Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-10-2018, 03:32 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Marvel's Ant-Man And The Wasp: After-Credits Scene Explained
Ant-Man and The Wasp has arrived in theaters, and it's already making a lot of money at the box office (if not quite as much as most Marvel movies). If you've still yet to see or--or you just did--and are wondering if it has any post-credits scenes to stick around for you, you're in luck. As is the Marvel way, it does indeed: There are a total of two after-credits scenes to check out after the movie "ends" (I guess we should lean into calling them stingers this time around, right?). The real question on everybody's mind has been whether the after-credits scenes connect Ant-Man and the Wasp with Avengers: Infinity War or 2019's Avengers 4. The answer? Unfortunately, yes. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Ant-Man and the Wasp.
In the first scene we get a look at what Scott, Hope, Hank, and Jan have been up to in the time immediately after Jan's return. They've taken their lab-sized bridge to the Quantum Realm and either totally rebuilt it or just conveniently shrunk it down with Pym Particles to fit in the back of a van, and now, Scott's about to make the jump. This time, he's not on a rescue mission, but after more "quantum particles," which he alludes to being part of Ghost's "cure" (the solution to her problem of phasing in and out of different quantum states uncontrollably).
It's worth noting that with this new, smaller bridge, Scott isn't using the submarine like vehicle that Hank used when he went to pull Jan out. He's just going in with the Ant-Man suit and a plucky attitude. That matters because just seconds after Scott successfully makes the jump, he suddenly finds himself out of communication with the team back in the normal sized universe operating the device's control panel. Unsurprisingly, we learn that all three of them were dissolved into dust care of Thanos's Infinity War finger snap, right at the most inopportune time, leaving Scott presumably stranded in the Quantum Realm with no way to get out, no way to communicate with the outside world, and no one alive with the knowledge that he's even there at all.
It's a pretty bleak fate, given how obscure the Quantum Realm is to begin with, and with Hank, Jan, and Hope gone, the list of people smart enough to engineer a way to reach him--or even aware that the Quantum Realm exists--shrinks pretty dramatically.
The second post-credits scene takes place immediately after the first. We're taken to the Lang house--eerily deserted, with the TV cut to an emergency broadcasting channel. Upstairs, the giant ant "stand in" Hope programmed to mimic Scott's routine keeps on keeping on, oblivious to the apocalypse, playing Scott's drum set.
There's basically an endless list of possibilities revolving around the Quantum Realm. Obviously, part of Avengers 4 is going to have to deal with Scott either getting out of or going further into the Quantum Realm. We learned in this movie that quantum particles can literally affect the nature of reality and can cause (or, significantly, reverse) the phasing of matter between parallel universes. We also learned that spending enough time in the Quantum Realm alters one physiology and can imbue a person with the ability to control--or at least manipulate--quantum particles in people's bodies.
Granted, it's pretty unlikely that Scott is going to stay trapped in the Quantum Realm for as long as Jan was, but we shouldn't rule out the possibility that he's going to come out the other side displaying similar energy manipulation abilities, at least temporarily.
With abilities like that, or with the quantum particles he harvested (and, maybe, can continue to harvest), there's a whole new list of potential failsafes against the Infinity Stones. It's probable--maybe even likely--that when the Stones destroy matter, they're not actually vaporizing it, but instead forcing it to phase out of our reality into another--maybe even into a place that is touching or related to the Quantum Realm. Failing that, it's certainly more than possible that the quantum particles are a way in which the Stones can be reliably counteracted; even if people were literally reduced to dust, if quantum particles can alter the fabric of reality, what's to say they couldn't reach into an alternate universe and pull a new version of a vaporized person back into our dimension?
It's also worth considering that the Quantum Realm may have literally been out of reach of Thanos's snap all together, and thus, in one way or another, immune to the Infinity Stones' powers. Of course, there's the chance that Scott just got lucky enough to not be one of the people randomly chosen, but he's atypical for the surviving group in that he wasn't one of the original Avengers, which is one of the major commonalities between nearly all of the remaining heroes post-Infinity War. If the Quantum Realm is somehow safe from the Stones abilities, it may come into play in a totally different way come Avengers 4 next year.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-10-2018, 03:32 AM - Forum: Windows
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Medicine Man: How AI is bringing humanity back into healthcare
Oschner Health is one example of a company using AI to revolutionise healthcare. Its system is able to accurately track patients who are at risk of cardiac arrest, and can determine when there is a decline in their condition. This allows them to be admitted into intensive care hours earlier than they otherwise would have been. They are provided with potentially life-saving care, before their condition deteriorated to the point where medical care would have been less effective.
