Cyberpunk 2077 Has Lots of Ways to Go Up and Down, as CDPR Really Took Advantage of Verticality – Wccftech

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Even though there are some highly anticipated titles due this Holiday season, nothing compares to the hype surrounding Cyberpunk 2077. The Last of Us Part II might reach similar levels upon its release date announcement if that happens as expected later today.

Luckily, CD Projekt RED has been providing fans with lots of new Cyberpunk 2077 tidbits lately through various press interviews. The latest one appeared on PlayStation Official Magazine (November 2019, issue 167), where Senior Concept Artist and Coordinator Marthe Jonkers highlighted the importance of verticality in the exploration of Night City.

Related [UPDATED Multiple Presentations] Cyberpunk 2077 Public Gameplay Demo Announced For EGX Berlin

The city is really the core of Cyberpunk 2077. We approached it very holistically; we started with very big ideas of the city and then went into detail and detail and detail and detail. We have an urban planner in the team, for instance, which really helps us with the map and the layout to make the city feel very realistic.

We now have this option of vertical exploration that we didnt really have in The Witcher, which was more of a spread-out map. We really take advantage of that, and we have a lot of ways of going up and down.

Jonkers also wanted to make it clear that while Cyberpunk 2077s Night City is big, there is a focus on quality exploration versus quantity.

Night City is enormous. But we also value quality over quantity, I have to be honest about that. Theres a lot to explore, but we would never just make all these half-empty buildings. We make sure that wherever you go, you actually get this high quality of exploration. We really try to make sure that around almost every corner theres something interesting. When youre somewhere you can already see another thing that might be interesting.

So its really like a puzzle, actually, when you think about Night City and how we designed it, a sort of big 3D puzzle to make sure that stuff stays interesting and not repetitive.

Her mention of players always being able to spot something interesting, wherever they may be, seems to be an indirect confirmation that the 40-second rule seen in The Witcher 3 is still there. If youre not familiar with it, thats a rule CD Projekt RED came up with to ensure the open world always had something that would catch the players eye, every forty seconds or so. Given how much praise The Witcher 3s open world got, thats definitely a good sign.

Cyberpunk 2077 is out April 16th, 2020 on PC, PlayStation and Xbox One.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Has Lots of Ways to Go Up and Down, as CDPR Really Took Advantage of Verticality - Wccftech

Gamedec is an investigative cyberpunk RPG that swaps combat for case files – PC Gamer

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Gamedec is a cyberpunk RPG from a Polish developer, but you'd never mistake it for Cyberpunk 2077. Set in Warsaw, in a future where people escape reality by plugging into virtual worlds, it's an isometric detective yarn that plays out case-by-case as you solve VR crimes with real consequences.

The demo, unfortunately hands-off, begins in a familiar street soaked in rain and neon. There is, of course, a bar nearby. It's a watering hole for gamers that's filled with topless women and places for people to plug into VR. It's a sleazy, bleak joint, but we don't stick around. There's a client who needs the services of a gamedec, and they're waiting inside a free-to-play farming sim.

Each case is a discrete mission with several possible conclusions based on evidence you've collected, which you've then got to tie together like a cyberpunk Sherlock Holmes. In this case, the client wants someone to look into people getting sick while playing the farming sim, which also happens to be set in the Wild West. Even the UI changes to match the new setting.

(Image credit: Anshar Studios)

Pretty quickly, the farming sim gets weird. There's a suspicious fella spying on people working the fields, a player collapses but isn't automatically logged out and a mod is discovered that allows the user to accelerate time in the game. Each of them opens up a new avenue of investigation, but you can ignore them or get locked out of them, potentially losing that piece of information forever.

To find out more about the collapsed player, it's possible to hack the device they're connected tothe couch. Various skills can be used to give the gamedec the upper hand in when they're interrogating someone or exploiting a game, which can then become permanent 'aspects' that guarantee success. With the Hackerman aspect, for instance, the intelligence roll can be skipped during hacking attempts, making you a cyberspace wiz.

Anshar Studios CEO Lukasz Hacura says that the team prototypes the cases by running pen and paper sessions where players have to come up with their own solutions, then they pick the most interesting or common ones and tries to implement them in Gamedec. It's still the illusion of choice, but it's rooted in the anything goes philosophy of tabletop roleplaying.

