No doubt emboldened by the United States’ government’s ongoing trade disputes and vituperous anti-Chinese rhetoric, some are alleging that Epic isn’t in control of its own affairs.Įpic says that’s not true. Many consumers are using that significant investment as a bludgeon against Epic on social media. (Tencent also has significant investments in companies like Ubisoft and Riot Games.) According to CEO Tim Sweeney, that gave Tencent a 40 percent stake in his company, and the right to elect several members to its board of directors. In 2012, Chinese megacorporation Tencent invested some $330 million in North Carolina-based Epic Games. Theory 1: Epic Games is funded by a Chinese corporation and can’t be trusted. Let’s take some time to examine the claims being made against Epic, and narrow in on the ones that actually hold water. It’s an act of capitalism, a drama in which both Epic and its customers both will play a role. But it’s not an active conspiracy, like many have made it out to be. The team behind it has said they stumbled out of the gate, making a number of unforced errors. Others have convinced themselves that Epic, its CEO Tim Sweeney, and its Chinese investor Tencent are up to something sinister.Įpic itself admits that the storefront launched in a half-baked state. Some blanch at Epic’s comparatively thin store software and how the company is using its Fortnite windfall to lock up store-exclusive games. Some PC gaming fans are grousing at having to navigate a new store and install new software if they want to play certain games. What has followed in the wake of those exclusives is a fresh wave of outrage. The announcement was followed by a flurry of store-exclusive game announcements, many of which angered fans used to playing new titles exclusively through Valve’s Steam platform, the leading PC games marketplace. In December 2018, Epic Games, makers of Fortnite and the Unreal game development engine, launched the Epic Games Store.
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(Material appearing in parentheses was added by Ars for clarification.) Because the comments are candid, and made in private, Ars will not publish the notes in full, nor attach names to individual comments. 1, 2018, under the heading: "Avascent Briefing Notes from Senior Team."Įach section of the story below describes an area that Avascent identified as a strength at SpaceX and highlights comments from senior leaders responding to that strength-or identifying ways Blue Origin could improve. These nine pages of notes were then compiled and delivered to Smith on Nov. And as part of the exercise, they wrote down takeaways from the meeting as well as ideas for Blue Origin to better compete with SpaceX. Those dozen or so senior managers took notes. So in the late summer of 2018, as Bob Smith marked his first anniversary as chief executive of Blue Origin, he hired a management consulting firm called Avascent to assess SpaceX's strengths and weaknesses.Īfter the firm completed its analysis, the senior leadership team at Blue Origin received a briefing. But they realized that if Blue Origin was going to become a great launch company, it should learn from the best. These were not easy facts for Blue Origin's leadership to contemplate. "Blue is kind of lazy compared to SpaceX," one Blue Origin executive admitted in an internal memo in late 2018. By the fall of 2018, SpaceX was well on its way to launching a record 21 rockets in a single year, had debuted the Falcon Heavy, and was starting to seriously reuse first stage boosters. Meanwhile, the rocket company founded by Bezos' rival, Elon Musk, had established itself as the most dominant launch company in the world. With Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos had long talked about building a world-class space transportation company and had even gone so far as to trademark "Build a Road to Space." But despite being nearly two decades old, Blue Origin had not built a road to space, nor even launched an orbital rocket. Aurich Lawson | Getty Images reader comments 553 withĪbout three years ago, Blue Origin officials knew they were behind, failing to deliver on their founder's grandiose vision. Arkham's Observation Journel Investigation, & Poison Ivy MissionĪnti-Freeze Hands - Vault & Frozen Heart InvestigationĪrcher Back - Survival of the Fittest: Episode 1 BriefingĪrcher Waist - University of Metropolis BriefingĪrcher Legs - Daily Planet Live! Briefingīarbarian Head - 8th Precint Raven Missionīarbarian Shoulders - Aquaman Mission & HIVE Duoīarbarian Chest - Duos & Bizarro Bountyīarbarian Hands - Gotham University T1 Duo (Treasure Chest)īarbarian Waist - Area 51 Hard Alert, Fortress of Solitude 2 Novice, & Spectre