Project InnerEye, in use at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, is another solution which uses machine learning and computer vision for the analysis of radiological images. Designed to identify tumours, it improves the delivery of treatments such as radiotherapy, by precisely distinguishing between cancerous and healthy tissues. It can also better monitor disease progression during chemotherapy, so that treatment can be adjusted in line with how patients respond.
These AI solutions allow medical professionals to improve patient care and admittance time, thanks to their improved precision. This, in turn, reduces financial and manpower strain, improving the healthcare experience in the areas where this technology is being used.
This is supported by data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which shows that between 30 and 50 percent of cancer deaths could be avoided with prevention, early detection and treatment. With cancer costing the global economy an excess of an estimated $1.16 trillion a year, the impact of technology such as AI, is game-changing.
In the UK alone, for example, there are only 4.7 radiologists per 100,000 population, and this number will need to almost double by 2022 to meet demand. Because of this shortage, the NHS spent nearly £88 million in 2016 paying for backlogs of radiology scans to be reported – the same amount could have paid for over 1,000 full-time consultants.
“We are drowning in data in hospitals,” Kos states. “We don’t have enough human brainpower to deal with it all in a timely manner – which in healthcare, is vital.”
Using technology such as AI can therefore substantially decrease strain on healthcare systems, while simultaneously improving patient care and reducing costs, allowing doctors to spend their time on more complex medical diagnoses. Or, indeed, spending more time connecting with patients.
The human factor Introducing AI to healthcare isn’t removing the humanity from medicine. On the contrary, it’s increasing it.
A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that doctors spend nearly twice as much time doing administrative work (49 percent) as they do with their patients (27 percent). In other words, doctors are spending more time crunching through data, sifting through and updating records, and analysing scans, than they are speaking to their patients.
In a profession where people are dealing with often traumatic, life-changing developments, this personal, human touch, is vital for the emotional well-being of patients and their loved ones. By using tools such as AI to free up more of their time, healthcare professionals can focus more on patient interaction, offering reassurance, providing guidance, and answering more questions.
Culture, and the challenges of change Motivated by the lack of technology during his critical care period, Kos spent eight years crusading to introduce electronic medical record systems into hospitals. But nothing improved.
“We digitized, but we digitized all of the mistakes too. Then it dawned on me – digitization is important, but it’s not transformation.”
Without the supportive technology of cloud storage, or the data analysis powers of AI and machine learning, the full potential of these digitized records weren’t even close to being reached. Only years after, when cloud technology was accepted on a wider scale, and when collaborative tools such as Skype or real-time document editing in the cloud were established – could this initial digitization move on to the next level.
Research has shown that an organisation with the most advanced technology still won’t be as effective if it lacks the right company culture. Employees must be willing to embrace their new tools, while leaders must encourage a culture of learning. Only then, can the new tools be as effective as possible.
In the world of medicine, however, adopting the right culture for technological change can prove to be a challenge.
“Healthcare professionals are rather inward-looking,” says Kos. “Doctors listen to doctors. It’s a very top-down, hierarchical environment. You could have the best technology in the world, but if the culture isn’t ready to embrace it with a willingness to learn, it’s just not going to work.”
Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is all about defending yourself against hordes of darkness attacking you every single night. You know this is a lost cause, enemy forces are overwhelming and sooner or later your time will come. So, if you gonna go, do it with style, and pave yourself through piles of fallen monsters before they squash you. There?s just one thing that matters - how long can YOU survive? Yet Another Zombie Defense HD is a top-down arcade zombie shooter with tactical/strategy elements. Prepare yourself before the night falls - build some defensive barricades, buy guns and ammo, set up turrets and stay alive as long as you can. Each night puts your skills to the test, as darkness forces become stronger with each wave. Make them remember you and shoot your way to a glorious end. [Microsoft]
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 07-10-2018, 01:16 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Pokemon Quest nabs 7.5M downloads across Switch and mobile
Newsbrief: Game Freak’s free-to-play blocky brawler Pokemon Quest has surpassed 7.5 million worldwide downloads across all platforms.
While it won’t surprise devs that a free-to-play Pokemon game has attracted a fair bit of attention, 7.5 million downloads is still a decently impressive pull since Pokemon Quest itself only launched roughly a month ago on Switch and arrived on Android and iOS just last week.
