Listen, 2020 is a really rough year. It’s been hell for everybody, physically, mentally, and emotionally. With the stress this year has given us, some of us are trying to find joy in other places, such as books, video games, or television shows. Personally, one of the things I’m thankful for keeping me sane this year is Animal Crossing: New Horizons.It came at a point when I really wanted to escape, by any method, to pass the time. Gizmodo’s io9 team writes about the pop culture that helped them cope with the year. What media has helped you cope this year? 

Image via Gizmodo 

I don’t have the time and patience to figure out how to play a whole musical piece using household appliances. Well, some people are talented and patient enough to do so. Watch   Kurt Hugo Schneider as he covers the Harry Potter theme with his washer and dryer. Mad respect, man. 

The holidays are near, and you’d expect big sales going around. The one unexpected sale we have right now is Nintendo, with Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy having slashed prices on some major Nintendo Switch titles like The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and Luigi’s Mansion 3.  Most of the games are currently $20 off the digital versions, and some prices are even lower for a physical copy! If you want a deal on Nintendo’s eshop, they are also having a sale until December 2. Grab the deals while you still can! 

Image via CNET 

Apple has finally unveiled the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini with its own M1 chip. Gone are the Intel-powered expensive MacBooks, and it has resulted in a fair amount of hype and skepticism. Is the in-house designed processor worth our money? Are the new Macs really better than Intel-powered ones? Input Magazine’s  Raymond Wong bought his own new M1-powered MacBook, and is ready to spill the tea. Check his full piece here. 

Image via Apple 

We’ve seen fictional weapons fire lasers at enemies, at the sky, at aliens, even! But laser weaponry is no longer just something you’d see in movies or television shows, it has become reliable weaponry that can be used even in the harshest of conditions. The Drive’s Tyler Rogoway writes how technological developments have helped the rise of laser weaponry. Check the full piece here.  

Image via The Drive 

The future of artificial intelligence is both amazing and scary. A new system can almost write and chat like humans do. The system, called GPT-3, was trained to analyze thousands of digital books, the entire Wikipedia, and 1 trillion words posted on the Internet for months in order for it to have a grasp of our natural language. When the GPT-3 was put to the test by 23-year-old programmer Mckay Wrigley, the results were astonishing: 

One of his experiments involved a pop psychologist, Scott Barry Kaufman. The system took in Kaufman’s name and a topic for discussion: creativity. Then, when asked “How do we become more creative?” GPT-3 responded instantly:

“I think creative expression is a natural byproduct of growing up in a diverse world. The more diverse the world is, the more you get exposed to different people, to different opportunities, to different places and to different challenges. And the more diverse that is, the more likely you’ll be to be able to put the dots together to form something new. And in many ways, I think if you want to be creative, you have to go for it. If you want to be a writer, you have to write, if you want to be a musician, you have to create music, if you want to be a comedian, you have to create comedy, and the more you create, the more likely it is that you’ll stumble onto some interesting stuff.”

Later, when Wrigley posted the paragraph on Twitter, somebody looped in the real Scott Barry Kaufman. He was stunned. “It definitely sounds like something I would say,” the real Kaufman tweeted, later adding, “Crazy accurate AI.”

Image via the Chicago Tribune

Retro gamers, rejoice! Arcade games are now more accessible (well, some retro games, to be specific) for you! Capcom has revealed that it will release a mini-arcade machine packed with its classic titles. The mini-arcade, called Retro Station, is a tabletop unit with an 8-inch screen. The following are the titles available to play in the console: 

Mega Man The Power Battle

Mega Man 2 The Power Fighters

Mega Man X

Mega Man Soccer

Mega Man & Bass (Japanese Console Version)

Street Fighter II

Street Fighter II’ Champion Edition

Super Street Fighter II

Super Street Fighter II Turbo

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo

Will you be getting one? 

Image via Nintendo Life 

Let’s get real, minimalistic furniture and housewares never get old. Well, unless you’re not a fan of minimalism, then maybe those kinds of housewares will be tiring to look at. However, if you’re like me, a big fan of simple and minimalistic items, this new tableware line will pique your interest: 

The Monoware launch collection features dining staples such as plates, bowls and mugs, as well as serving platters and pitchers, with reduced silhouettes and a palette of earthy tones, from chalk to slate. The debut pieces were created in collaboration with ceramicist Ian McIntyre. ‘What appealed to me in Ian’s work is the way he mixes industrial design and traditional craft skills,’ explains Baer, who was particularly attracted by the ceramicist’s extensive experience with stoneware. The plates’ design was carefully considered, and each piece was crafted in high-quality materials (’We’ve perfected the plates, so you can bring the party’, reads Baer’s mission statement.)

Image via Wallpaper 

A new country is now joining the US, Russia, and China when it comes to space exploration. The United Arab Emirates has announced an unmanned moon mission for 2024. The new lunar mission will use the UAE’s most ambitious spacecraft yet:  

The new lunar mission involves a small rover, to be built entirely at Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC). Inaugurated in 2006, the center has already designed and built Earth-orbit satellites under an all-Emirati team, but the rover is its most ambitious technological undertaking to date.

