Fashion shows are now moving towards a heavily tech-based mode of presentation. Virtual models now take over the runway, partnering with savvy technical creative companies and programs to build a show that can advertise and showcase their garments well. Forbes cites Miami Swim Week as an example of brands relying on technology to showcase their garments:

Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year, the technological risk became reality at Miami Swim Week. Swimwear presenters hadn’t the choice to stay idle but rather were pushed forward in a rough and ready manner. With limited luxuries and hard work, there is an opportunity to help the industry envision new ways to support the swimwear industry overall. More to the point, technology is an important and much-needed platform for the swimwear marketplace.

"It was a beautiful thing to witness technology and fashion merge ogether during Paraiso Miami Beach. As we enter into this dawn of this new normal, technology came to save the day for these designers to be able to show their collections digitally - in real time and across all different platforms from Instagram TV to YouTube and other web based portal’s.

The Diigitals are utilizing the rising accessibility of new technologies and taking the first steps into a new frontier of digital exploration. Within this collaborative hub, they demonstrate the potential of 3D fashion modeling and showcase its applications for innovative brands. The new era in creative seemingly erase the boundaries between real time reality and the digital world. Leading the charge into this new synthetic landscape is Shudu, the enigmatic and technical muse who's inspiring a new generation of artists. In a sense, she is the first of a generation but I assure you there will be many more like her in the years to come!

Image screenshot  via YouTube

Look, video games aren’t cheap. If someone told me I could buy Yoshi’s Crafted World on the Nintendo Switch for merely a dollar, I would have taken that chance! You might be wondering how and when that instance happened, because it sure lists for full price on the Nintendo eshop. This game was sold at such a low price because of a mistake. Check the full video to find out more. 

In a shocking news that was a major point of discussion for video game fans and enthusiasts, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks (developers of Skyrim and Doom) for $7.5 billion. How does this acquisition fit into Microsoft’s Xbox strategy? The Verge details: 

The immediate and inevitable reaction from consumers focused, naturally, on competition, and whether future Bethesda titles will become Xbox exclusives. It’s a sensible concern — why, after all, would any company in an industry as cutthroat as gaming purchase a major entertainment brand if not to deprive its primary rival the ability to distribute coveted intellectual property on competing hardware? But that’s a question for the old Microsoft, the one that tried competing with Sony in an exclusivity game that ultimately kept it perpetually lagging behind throughout the Xbox One generation. (Xbox chief Phil Spencer tells Bloomberg the immediate plan is to evaluate multiplatform releases on a “case-by-case basis.”)

Microsoft is no longer playing the same game as Sony, and the Bethesda purchase may well make that point clearer than ever before. Sony has followed a tried-and-true strategy of acquiring promising developers and nurturing them over many years to produce large sequel-friendly franchises like Spider-Man and Horizon Zero Dawn. It also maintains strong relationships with independent Japanese partners, like From Software and Square Enix, to help maintain its edge so that the new Final Fantasy game or a Demon’s Souls remake comes to PlayStation first.

image via The Verge 

In early 1976, several soldiers at Fort Dix came down with an illness that was identified as a novel swine flu. Testing showed 200 recruits carried the virus. The US government swung into action, and President Gerald Ford announced that a vaccine would be developed by fall. And it was. But the program became mired in controversy, scaring Americans away from the needle. When the vaccine was made available in Pittsburgh, three people who got it died of heart attacks.  

The deaths in Pittsburgh would be the start. While there was no causal evidence linking these deaths to the vaccine, they triggered many people to come forward claiming evidence of ill health, falsely blaming the inoculation. Nine states shut down their programmes.

With such a high-profile roll-out, closely attached to the White House, many journalists unused to covering science reported only what they saw and heard from the public, without interrogating whether it was linked. Tabloid journalists gave few column inches to epidemiological nuance. What they should have looked for was “excess mortality” – deaths that would not have happened otherwise – but the daily emerging tales of unexplained heart attacks, distraught nurses, and political failure won more attention.

Was the project worth it? At least we -scientists and journalists, that is- learned a few things from the experience. Read the story of the 1976 swine flu vaccine program at BBC Future.  -via Damn Interesting

We've been upset with our local cable TV companies for so long that we welcomed the advent of streaming services so that we could cut the cord. But which streaming service should you subscribe to? There are differences, and they all have their benefits and drawbacks. The drawbacks are what ScreenJunkies looks at in the Honest Trailer.

Michael Locascio, an artist in New Jersey, specializes in sculptures and household objects that are macabre and delightfully unsettling. Among his works are sculptures of spectral figures that appear to emerge from mirrors to haunt your home.

They're made with glow-in-the-dark resin to add to the ghostly effect. All they need now are sound effects that can be activated at the right moment. They're perfect for any young child's bedroom.

-via Design You Trust

Video call conferences have become a part of our daily lives in the past months, and it seems that it will still be in the coming days.

When it comes to these video call conferences, a person in one normally has two things to worry about: his voice and his video. Because we don’t want people to hear or see some things in our home, oftentimes we find ourselves monitoring these two things during a video call. This is maybe why Logitech has developed this new mouse called the MX Anywhere 3. The said mouse has “customizable side buttons that control camera and mic settings during video chats”, which are real handy tools, if you ask me.

That’s not the only thing the two side buttons on the Anywhere 3 can do, but it’s the most interesting new setting you can choose. In addition to preset actions, there are app-specific actions you can choose from when customizing each button in the Logitech Options software. The newest ones let you press a side button to start/stop your video feed, or mute/unmute [your] mic, while on a Zoom or Microsoft Teams video call.

More details about this mouse over Engadget.

What are your thoughts about this one?