Mission īarbarian Legs - Minotaur Bounty Mob & Penguin Duo īarbarian Feet - Bane Duo īiker Shoulders - Cape Carmine Lighthouse Mission īiker Chest - Viva La Lucha Libre Investigationīiker Hands - Falcone's Finest Investigation & Midtown Vendor īiker Waist - Distribution Center Mission īiomech Shoulders - Vault, Aquaman Mission, & Gorilla Grodd Mission īiomech Hands - Vault & Gorillatech Schematics Investigationīiomech Legs - Vault & Gorilla Bomb Components InvestigationĬontemporary Tech Head - Gorilla Island Alert & Temple of Crime Mission Ĭontemporary Tech Shoulders - Spectre Mission & The Battle for the Armory InvestigationĬontemporary Tech Chest - Hall of Doom Token Investigation, Watchtower Holograhic Token Investigation & Temple of Crime Mission Ĭontemporary Tech Back (Controller Only) - Penguin Duo, (DPS) mobs in Oolong normal.Ĭontemporary Tech Legs - Gorilla Island Alert, The Island of Dr. There are no weapon styles listed or random styles that net you no Feat.Īngelic Head - Sentinels of Magic Vendor in Magic Wing & Chinatown Vendor Īngelic Shoulders - Aquaman Mission Īngelic Chest - Sentinels of Magic Vendor in Magic Wing & Chinatown Vendor Īngelic Back - Fortress of Solitude Novice Īngelic Waist - Spectre Mission & Khandaq Raid Īngelic Legs - Sentinels of Magic Vendor in Magic Wing & Chinatown Vendor Īngelic Feet - Gotham University Mission & General Kordax Bounty Īnti-Freeze Head - Vault, The Precipice of Fear Investigation, & Poison Ivy MissionĪnti-Freeze Chest - Vault & Rose By Any Other Name InvestigationĪnit-Freeze Back - Vault, Dr. I will specify the difference between the two.ĥ.) Just as specifying "Mission" from "Challenge Mission" I will also specify the difference between a "Alert" and a "Hard Alert".Ħ.) This is a list of styles that will gain you Feats. If you have any input please list it here but make sure it is correct.Ĥ.) If something is listed as "Mission", then it is just that, the Mission. If there are slight variations that occur on the Villain side I apologize as I don't have much insight there.ģ.) I'll be upkeeping this continually until it is a complete and full list. Let's make it easier on everyone so they can get their Feats done and make their characters stronger while making them look even better(in some cases.ġ.) If something is labeled as dropping in the Vault it is nothing more than a style however those same styles can also be found in the game as actual peices of gear.Ģ.) This is mainly listed from a Heroes perspective only. So let's get everyone's thoughts organized in one concrete place. Bring the classic style list over to the new forums. This thread was originally posted in USPC by BriceAllen. Following a small prelude, there are four "chapters" in the original game, with each chapter consisting of a general storyline (the first chapter, for example, deals with a mysterious plague in the city of Neverwinter), and within each chapter, there are many quests, subquests, and mini-storylines. The actual game is lengthy (original NWN has three CDs, while the expansions each add one CD). After Morag's death, he escapes the stone as the world inside it implodes. He uses the words to enter the Source Stone and battle with Morag. He then confronts Maugrim for the final word. He confronts Aribeth, and depending on how he handles the meeting, she either surrenders to the player character or he is forced to kill her. He discovers that the words open a portal to a pocket world inside the Source Stone, where Morag and the other Old Ones are. The player character retrieves all of the Words of Power except for one, held by the cult. They seek magical relics called Words of Power. These fears are confirmed when he finds her meeting with Maugrim and Morag, Queen of the Old Ones. Aribeth goes ahead to Luskan, and the player character follows after speaking once more to Gend.Īfter arriving in Luskan, the player character hears rumors that Aribeth is joining with the cultists. With the help of Aarin Gend, Neverwinter's spymaster, the player character retrieves diaries of dead cultists and letters from a person named Maugrim, which convinced Aribeth that the cult's headquarters are in Luskan. The player character meets up with Aribeth and they begin searching for the cult responsible for the plague and the attack on Neverwinter. Desther is sentenced to burn at the stake, and Fenthick, despite being unaware of Desther’s true intentions, is sentenced to hang. When they catch up to Desther, he surrenders after a short battle. He takes the completed cure and escapes the castle, with the player character and Fenthick in pursuit. As he is collecting these monsters, he is attacked by mysterious assassins from the cult that is behind the spreading of the plague.