(Image credit: Anshar Studios)

There will be plenty of ways to solve a case, then, and even if you made terrible decisions and have a series of unlucky rolls, there are always going to be enough clues to close itthough maybe not to your satisfaction. You could even phone it in. Maybe you're a crappy detective, or maybe you've been paid to not follow the trail of evidence. Whatever conclusion is reached, however, the world just adapts and moves on. You'll still need to live with being an awful person, of course.

Notably, nothing violent happens in the demo. That won't always be the caseyou'll be able to shoot people, hack turrets and find other less than peaceful ways to find information, but there's no dedicated combat system. These opportunities will crop up as cases unfold and play out like other actions. Hacura likens it to Quantic Dream's Detroit: Become Human, though without the quick time events, but he emphasises that Gamedec is an RPG, not an adventure game, and bristles at the idea that RPGs need to have combat.

Despite once being prescient, cyberpunk can sometimes feel a bit stuck in the '80s, but Gamedec seems a lot more unconventional. It's exploring things like gold farming, exploitative game mechanics and the seedier side of the medium, so maybe it has something interesting to say. A proper investigative RPG is also a rare treat, especially outside of tabletop games.

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Gamedec is an investigative cyberpunk RPG that swaps combat for case files - PC Gamer

Cyberpunk Creator Reveals The Dark Side Of Night City – SegmentNext

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Remember that bustling commercial hub from the earlier Cyberpunk 2077 footage? Thats Watson and just one of six districts you can explore in Night City. CD Projekt Red did mention that each area has a unique story to tell. According to the creator of the original tabletop game, though, you would be surprised to know how deep (and dark) the rot goes.

Pacifica is one of the other districts of Night City that has been made home by a number of gangs. Unlike the vibrant atmosphere of Watson, it has a gloomy cloud hovering above its series of slums. In an interview for the latest issue of PC Gamer magazine, Mike Pondsmith described Pacifica as the playground by the sea that didnt work out.

There was a time when massive skyscraper hotels were being constructed in Pacifica but then investors pulled out and left the district at the mercy of the criminal cyberpunk underworld. The tragedy that shook Pacifica can be seen through its architecture, which Pondsmith made sure of by collaborating with CD Projekt Red. There are all kinds of incredibly subtle details buried in the architecture of the city, he said.

Interestingly, Pondsmith revealed that Pacifica and the other districts of Night City have a dark side just like any city in the real world. While working on Cyberpunk 2077, he strived to make sure everything in the setting is rooted in some kind of truth. He did this by pouring his own personal experiences into the game.

We were hitting some very strange bars, and some of them were just amazingly cyberpunk, he said. Industrial bars, biker bars. We were walking through the rainy streets of San Francisco and it was dangerous. I had a big-ass afro and mirror shades, and I was packing a nine-inch knife.

Pondsmith believes that every detail of the Cyberpunk Night City resonates with some truth of the real world. You will be able to sense these aesthetics when jumping into Cyberpunk 2077 yourself, or at least thats what the tabletop creator firmly believes.

Last week, concept art coordinator Marthe Jonkers also explained how Night City has a complex design and history behind it. He stated that the folks at CD Projekt Red had to see every cyberpunk movie and read every cyberpunk book. A lot of time was invested into visualizing Night City for Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt Red is known to never compromise on lore and storytelling. The developer is even attaching a narrative to the multiplayer component, which wont release unless it fits the lore of Night City because thats just how CD Projekt Red works.

Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to release for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on April 16, 2019.

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Bruce Sterling on Boris Johnson’s bizarre, cyberpunk dystopia address to the UN – Boing Boing

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This week's bizarre speech to the UN by the UK's clownish, authoritarian Prime Minister pro tem Boris Johnson has sparked a lot of talk, especially among science fiction readers who recognise the difference between cautionary tales about hi-tech dystopias and suggestions for public technology policy (unlike PM Johnson).

Especially trenchant is Bruce Sterling's commentary, which correctly points out that Boris Johnson could easily be a character from Sterling's 1998 novel Distraction, which remains one of the all-time great political satire novels (along with Neal Stephenson's Interface): "I could have written this speech as a fictional speech by a politician in one of my novels, for instance, 'Green Huey' in the novel 'Distraction.' And Boris Johnsons speech would have passed muster in one of my novels: readers would have been entertained by it, in the standard science-fictional fashion: 'of course a politician in a cyberpunk sci-fi novel is gonna dwell on the killer robots and the mutant chickens.'"

