Common degrees

It's not often you find cause for hope amidst the climate crisis, but there's one sitting right above the Antarctic, and it's about three times the size of the United States. Once the overriding priority for climate scientists, the ozone layer that protects our atmosphere from the sun's ultraviolet rays is finally recovering, that aforementioned hole now shrinking year-on-year since 2016 following the ratification of the Montreal Protocol in 1989. It's a rare global success story for the environmental sector, and one that can inspire continuing efforts to combat climate change even now. "Two key factors were behind the success of the Montreal Protocol," explains Meg Seki, acting executive secretary at the United Nations Ozone Secretariat . "Science being the basis for policy, and the global partnership among the stakeholders including governments of all the countries of the world, scientists/experts, industry, academia, NGOs and the media. It is crucial to remember that while the … [Read more...] about The United Nations has published a video game that could help change the world

In a year or so, I'm sure some critics will reappraise Cyberpunk 2077, highlighting its strengths without years of pent-up hype coloring their perspective—it'll get the Mass Effect Andromeda treatment, in other words. But I doubt that Cyberpunk 2077 will ever be looked at as a landmark open world RPG in the way The Witcher 3 is. It's just a decent sci-fi RPG that had a buggy launch. That's alright—an ambitious open world game didn't need to be a masterpiece to succeed in certain respects—but the muted response is remarkable when compared to the level of excitement that followed Cyberpunk 2077 from announcement to release. Many expected it to be groundbreaking, but just two months later we're more interested in talking about an Early Access Viking survival game . Meanwhile, one of the games that was supposed to be a huge deal in 2020, Halo Infinite , didn't even make it to release. It was jeered so thoroughly after its big gameplay reveal that it was delayed a year . For … [Read more...] about After Cyberpunk 2077, it’s harder than ever to guess which of these big games will meet expectations

While Bravely Second: End Layer continued the story of the original game, Bravely Default 2 is now hoping to continue the story of the franchise some six years later. The third (and slightly confusingly named) installment of the series will launch on Nintendo Switch this Friday, February 26, and producer Masashi Takahashi hopes to see it establish Bravely as a full-fat series home to independent but thematically connected stories and games. He and character designer Naoki Ikushima have also worked to marry the best parts of Bravely with lessons learned from Octopath Traveler, the last Switch JRPG that the two worked on, and player feedback has shaped that process at nearly every level. A return to form "While I am really proud that so many people have played the games and like the series, at the same time I also feel with each game we had a lot of points to reflect on," Takahashi says of the series thus far. "With Bravely Second: End Layer, we received a lot of comments mainly … [Read more...] about The making of Bravely Default 2, a return to form built on demos, mistakes, and Octopath Traveler

Over the past year, many of us have been spending more time than ever at home, working with a PC setup that may or may not be set up for ergonomic comfort. Even if you've got a gaming chair with great lumbar support, padded wrist rests, and your monitor set at the proper eye level, there are aspects of your setup that can still leave you feeling a bit uncomfortable. For me, it's the fact that my feet don't really reach the ground properly whenever I sit up straight in my chair, and this is fairly common--many people are too short for the chair they're in, or the height of your desk requires you to increase the height of your chair past the point of comfort. An ergonomic footrest is a great way of combatting this problem, and I've been testing the ErgoFoam adjustable footrest for the past month or so. The best part is that it's covered in a soft, plush material that feels downright incredible on your feet, while its high-density foam interior offers enough support and a gentle … [Read more...] about This Under-Desk Footrest Is An Ergonomic Dream For Gaming And Work

Where do you begin when talking with inventor, IBM Fellow, engineer, and professor Dr. Mark Dean? His work on the IBM PC, ISA system bus, and Color Graphics Adapter in the 1980s is surpassed only by the project he led in the early 2000s, breaking the 1GHz clock speed barrier with a chip for the first time. Dr. Mark Dean Dr. Mark Dean earned a BSEE degree from the University of Tennessee in 1979, where he would return as John Fischer Distinguished Professor later in life. He also has an MSEE degree from Florida Atlantic University (1982), and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University (1992). In between all that he was breaking convention and working on cutting-edge technologies at IBM. Dean went on to become CTO of IBM Middle East and Africa, before shifting gears to achieve another lifelong goal of becoming a faculty member at a university, researching neuromorphic computing and advanced computer architectures at The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tickle … [Read more...] about Gamers have a lot to thank Dr. Mark Dean for, and the world’s first 1GHz chip is only the start