"We have experience with orbiters, but this will be the first mission in which we are landing on another celestial body," says Adnan Al Rais, who leads the Mars 2117 program at the MBRSC.

"We are working on the development of the science and technologies that will enable us one day to send humans to Mars," explains Al Rais. "In order to do that, we looked into the gaps that we currently have in our knowledge; space robotics and robotic technologies are among those gaps, which we are addressing by developing a lunar rover."

Image via CNN 

Phil Spencer took Playstation 5’s new DualSense controller out for a spin, and surprisingly, was impressed! Spencer was enthusiastic for the potential innovation the DualSense controller could bring to the video game industry. With the controller’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, Spencer called it as Sony’s own take on the Nintendo Wii controller embraces motion control for video games: 

"I applaud what they did with the controller, not actually for — well, I shouldn’t say not for the specifics of the controller, but more than just the specifics of the controller," Spencer said to The Verge. "I think for all of us in the industry, we should learn from each other and the innovation that we all push on, whether it’s distribution of business model like Game Pass, or controller tech, or the Wii back in the day, which clearly had an impact on us when we went off and did Kinect and Sony did the Move."

It will be interesting to see whether or not the DualSense's controller innovations will catch on with the industry as a whole, or if developers decide to forgo additions like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. There are interesting things Sony can do with the technology, but it remains to be seen whether or not third party publishers will devote the time and resources to doing just that. In that regard, Spencer is curious to see if this becomes an industry standard.

"I think all of that innovation is something that we should all be looking at and learning and growing and saying, 'Okay, what’s really going to break out and become a common part of a platform that developers and players are going to look for?' Or, 'What is more vertical around a specific scenario on a specific piece of hardware?' We’re trying to be eyes open on that," Spencer said to The Verge. "For any technology, whether it’s a controller, or any VR, or anything else..."

Image via Playstation

I try to be an ethical buyer, especially when it comes to fashion. The fashion industry isn’t a saintly place, with the issues in fast fashion, such as overworking and underpaying employees just to be able to release a lot of cheap products for the mass market. Ethical shopping isn’t easy, with so many terms, certifications, accreditation systems, and marketing stunts, how do we support the right companies? The Conversation provides some details that can guide us to be more aware of where and what we buy! Check the full piece here. 

Image via The Conversation 

Paul Koudounaris’ beloved feline companion Baba is the narrator and model for his new book, A Cat’s Tale: A Journey Through Feline History. The book tackles the different events in our history, from ancient Egypt to the Enlightenment and the New World. While some history books focus only on the people that contributed to history, Koudounaris also shines the spotlight on the heroic, tragic, and heartwarming stories of cats! The Smithsonian has more details: 

A Cat’s Tale is one of dozens of books about the history of cats. But the richly illustrated volume stands out because it’s actually told through the voice of a cat. Baba acts not only as narrator but also Cindy Sherman-like impersonator, appearing throughout the book dressed as historic individuals and caricatures. Her voice and visage make Koudounaris’ take on the subject truly singular, mimicking oral storytelling more than an academic treatise. As Baba declares in the first chapter, “We cats have been allies to humankind for a very long time, and while you have reserved the sobriquet ‘man’s best friend’ for the dog, I may now provide you reasons to judge differently.” Letting Baba carry the book also allows Koudounaris to make a larger point about the subjectivity of history, including which stories get told and whose point of view and agenda they convey.

“Ostensibly, it’s a feline history book, but it’s also at its heart something more: a challenge to history as being a homo-centric monologue,” Koudounaris says. Underneath Baba’s narratorial sass and charm is “a plea to include other species that have been left out of history,” he adds. “We’re all in this together, and we’re all connected.”

Image via the Smithsonian

Going high isn’t an exclusive activity for present-day people. Scientists have discovered the first evidence of prehistoric people taking hallucinogens. Indigenous Californians who  gathered in a cave would look up the ceiling, where a pinwheel and a big-eyed moth were painted in red: 

This mysterious "pinwheel," is likely a depiction of the delicate, white flower of Datura wrightii, a powerful hallucinogen that the Chumash people took not only for ceremonial purposes but also for medicinal and supernatural ones, according to a new study.

The moth is likely a species of hawk moth, known for its "loopy" intoxicated flight after slurping up Datura's nectar, the researchers said.

Chewed globs that humans stuck to the cave's ceiling provided more evidence of these ancient trips; these up to 400-year-old lumps, known as quids, contained the mind-altering drugs scopolamine and atropine, which are found in Datura, the researchers said.

Image via ScienceAlert

Some of us have used VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)  when travelling abroad to access Netflix shows that aren’t available in the place they were visiting, and some are using them to access shows that are not available in their home. However, VPNs are also used to stay safe when using  public Wi-Fi networks. If you don’t want to pay for a proper VPN, then you can always set up your own. Corbin Davenport shares how to make your personal VPN. Check the full piece here! 

Image via Android Police

Sometimes you want to spice up your Instagram account with an artsy-looking photo. There are applications that let you edit your photos, and the results can be quite overwhelming. Not to mention it’s gonna take a long time to pick the editor that you can trust. Lightstalking recommends some highly-rated photo editors (with some of them able to turn photos into beautiful digital paintings). 

Image via Light Stalking