*If hed delivered this rant from a podium at South by South West in Austin instead of the floor of the UN, people would have just nodded thoughtfully, and even been rather pleased that a major G-7 politician was so up to speed with the mutant chickens.

*In terms of cultural sensibility, this must be the most cyberpunk intervention that Ive ever seen from any major politician (as opposed to say, elected officials of the Pirate Party, who are commonly actual counterculture punks obsessed with computers). BoJo is trying to conjure up a transgressive cyberpunk atmosphere of ecstasy and dread here, hes trying to put the previous world order on the back-foot and make it feel old and out of touch.

Visionary high-points of the recent Boris Johnson speech at the United Nations [Bruce Sterling/Beyond the Beyond]

Sorry, no cosplay

Man, 2019 is weird.

We already know most Republicans in the Senate are Trump ride-or-die toadies who would eat their own children if it made Orange Hitler smile. Well, today, on the day an anonymous whistleblowers complaint threatens to topple the presidency, is just like any other day on the GOP side of the Senate.

You already take your games and movies on the go. Why not share them? Thanks to the PIQO Powerful 1080p Mini Projector, you can have that communal, drive-in movie experience anywhere on your own massive screen. This gadget packs a lot of functionality into a roughly 2 square package. First and foremost, its got a []

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Its a long road from a song in your head to a song on the charts especially if youre just learning to play. The good news is, anyone whos willing to practice can make music. These online classes can make that process painless, with methods that can teach anyone guitar, piano or even the []

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If The Avengers Were Cyberpunk 2077 Characters | Screen Rant – Screen Rant

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Three new pieces of digital art have been unveiled, reimagining some of the titular heroes fromAvengers: Endgame as characters from the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 video game. The latest (and arguably greatest) Marvel team-up movie debuted in theaters earlier this year. The adventure saw the collective superheroes journey through time and face off with Thanos once again in an effort to undo the Mad Titan's actions from Avengers: Infinity War. As well as amassing rave reviews, the franchise redefining installment also shattered box office records. In the wake of the film's already considerable success, Disney will next turn their attention to an Oscar campaign.

Developed by CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 has been in the works for a number of years and, to many, is as highly-anticipated as any MCU installment. The role-playing game is due for release in 2020 and came to more widespread prominence at this year's E3 convention- where actor Keanu Reeves surprised audiences with a breathtaking appearance and unveiled the game's first official trailer. Although Reeves himself enjoyed pride of place within the footage, he'll unfortunately not be a romance option. It was later revealed that almost all of Cyberpunk 2077 would be first-person, and that the game will receive a multiplayer mode at some point in the future.

Related: Avengers: Endgame Proved To James Cameron That Avatar 2 Can Be Successful

Posted on Screen Rant's own Instagram page, fans can now check out three new pieces of original art that crosses the streams of both franchises. The first depicts Chris Hemsworth's Thor as part of the futuristic world - complete with bright yellow eyes, a cool new scar, and a fitting new outfit. The second features Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark. Though the character also known as Iron Man sacrificed his life to see Thanos and his forces defeated once and for all, the art depicts him very much alive and as cool as ever. Blessed with a purple hue, Stark sits comfortably in a chair with a stunningly realized backdrop behind him, one hand wholly human and the other infinitely more robotic. The third image is of Chris Evans' Steve Rogers. Although he was last seen to be retired and passing the Captain America mantle to Sam Wilson, the new image sees the character back on the street and in the thick of it. All three stunning images can be checked out in the space below.

Hemsworth will remain within the MCU for the foreseeable future. Last seen leaving Earth with the Guardians of the Galaxy, he'll return to star alongside fellow returning players Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman in Thor: Love and Thunder. Evans, meanwhile, has officially moved on for the time being. The Boston-born actor has a number of projects in the pipeline, including the Rian Johnson-directed murder mystery, Knives Out. Downey Jr. will apparently continue to straddle both worlds despite the character's demise. Along with the upcoming Voyage of Doctor Dolittle, it's been reported that he may make an appearance in the solo Black Widow movie. The titular heroes also have their own Marvel's Avengers game set to debut next year.

