Friday 10th May 2024

Under Joe Biden, America struggles to reassert itself in Africa - The Economist (No paywall)

As Chinese and Russian influence rise, the odds are against it

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To stay fit, future Moon-dwellers will need special workouts - The Economist (No paywall)

Running around the inside of a barrel might help

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What strategies actually work to fight dying? - The Economist (No paywall)

A prominent biologist tackles a morbid topic

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Thailand's cooling rice dish to beat the heat

The sweltering heat during Buddhist New Year calls for Thailand's cooling khao chae, a fragrant and refreshing bowl of rice delicately scented with flowers.

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For Ambitious Employees, a Viable Career Path Can Make Up for a Just-OK Manager | Lynda Gratton

The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.

The spring 2024 issue’s special report looks at how to take advantage of market opportunities in the digital space, and provides advice on building culture and friendships at work; maximizing the benefits of LLMs, corporate venture capital initiatives, and innovation contests; and scaling automation and digital health platform.

In a tight labor market for talent, retaining skilled people is crucial, both to maintain an organization’s skills and capabilities and to avoid the costs and disruption of recruiting. So understanding why people stay and why they leave is important.

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The Star Wars Prequels' Biggest Innovation Had Unlikely Roots

There is no doubt that the special effects in The Phantom Menace were groundbreaking. When Jar Jar Binks and Watto hit the screen, complaints about the characters had more to do with their function in the story (and what some felt to be their problematic undertones) rather than their visual design. According to producer Rick McCallum — who got his start at Lucasfilm working on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles before producing movies for the studio all the way up to Red Tails in 2012 — there was only one shot in The Phantom Menace that wasn’t manipulated with computer-generated imagery, which means just about everything was run through the computer.

The emphasis on CGI was largely a marketing technique that backfired, though. Although there was a substantial amount of CGI, there were more physical effects and models built for The Phantom Menace than the entire classic trilogy combined.

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The Most Imaginative Sci-Fi Epic of the Year Has One Crucial Narrative Shortcoming

The latest in the venerable Apes franchise delivers the goods — even if it feels like a very long set-up.

For those hoping that the last moments of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes would deliver a reality-bending twist, you might be slightly disappointed. For everyone else who is just looking forward to another installment that would continue with the same heartfelt sci-fi character drama that made the last three films solid, then there’s good news. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a surprisingly sweet epic, with almost zero plot holes, other than, perhaps, a stubborn refusal to answer the biggest question everyone might have.

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This Game Boy Advance SP Clone Can Play PSP, DS, and Dreamcast Games

It may look and feel like a Game Boy Advance SP, but the RG35XX SP is actually Anbernic’s homage to Nintendo’s iconic handheld.

As incredible as a modern-day clamshell gaming handheld is, we had the surprise spoiled when we first heard about the RG35XX SP through some leaks last month. It doesn’t mean we’re any less hyped though, since it’s still rare to find a retro handheld in this form factor. So far, we know of PowKiddy’s older V90 and Miyoo’s Mini Flip which adds joysticks to the clamshell design. However, Anbernic has beat everyone to the punch with its RG35XX SP which should be available soon.

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2024's Dumbest Thriller Could Actually Live Up to the Iconic Original

When it comes to sequels, audiences generally expect more of whatever came before. Twisters isn’t exactly a sequel to 1996’s Twister, but on subject matter alone, you can’t deny that the 2024 film owes a lot to its predecessor.

Thanks to its latest trailer, we now know just how closely it mirrors the beats of Twister, from the odd couple driving the action to their respective fascination with natural phenomena. Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones is Kate Cooper, a by-the-book scientist who’s been studying tornadoes for years. Not unlike Twister’s Jo Harding (Helen Hunt), she’s traumatized by a near-fatal experience, but a once-in-a-generation tornado outbreak in the Midwest forces her back into action.

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Generative AI Is No Friend to Developers, No Matter What EA's CEO Says

If there’s one thing we know about generative AI — a technology plagued by copyright violations that threatens to make creative jobs even less stable by flooding the market with cheap machine-generated sludge — it’s that game developers cannot wait to see more of it. At least, that’s the story that Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, is telling. At a recent conference and a financial call, Wilson claims that generative AI could find its way into more than half of EA’s development processes and that its employees are eager to see it happen.

“We've done a study across all of the processes of game development,” Wilson said at the recent Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, livestreamed on EA’s website back in March. “About 60 percent of all of our processes have high feasibility to be possibly impacted by generative AI.”

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