Pokemon Quest has rapidly been crossing download milestones since its first release on the Switch; the title grabbed over 1 million downloads in its first two days and hit 2.5 million on Switch alone by late June.
While the companies behind the game haven’t detailed how much revenue the game itself has pulled across all of those platforms since release, the free-to-play title did rake in a whopping $3 million in revenue on mobile devices during just its first week out.
We know you’re busy and might miss out on all the exciting things we’re talking about on Xbox Wire every week. If you’ve got a few minutes, we can help remedy that. We’ve pared down the past week’s news into one easy-to-digest article for all things Xbox! Or, if you’d rather watch than read, you can feast your eyes on our weekly video show above. Be sure to come back every Friday to find out what’s happening This Week on Xbox!
Showtime, Amblin Television and 343 Industries Bring Halo to Television It’s a big day for Halo – today, Showtime president and CEO David Nevins announced the network has ordered a 10-episode season based on the legendary video game franchise! In its adaptation for Showtime, Halo (working title) will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001… Read more
New Games with Gold for July 2018 Welcome to another Games with Gold reveal for Xbox One and Xbox 360! In July on Xbox One, blast your way through robot hordes in Assault Android Cactus, then experience one of the most innovative and humorous co-op puzzlers in Death Squared. On Xbox 360 and Xbox One via Backward Compatibility… Read more
State of Decay 2 Celebrates 3 Million Players with Today’s Release of the Independence Pack In advance of the 4th of July holiday, we are celebrating that the State of Decay 2 community now exceeds three million players. This, along with the recent news that fans made State of Decay 2 the best-selling game of May, puts us in a festive mood. To celebrate, we are revealing our first post-launch content… Read more
Xbox Game Pass: Warhammer: Vermintide 2, DiRT 4, Zombie Army Trilogy and More Coming in July Hello, gamers! Welcome to your July Xbox Game Pass update. Hungry for some more gaming news after E3? Not to worry as Xbox Game Pass is here with an action-packed July update to satisfy that gaming appetite! After announcing earlier this month that Fallout 4, The Division, and The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited… Read more
10 Tips for NieR:Automata Become as Gods Edition, Available Now on Xbox One It’s time to bring glory to mankind as NieR:Automata Become as Gods Edition is out now exclusively on Microsoft Store! In the world of NieR:Automata, thousands of years have passed since humans were driven to the moon. Now with your help, we can break the deadlock in this war… Read more
NBA Live 19 Debuts Cover Athlete Joel Embiid and New Features As NBA Live gears up for its next edition, so does new cover athlete Joel Embiid. Launching on September 7 on Xbox One, NBA Live 19 boasts several new features for fans to take advantage of and elevate their gaming experience to another level. Embiid, one of the NBA’s greatest big men, who has also taken the league by storm… Read more
Crash Bandicoot and Future Tense Make the Leap to Xbox One Vicarious Visions is so excited to bring the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy to Xbox One today on June 29. Not only that, but we are fortunate enough to have been able to use this opportunity to give fans an entirely new level, which has been added to Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped! The new level, Future Tense, comes straight out of the twisted minds of designers Ben Dorsey and Stephen…. Read more
Next Up Hero Available Now on Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass Hello, heroes! Our new game Next Up Hero launches today on Xbox One and Game Pass, and for those of you jumping in for the first time, we have words of wisdom to guide you on your journey. First thing’s first. You’re going to die. A lot. This game is meant to be hard, like old-school quarter-muncher hard… Read more
E3 2018: Ori and the Will of the Wisps Hands-on Experience The successor to Ori and the Blind Forest seamlessly follows the 2015 fairy tale platformer, a challenging and highly rousing Xbox One game under an enchanting cover that amazes us right from the start. It is a wonderful painting of orange and red that comes to life on a dozen screens on the stage of the Microsoft Theater… Read more
Online FPS Warface is Coming Soon to Xbox One Dear friends! We’re thrilled to announce that the critically-acclaimed online free-to-play FPS Warface is well on its way to Xbox! Welcome to a massive community with millions of fans all over the world and get ready for a fight! How did we earn this recognition? There’s no universal answer, as each individual… Read more
The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs Arriving on Xbox One July 31 Get ready for some furballs, because something new is coming to Xbox One. It’s The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs expansion pack and it will be available July 31, 2018! In this pack, you’ll get the Create-A-Pet tool, a new world, and the tools to make your Sims’ households complete with furry friends. And, if you want… Read more