That will surely not prove enough for fans, however, after seeing the images. Based on the comments, many are already wishing the crossover was real and the imagined game was actually available to play. John Wick star Reeves has already been experiencing a resurgence in popularity in recent years. Seeing him alongside the equally popular Avengers, however, would no doubt take that to a whole new level and certainly be a team-up for the ages. Sadly, however, until such time as Kevin Feige finally does find the perfect role for Reeves in the MCU, fans will just have to continue to enjoy the combination of Avengers: Endgame and Cyberpunk 2077 in artwork.

More: Cyberpunk 2077 First-Person Focus Is Right For The Game

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Zenith, the Cyberpunk MMORPG, Celebrates Over 1,000% Funding as Most Successful VR Kickstarter Ever with New Video, New Playable Race – GamingLyfe…

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Ramen VR, an indie VR studio thats creating a unique VR metaverse, today revealed that its crowdfunding campaign forZenith, a fantasy cyberpunk VR MMORPG for VR and PC, has hit over 1,000% crowd funding by hitting a total of $250,000 with 24 hours left to go. The campaign continues to prove out the appeal of being able to play, socialize, and create unique experiences in the first cross-platform VR MMORPG, and Ramen is celebrating with the release of a new Spellcasting Teaser video.

The studio also released the first concept art for the new Mineko race added in the games sixth funded stretch goal:

The Mineko are a race of humanoid cat people from a distant land who will be playable inZenith. They are distinguished by their cats eyes, pointed ears, and tails. They are, on average, the same height as humans, but they tend to be slender and more lithe, able to jump long distances and maintain their balance well. For many years, the Mineko Ballet has been a popular Zenith attraction; humans and Mineko alike love to watch the graceful dancers. The only thing that sets them off? Dogs, of course!

Inspired by anime and JRPG classics and reimagined as a dynamic living world with cross-play between VR platforms and PC,Zenithoffers a futuristic universe in which players will fight, craft, explore, and live as they forge alliances and friendships in guilds and parties. In the game world, heroes are needed to venture forth to save Zenith from calamity. Characters who take up this challenge can participate in epic raids and world events or go solo to become a powerful leader whose deeds will be forever immortalized. With the $250,000 milestone, the game has now added seven stretch goals including the new Mineko race and the final goal of a level editor that will allow players to design their own levels.

Zenithis the brainchild of Andy Tsen and Lauren Frazier, co-founders of Ramen VR with a decade of experience at Unity, Google, and building startup companies. In addition to the games success in passing over $250,000 of funding on Kickstarter, it has attracted investment fromY Combinator, the highly respected provider of seed funding for startups that has funded startups such as Airbnb, Dropbox, and Twitch.

TheKickstarter campaignwill help the team at Ramen VR further develop the epic adventure while sharing early benefits with fans who help create the exciting world.

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Zenith, the Cyberpunk MMORPG, Celebrates Over 1,000% Funding as Most Successful VR Kickstarter Ever with New Video, New Playable Race - GamingLyfe...

Cyberpunk 2077: 5 Things To Look Forward To (& 5 Were Worried About) – GameRant

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Easily the most anticipated game of 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 has been gracing us with tons of information and sneak peeks this year. From E3 to Gamescom,rich gameplay footage has given us a bit more insight into what the game promises for us exactly and what we can expect come next year's April. If you're still on the fence yourself about whether or not this upcoming open-world cyberpunk RPG from CD Projekt RED, the makers of The Witcher series, is for you or not, we've prepared this handy list of five features we're incredibly excited to get our hands on and five that has us biting our nails in worry.

Click the button below to start this article in quick view

Cyberpunk 2077 wouldn't be a complete game without the possibility of cyberware. These are various cybernetic additions you can put on your body to enhance it for combat, for cosmetic needs or even for medical purposes. A RipperDoc can be visited to browse a selection of available cyberware. The enhancements can vary from optical scanners that give you the ability to scan any target for more information to special sensors on your hand that allows you to connect to your weapons, view ammo count and have increased damage on connected weapons.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a rich game with lots of diverse gameplay, but ultimately it all comes down to combat. Sure, there's a way to get through the game without killing a soul, but it won't be the easiest route.

RELATED:Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Defends The Decision To Make The Game First-Person

If your aim isn't the best, there are special pistols that will help you with that. However, these weapons will do significantly less damage than most guns. If you're not particularly into first-person shooters yourself, then Cyberpunk 2077 might be a hard one to get into despite its atmospheric gameplay.