Īs the cure is being made, Castle Neverwinter is attacked by Desther’s minions. With the help of Fenthick Moss, Aribeth’s love interest, and Desther, Fenthick’s friend, the player character is able to retrieve the monsters. The story begins in 1372 DR with the player character being sent by Lady Aribeth to recover four monsters needed to make a cure for the Wailing Death, a plague that is sweeping the city of Neverwinter. It is part of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Neverwinter is a city on the Sword Coast of Faerûn. The first and final chapters of the story in the official campaign deal with the city of Neverwinter itself, but the lengthy mid-story requires the player to venture into the countryside and then northward to the city of Luskan. In the original NWN scenario supplied with the game engine, the player is single-handedly responsible for defeating a powerful cult stopping an insatiable plague thwarting an attack on the city of Neverwinter, and many other side quests. Play centers on the development of a character that becomes the ultimate hero of the story. With what I knew, I was able to write a “Baichuan” protocol dissector for Wireshark using Mika’s awesome tutorial. In my experience, such tools immediately pay back your time investment by a factor of 4 or more. Dissecting traffic with WiresharkĪlways, always spend time developing debug or analysis tools. Time to extract what I could-the header layout was correct-and move on. The payload appeared to be encrypted in my captures.įurthermore, the code wouldn’t even run due to some questionable pointer juggling. On a lark, I Googled this, and actually found a project on GitHub from 2015 which was attempting to retrieve data from Swann cameras!Ī quick look at the code told me that although they share the sync word and packet header, the protocols for my camera and these older cameras were very different. The only thing that jumped out to me was the appearance of a sync word at the beginning of each packet, 0xf0debc0a. The end result is a new piece of open-source software called Neolink, which allows Blue Iris, Shinobi, or other NVR software to receive video from unmodified Reolink cameras.Īs a first step, I fired up Wireshark and captured traffic between the camera and its official Reolink PC client 1. Most non-triumphant.īogus enough that I decided to pwn the camera, reverse engineer the protocol, and write my own software to get the video stream. This was, in the immortal words of Bill and Ted, bogus. Then, barely outside my return window, Reolink updated their support page to say that the cameras would only work with their 8-channel NVR or proprietary viewer apps. However, I bought these cameras because I believed they supported open standards such as ONVIF, so I’d just swap the NVR for a copy of Blue Iris running on my server.Īt the time, the Reolink support page clearly indicated that all of their non-battery-powered cameras supported RTSP.Īfter the system was installed, it became apparent that the cameras did not in fact support RTSP-the only port open on them was port 9000. Unfortunately, the NVR is pretty anemic: it’s clearly an existing model with slight changes to support 4K cameras, and it struggles to support more than one viewer at a time. It came in a “kit” of six cameras and an NVR (a dedicated recording box that also powers the cameras). It’s fairly nice hardware, actually-it has a 4K video sensor, a microphone, power over Ethernet, and is nominally waterproof. Way back in late 2019, I dissected a Reolink B800 IP camera to demonstrate the various parts of an embedded Linux system. A brief history of the Baichuan protocol. It is twice the volume of a regular-sized bottle of wine. This is an Opus One Cabernet Sauvignon (2016) in a magnum 1.5L bottle. Winemaker Notes: The 2016 Opus One is remarkably elegant and bright offering sumptuous aromas of fresh red and blue fruit, baking spices and vanilla. Opus One 2016 Opus One is the realized dream of two men: Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and Napa Valley vintner. Opus One is famous for producing opulent, decadent wines, but this producer also makes more delicate, acidic vintages as well. The wine finishes with fresh acidity and a rich, lingering finish that promises longevity Decanter 98 DEC Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Opus One offers up bold, expressive black and blue fruits: warm black plums, black cherries, blackcurrants and wild blueberries with a beautiful undercurrent of lilacs, roses, fertile loam, underbrush and Indian spices. Silky, fine-grained tannins provide structure and aĬreamy texture. The entry is vibrant with ripe dark fruit flavors of plum, blackberry, andīlueberry followed by hints of vanilla and cocoa. Initial dark fruit, spice, and baking aromas in the 2016 Opus One Cabernet Sauvignon are interwoven with seductive notes of violet, black tea, and sage. Made from 84 Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 Petit Verdot, 5 Merlot, 4 Cabernet Franc, 1. This remarkable terroir expresses itself in the complex aromas, flavors and especially, textures of Overture. Dedicated to uncompromised quality, Opus One’s sole purpose is to express this vision and passionate spirit for generations to come. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2016 Opus One bursts from the glass with ripe blueberries, black cherry jam and crme de cassis with hints of violets. A Red wine from Napa Valley, Napa County, California, United States. 2016 Opus One Overture Napa Valley, USA Avg Price (ex-tax) 170 / 750ml Red - Bold and Structured 3.5 from 2 User Ratings Vineyard notes: 'Overture is a timeless reflection of our Opus One estate vineyards. Opus One, like any great work, arose out of passion. By combining the great winemaking traditions and innovations of both families, the founders’ singular goal was to create an exceptional wine in the heart of Napa Valley. Opus One was founded by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, legendary proprietor of Château Mouton Rothschild, and renowned Napa Valley vintner Robert Mondavi. It was an adjustment for Fedi, who quips that, at the time of his family’s move, he was failing his English class in Israel. “Which I appreciated! Because then I would be like, “Oh, have to practice, have to make sure I’m better than everybody.’ ” (The lessons have stuck: His manager, Conor Ambrose, says Fedi just took his first day off “like, ever” a few weeks ago).Īsher moved his family to Los Angeles when his son was 16 to give the apparent prodigy - who also plays piano, drums, bass and varied other stringed instruments - the greatest opportunities possible. “When we were jamming, he would always be like, ‘Oh, you have to practice this, and you have to do this…’ He would never be like, ‘Nice,’ ” says Fedi. (Later, he gives a different explanation: “Guitar players get more girls than drummers.”)įedi credits his father not only with expanding his musical universe but instilling a freelancer’s work ethic and competitive drive in him as well. That owes in part to Fedi’s wide range of influences - including rock guitar heroes like Jimi Hendrix and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as hip-hop and jazz - much of which he absorbed from his father, Asher, a studio and session musician whom Fedi refers to as “the biggest drummer ever in Israel.” Fedi also started on the drums but switched to guitar after seeing an episode of Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh in which Drake slings a six-string. “I like that nothing I do sounds alike,” Fedi says. “ ‘Mood’ doesn’t sound like ‘Without You.’ ‘Without You’ doesn’t sound like ‘Call Me.’ ‘Call Me’ doesn’t sound like anything MGK did.” 1, Lil Nas X’s “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)”: with no overt pop-punk or alternative signifiers, it’s built off a flamenco-tinged riff (inspired by a Spanish movie Fedi was watching at the time) and a hand-clapped beat based on a recording of Fedi’s own drumming on a countertop. His sound might be immediately recognizable, but it’s not always predictable. Jack Antonoff on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Producers As much as any artist whose name appears on his or her cover art, Fedi has been responsible for dragging the guitar back to the forefront of top 40, helping to revitalize alt-rock and pop-punk in the mainstream and, in turn, helping pave the way for artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Willow Smith to crash the charts with electric-powered ass-kickers of their own. More important than the hair, of course, is that the 21-year-old Israeli-American’s sound - piercing, melodic, muscular-but-melancholy riffs laid over super-charged rock and/or trap beats - has become just as distinctive a presence in modern pop. “And some kid came up to us and was like, ‘Producers have to get the recognition! KBeaZy and Omer!’ ” KBeaZy says it has happened multiple times: “I was telling him the other day, ‘Yo, the red hair’s like a crazy branding advantage.’ ” “We were just sitting outside, talking probably about nothing,” recalls Fedi. Now that the world is reopening following the COVID-19 shutdown, Fedi is even getting recognized in public - like on a recent trip to Chipotle with Keegan “KBeaZy” Bach, his best friend, roommate and most frequent collaborator. Or on Saturday Night Live in May, when he strapped on an acoustic to back The Kid LAROI and Miley Cyrus on their collaborative version of the former’s breakout ballad, “Without You.” But Fedi isn’t just the new sideman of choice for all these artists he has quite literally played an instrumental role in creating all their most recent hits, writing, producing and/or performing on each. Or maybe on Ellen last November, when Fedi played the ubiquitous guitar riff to 24kGoldn and iann dior’s “Mood,” the Billboard Hot 100-topping smash he co-wrote and produced. You might have seen it in photos alongside Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker. It’s becoming an increasingly unavoidable sight. Omer Fedi photographed on June 22, 2021 at Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles. INSKEEP: What exactly is being put to the voters in August? Karen Kasler of the Ohio Statehouse News Bureau, which is a public media organization in Columbus, joins us. Their vote sends the question to voters in Ohio in August. The Legislature does not get the final say here. The audio is from WEWS News 5 in Cleveland. INSKEEP: They're chanting no on one, which is the number of the measure. UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) No on one. This decision prompted protests in the Statehouse. "Well, we currently do not require parental consent to meet with school counselors," Hefner said.Republicans in Ohio have approved a plan to try to make it harder to amend the state constitution. "You are a champion for parental rights so I’m just curious why parental consent before a student can meet with a chaplain is not acceptable to you in this legislation," Talarico asked. "I think we need to give our school districts every tool that we can in the toolbox with all that we’ve been experiencing with mental health issues and catastrophes and crises," Hefner said. Some state representatives have concerns about endorsing one religion and several wanted the bill to require parental consent and for students to have the option to request a chaplain of a specific faith. The two lawmakers had a very testy exchange this week, NewsNation reported. Is teaching math in America adding up? Most Americans are unhappy with the math taught in classrooms, new survey shows Having a chaplain in Texas public schools may be an ongoing debate Is college worth it? College Scorecard changes could give prospective students the encouragement they need. "I worry that this bill will lead to Christian nationalists infiltrating our public schools and indoctrinating our students," Talarico told Religion News Service on Tuesday. Talarico said he has his doubts about the new bill. "I think, just to be blunt with you, we can trust the school boards to do that," Hefner added. "I want to make sure that we’re making it clear - that everybody knows - that schools may choose to do this or not, and that they can put whatever rules and regulations in place that they see fit," said Hefner, responding to a question from his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Hefner said local school boards could require a master’s degree and post-degree training, Spectrum News reported. Cole Hefner, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said it would be up to each individual school district to decide whether to hire chaplains. House members passed an amended version of the bill on Tuesday that prohibits registered sex offenders from serving as chaplains, to institute background checks and requires those serving in the role to be endorsed by an organization recognized by the United States Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Prisons or the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The vote fell along party lines, with 89 members voting in favor and 58 voting in opposition. Greg Abbott, according to the Religion News Service. Many Texas Republican legislators strongly favored the chaplain in schools bill as objecting Democratic lawmakers preferred the measure go to GOP Gov. education' McCarthy budget would slash 60,000 teachers, 'undermine education,' Biden administration says Concerns about the Texas chaplain school bill raised along political party lines Student scores suffering US history, civics scores drop for nation's 8th graders. A 2019 Pew Research Center survey said some forms of religious expression are relatively common in public schools. The chaplain passage in Texas comes amid an ongoing debate nationwide on the use of religion in public schools. A chaplain may even lead a prayer, a service, or even teach classes depending on the school. A school chaplain may be available to counsel and guide students and staff. Unlike school counselors in the state who must have master’s degrees and two years of classroom teaching experience, the chaplains are not required to be certified by the State Board for Educator Certification.