Witness the Locust Ascension in the Gears of War: The Rise of RAAM Graphic Novel Long before Kait, JD and Del united to take on The Swarm in Gears of War 4, Marcus Fenix and the COG Army faced the barbaric tyranny of General RAAM and the Locust uprising on Emergence Day. Now, for the first time, witness his swift and brutal ascent to general of the Locust army in the graphic novel collection of Gears of War: The Rise of RAAM… Read more
Dungeon Defenders II: Protean Shift Expansion Available Now on Xbox One Our free Protean Shift expansion for Dungeon Defenders II is now available to download on Xbox One. Protean Shift brings tons of new weapons for every hero, new systems that enable players to keep the items that they like throughout the games progression by using new materials to upgrade their strength, evolve them to higher tiers… Read more
Xbox One Storytellers: Cyanide on Call of Cthulhu It’s hard to match the narrative scope and immersive experience that a compelling story-driven game has over other storytelling mediums, allowing players not only to fall into the world of a well-crafted story but to experience it firsthand. These types of games can empower someone with a new perspective or let us live a double-life as a superhero… Read more
Explore an Entirely New Planet in Trove – Geode on Xbox One We are incredibly excited to launch Trove – Geode on Xbox One today! We created Geode with the goal of introducing entirely new ways to play and interact with the Trove universe. This vision led us down two unique paths: cave exploration and problem solving beneath the surface of a besieged planet, and a fun, fast, and frenetic competitive multiplayer game… Read more
Slimetastic Platformer Slime-san: Superslime Edition Available Now on Xbox One My name’s Fabian Rastorfer and I’m the founder and lead designer behind Slime-san, a platformer about a little slime that gets swallowed whole by a giant worm and whose goal is to escape the worm’s innards before getting digested. When we initially started the development of Slime-san we had one particular goal in mind: Make the gameplay easy to learn but hard to master… Read more
Designing the Gunner Class in TERA, Available Now on Xbox One TERA is the only MMORPG with true action combat and starting today that action combat gets taken up a few notches with the introduction of a new playable character class on Xbox One: the gunner. To celebrate the launch of the gunner on Xbox One, I asked our development team some questions about the concept and design challenges of the class… Read more
Play Unravel Two Free for a Limited Time on Xbox One Great things come in pairs: two Unravel games, two magical creatures, two levels you can try for free. Starting today, June 26 for a limited time only, you get to sample the first two levels of Unravel Two without spending a cent! The Unravel Two trial gets you a full 10 hours to play these opening levels to the game… Read more
Discover a New World in World of Tanks: Mercenaries War has raged for far too long. As the dust begins to settle, soldiers and civilians alike forsake the loyalties to which they once held and decide to fight for themselves. In a world governed by lawlessness where history has been changed forever, it’s time to be your own hero. After months of secrecy, Wargaming is finally ready to launch World of Tanks: Mercenaries… Read more
The Crew 2 Out Now on Xbox One Get ready to explore the entire US by land, air, and sea, because The Crew 2 is out now on Xbox One for Gold Edition owners. Standard Edition owners will have access to the full game on June 29. Setting players loose to build a motorsports career in a gigantic, open-world re-creation of the US, The Crew 2 takes a nonlinear approach to stardom… Read more
Devolver Digital Has 12 Games Lined Up For Switch This Year
No, it’s not April Fools; it’s just Devolver Digital making a post on its Twitter account again. Borrowing some hilarious footage from the 1989 film The Wizard, the US-based publisher recently proclaimed it would be releasing over a dozen games on the Switch before the end of this year.
Being a publisher, the figure attached to this statement is not all that surprising. Still, it makes us wonder what exactly these titles could be. At this point in time, the best bet is a mix of ports, new releases and perhaps even some unannounced ones.
Nearly half are already locked in:
During its E3 spectacle this year, Devolver Digital announced My Friend Pedro would arrive in the first quarter of 2019. Broforce was also recently confirmed for Switch. It doesn’t take a mathematician to work out that even if you took one or both of these games into consideration, there’s still room for more – so what could the other games be?
Are you hoping for the likes of Hotline Miami and Metal Wolf Chaos XD or are your expectations a lot lower than this?Devolver Digital promises to reveal more soon, so keep an eye out for any updates.
Arc System Works' Kill La Kill Game: New Story, Gameplay Details Revealed
At Anime Expo 2018, Arc System Works and Studio Trigger have revealed more details about the Kill la Kill fighting game. Called Kill la Kill The Game: IF, it's a 3D fighter filled with the acclaimed anime series' trademark flashiness and over-the-top action. The team also debuted a new trailer, which shows off main characters Ryuko Matoi and Satsuki Kiryuin in detail. You can watch the trailer above.