(Image Credit: Valentina Palladino / Engadget)

Butts. The soft, hairy, appendages that are hilarious, erotic and functional seem to be very impactful in our lives. But have you ever wondered what their original purpose was? How did humanity decide that these cheeks were to be viewed as they are in the present? Gizmodo Australia presented those questions to multiple experts, along with the history of the human asscheek. Check their full piece here. 

image via Gizmodo 

Eating well is one of the easiest ways for us to stay healthy. Keeping a good and well-balanced diet can help us protect our body as time passes by. To keep our brain healthy and functional, we can eat foods that are rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, certain vitamins like choline and B vitamins, and healthy fats. If you don’t want to research those components to know what food you can eat to be ‘brain healthy,’ check out Woman’s World’s list of recommendations! 

image via Woman’s World 

Before the rise of the ever helpful toilet paper, have you wondered what ancient humans used to wipe after going to the bathroom? Medieval literature professor Susan Morrison believes that question is difficult to answer, because we lack the archaeological record to support any claim. Experts however, have recovered some samples that can give us a hint about what people back then would use for their designated potty time, as Live Science details: 

Throughout history, people have used everything from their own hands to corn cobs to snow to clean up after bowel movements. One of the oldest materials on record for this purpose is the hygiene stick, dating back to China 2,000 years ago, according to a 2016 study in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Hygiene sticks, also called bamboo slips, were wooden or bamboo sticks wrapped in cloth.

During the Greco-Roman period from 332 B.C. to 642 A.D., the Greeks and Romans cleaned their derrières with another stick called a tersorium, according to a feature in the BMJ. The tersorium, which had a sponge on one end, was left in public bathrooms for communal use. Some scholars argue that the tersorium may not have been used to clean people's behinds but the bathrooms they defecated in. People cleaned the tersorium by dumping it in a bucket of salt or vinegar water or by dipping it in running water that flowed beneath the toilet seats.

image via Live Science 

The local government of the Mexican state of Nuevo León finally downgraded their alert level from red to orange on September 4. This means that locals are now allowed to hold celebrations such as weddings provided they still maintain a distance of five feet from each other. This wedding was one great example of the locals obeying the state government.

Footage shows the moment several couples on the dance floor make sure to stay inside socially-distant squares marked by tape.

[...]

The video goes on to show the rest of the venue as the just-married couple is also seen enjoying a dance, but, unlike their guests, were not confined to a box or wearing face masks.

The Mexican 'epidemiological traffic light' system was created to notify locals which state of emergency they are in depending on the number of people hospitalised due to COVID-19.

It goes from green to yellow to orange to red in order of how serious the situation is at the time.

Cool!

(Image Credit: Newsflash/ DailyMail)

Are you healthy, adventurous, over 21, have a valid driver's license and a social media account, and love beer? Then you are invited to compete for the position of Michelob Ultra CEO. That's Chief Exploration Officer. The duties sound like a lot of fun.

In this case, the chosen CEO will be equipped with a camper van (that has a bathroom and shower), and over the course of six months, visit, hike and photograph several national parks, including Yosemite, Sequoia, Joshua Tree, Saguaro and Big Bend. The job pays $50,000 plus expenses, like gas money for their camper van. The candidate selected will have the opportunity to perform their CEO duties solo, or with a plus-one.

Yeah, that's something you should jump on. However, be aware that there is only one slot, and candidates will be judged on their affinity for the outdoors, photography skills, hiking experience, and enthusiasm, among other things. Read more about the promotional stunt/temp job at Lifehacker.

In the US, KitKat bars come in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and soon, mint flavor. These sweet treats are even more popular in Japan, where they've been made in more than 400 flavors! Would you try a purple sweet potato-flavored KitKat? Gimme a break! Some of those 400 flavors are regional, and some were limited editions, but in any Japanese store, you'll be confronted with a huge variety of KitKat flavors. That's because part of the allure of the KitKat bar is how versatile one can make it. And that "one" is pastry chef Yasumasa Takagi. -Thanks, WTM!

Now, that’s a way to tell people how much time we have left before the Earth gives up on us! Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd reprogrammed Metronome’s digital clock in Manhattan to show how much time our planet has left before it succumbs to global warming and climate change. The digital clock also serves as a call for action, for people to  reverse the effects of climate change before it’s too late, as the New York Times details: 

On Saturday at 3:20 p.m., messages including “The Earth has a deadline” began to appear on the display. Then numbers — 7:103:15:40:07 — showed up, representing the years, days, hours, minutes and seconds until that deadline.

“This is our way to shout that number from the rooftops.” Mr. Golan said just before the countdown began. “The world is literally counting on us.”

The Climate Clock, as the two artists call their project, will be displayed on the 14th Street building, One Union Square South, through Sept. 27, the end of Climate Week. The creators say their aim is to arrange for the clock to be permanently displayed, there or elsewhere.

image via The New York Times

The police not only rely on manpower, but on dog power as well, especially when it comes to cases that require their skills, like in drug trafficking and weapons distribution. A police dog is not just a co-worker for the officer who is assigned with one; the dog is family, and one of the most painful experiences in life is losing a family member.

For Malaysian police officer Patrick Sandai, saying goodbye to his ageing K9 partner Tho couldn't get anymore difficult and heart-wrenching.

"I’ve lost my first colleague," says Sandai.

On September 19, 2020, Tho passed away due to complications associated with old age, at twelve years and eight months.

Tho knew when Sandai wasn’t having a great day, and he would rub against the legs of his human partner. Tho was a testament that a dog is indeed a man’s best friend.

Learn more about Tho’s life over at Mashable.

Rest in peace, doggo.

(Image Credit: New Straits Times/ Bernama/ Mashable)