Ĭhaplains, however, must pass a background check, be endorsed by a religious organization and must have some training to meet the Department of Defense chaplain standards.Ī chaplain is a certified clergy member who offers spiritual support typically in non-religious settings outside of a church. Texas House members passed Senate Bill 763 on Monday which will permit school districts to hire chaplains. Lawmakers in Texas have passed a bill that could allow chaplains to work in public schools as soon as the 2023-24 academic year. Watch Video: Lauren Daigle wants her music to provide hope in difficult times Allie's type of dementia is never defined in the movie, however the majority of the audience likely identifies with Alzheimer's dementia. He spends day after day reading sections to her from his old journal while she simply treats him as a nice but mystifying stranger.ĭementia is an unforgiving disease that takes away memory and impacts a patient's independence. He has full belief that his words will give his wife, Allie, the chance to relive their turbulent, youthful relationship and the unforgettable love they shared. The movie is centered around an elderly man named Noah who reads aloud to the love of his life, confident to bring her faded memory back. The plot is a magnificent story of the unconditional love of a man for his wife, despite her memory being taken away by dementia. It was adapted into a film in 2004 and stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. The Notebook is a novel by the best-selling author Nicholas Sparks. Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Pharmacy Notre Dame of Maryland University, School of PharmacyĬlinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry/Neurology Return to The AAPP Perspective issue main page.
To look at, the OneStep+ is pure, classic Polaroid: big, black and boxy. What matters most is that there's a new Polaroid instant camera in town, called the OneStep+, and it's closely aligned with the original, traditional Polaroid brand. You'd be forgiven for finding this all a little bit confusing. Almost immediately, the newly named Polaroid Originals produced the Polaroid OneStep 2, which was considered a spiritual successor to those classic Polaroid cameras. Then, in 2017, The Impossible Projects’ majority shareholders acquired PLR IP Holdings, LLC, the owner of the Polaroid brand, and The Impossible Project subsequently rebranded as Polaroid Originals. In 2008, it ceased production of film that its classic cameras used, leaving families and hipsters bereft.Īt this point, a company called The Impossible Project stepped into the breach, selling film compatible with classic Polaroid cameras (and its own Impossible I-1 camera). However, things started to go sour with the advent of new technology around the turn of the millennium, forcing Polaroid to pull out of the instant printing game. In the second half of the 21st century, Polaroid all but owned the instant camera market – which is why we now use the brand name as a proprietary eponym for instant cameras in general. Why we like it: This brilliant piece of tech looks great, is easy to use, and takes nostalgia-laden pictures. Here's the results of the testing, starting with the very best instant camera of them all. These devices vary in price from around £70 to nearly £200 – although contrary what you might expect, I found that paying more doesn’t necessarily ensure you get a better product. So, which instant camera should you buy? To answer that question, I tried, tested and reviewed the best from the biggest names in the instant photography game: Polaroid, Fujifilm, and Lomography. There are plenty of instant camera options available, each offering subtle differences that serve to significantly alter the overall experience. Polaroid, the company synonymous with instant cameras, actually went bust in 2001, and while it now exists in a slightly different guise, it no longer hogs the market. There's certainly something alluring about the photos they take: underexposed, oddly-shaped, and not always completely focused, instant cameras serve a reminder that Polaroid was doing natural filters long before Instagram came around. In recent years, however, instant cameras have swung back into fashion, propelled by the 'new cool' of old analogue media. Despite never having ‘gone away’ exactly, instant photography took a nosedive in the late 20th Century, squeezed out of the snap-happy insta-photo marketplace first by the rise of disposable cameras and then by the advent of the smartphone. |
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