During the panel, representatives from publisher Arc System Works, developer APLUS, and Kill la Kill anime studio Trigger all discussed what the game will be like. While the trailer shows Ryuko and Satsuki fighting one-on-one, the team hinted that the game might not adhere to that format entirely, because some of the characters fight hordes of enemies at once in the anime. They did not, however, confirm which other characters from the show will appear in the game.
Writer Kazuki Nakashima, who worked on Kill la Kill among other acclaimed anime series, is returning to create an entirely new story for the game. While the anime stars Ryuko with Satsuki as the antagonist, the game tells an alternate story from Satsuki's perspective--the kanji for the "IF" portion of the game's name means "alternate thread" or "cloth," a pun on the show's thread and clothing motifs. Studio Trigger considers the game's story canon to the Kill la Kill universe, like "another episode" of the show.
Kill la Kill first aired in 2013 and consists of 24 episodes. It's known for its absurd yet gripping story, visual comedy, and extreme but lighthearted fanservice. While it's not clear if you'll need to have watched the anime to enjoy the game, you should probably watch it anyway.
Kill la Kill The Game: IF is coming to PS4 and PC in 2019. Its developer, APLUS, previously worked on Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time, another game based on a Trigger anime. Studio Trigger is closely involved in development, including character design. While not directly responsible for development, publisher Arc System Works (BlazBlue, Guilty Gear) also seems to be working closely with APLUS on the game.
Boost your typing with emoji in Fedora 28 Workstation
Fedora 28 Workstation ships with a feature that allows you to quickly search, select and input emoji using your keyboard. Emoji, cute ideograms that are part of Unicode, are used fairly widely in messaging and especially on mobile devices. You may have heard the idiom “A picture is worth a thousand words.” This is exactly what emoji provide: simple images for you to use in communication. Each release of Unicode adds more, with over 200 new ones added in past releases of Unicode. This article shows you how to make them easy to use in your Fedora system.
It’s great to see emoji numbers growing. But at the same time it brings the challenge of how to input them in a computing device. Many people already use these symbols for input in mobile devices or social networking sites.
[Editors’ note: This article is an update to a previously published piece on this topic.]
Enabling Emoji input on Fedora 28 Workstation
The new emoji input method ships by default in Fedora 28 Workstation. To use it, you must enable it using the Region and Language settings dialog. Open the Region and Language dialog from the main Fedora Workstation settings, or search for it in the Overview.
Choose the + control to add an input source. The following dialog appears:
Choose the final option (three dots) to expand the selections fully. Then, find Other at the bottom of the list and select it:
In the next dialog, find the Typing booster choice and select it:
This advanced input method is powered behind the scenes by iBus. The advanced input methods are identifiable in the list by the cogs icon on the right of the list.
The Input Method drop-down automatically appears in the GNOME Shell top bar. Ensure your default method — in this example, English (US) — is selected as the current method, and you’ll be ready to input.
Using the new Emoji input method
Now the Emoji input method is enabled, search for emoji by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+E. A pop-over dialog appears where you can type a search term, such as smile, to find matching symbols.
Use the arrow keys to navigate the list. Then, hit Enter to make your selection, and the glyph will be placed as input.
Make off like a bandit: Steamworld Heist is on sale for a fiver
By Ian Boudreau09 Jul 2018
There’s no time like the present to pick up the turn-based tactical robot shooter Steamworld Heist. It’s currently on sale in the App Store for 50 percent off, at £4.99/$4.99.
We’ve talked up Steamworld Heist here before, and that’s because it’s one of the most enjoyable XCOM spinoffs to emerge since Enemy Unknown showed up way back in 2012. Here, the action is side-scrolling 2D, but the turns play out just like XCOM’s – you control a party, and each one has two moves to spend each turn. You can move, take cover, perform an action, and fire as you move your steampunk robot crew through ships controlled by greedy raiders.
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Steamworld Heist’s biggest joy, however, is in pulling off trick shots that knock hats off your robot cowboy enemies (or pull your squadmates out of sticky situations). Instead of dice rolls, you do the aiming yourself, and you can arrange it so that bullets ricochet off ceilings and walls in order to hit targets behind cover. It’s all very charming and surprisingly deep, and you can read more in JP Marr’s four-star review.