One challenges in games featuring vehicles and combat is merging the two together. It's pretty hard to focus on driving your car through high speed traffic when you also need to worry about a vengeful group of gang members driving before you in an attempt to kill you. Luckily, in Cyberpunk 2077 the automatic drive function allows you to seamlessly shift from driving to peeking your head from the window and shooting at the target. This makes high speed car chases so much more fun to play when you know you can focus on the right thing and feel like an absolute badass doing it.

Like most open-world RPGs, Cyberpunk 2077 will feature a main quest, but also numerous side quests. It's yet unclear how many quests will be included in the game in total, but we can assume there will be plenty judging by the sheer size of the world and the amount of characters we've seen so far. However, with V being a mercenary and with how earning money to unlock different augmentations and additions to your kit is important, many of the quests might become quite repetitive mercenary quests or follow similar, linear paths. Hopefully, the developers give us the most amount of quest variation as possible.

Cutscenes are an essential part of a game, as they build the story and help us get immersed into it. When Cyberpunk 2077 announced it had made the decision to ensure all cutscenes would be in first person, we were pretty happy with this decision.

RELATED:Here Are All Of Cyberpunk 2077's Quest Types

The whole point of this game is to feel like we're really there and experience this rich and diverse world. It'll be interesting to see if VR is going to be enabled for players, which might make the game especially interesting when getting a new cyberware installed.

At the beginning of your journey, before you even enter Night City, you need to choose your character's lifepath. This is an attribute that will influence your story and some of the choices you'll be able to make, as well as some of your interactions with the world. So far there are only three options to choose from: Nomad, Street Kid and Corporate. While these no doubt embody the key archetypes the game, it feels like there should be just a few more options to bring in a bit more nuance to your character. It's unlikely there will be more lifepaths, but at least there will be three different ways to complete the game.

There's few people who don't get excited when hearing the word "open-world". But what if we told you that not only is Cyberpunk 2077 going to be open-world, it'll also have six different areas for you to explore? In true cyberpunk fashion, you can visit a corporate owned City Center region. Alternatively you have an immigrant suburb called Watson, luxury hotspot Westbrook, a more suburban area known as Heywood, gang territory Pacifica, industrial area Santo Domingo and finally the surrounding Badlands. You won't be bored for a while, that much is certain.

It shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone that a game featuring gun fights and a seedy city filled with crime and possibilities is going to be stock full of mature content.

RELATED:Cyberpunk 2077: 5 Burning Questions We Have

However, if you plan on playing this game near your younger siblings or your older family members, beware that the developers have confirmed the game will feature full nudity and tons of cussing, as well as graphic violence. This isn't that big of a surprise after The Witcher series, but it's important to keep in mind, especially if you plan on gifting the game to someone. Mature audiences and players only.

Creating a character and beginning your journey in a new game is one of the most exciting feelings, and Cyberpunk 2077 definitely has us anticipating with all the features it has announced. The main character V will be genderless, meaning you can choose between a male or female body and define your sexuality yourself. You can customize your appearance to your liking, and even pick between a few different voice options for your character. Finally, you get to choose your stats, which include Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical and Cool, and from those you can create the character build you'd like. Some of builds we've already seen are the NetRunner which focuses on hacking, Techie which specializes in machinery and Solo that has a strong combat preference.

With all these features coming for the game and with how immersive the world looks to be, the question needs to be asked: how much will it cost your computer to run? For console players this won't be such a big headache, but PC players eagerly pre-ordering the game this can be a legitimate concern. So far the developers have been using a pretty strong computer to showcase their game, with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card, an Intel i7 core and 32 GB of RAM of 3000 MHz. Thankfully, reports state that the game has yet to be optimized and won't have such tough requirements, but if you want to experience Cyberpunk 2077 in the highest of qualityit's probably best to also invest in a PC upgrade before splurging on the game itself.

NEXT: Here's How Cyberpunk 2077 Crafting Will Work

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Cyberpunk 2077: 5 Things To Look Forward To (& 5 Were Worried About) - GameRant

In Cyberpunk 2077 It Is No Use to Look for Empty Buildings and Undeveloped Spaces – Code List

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Cyberpunk will offer players a huge world. There were many fears about the network that apart from the main parts of the city there would be slightly more empty locations.

This was answered by the developers of CD Projekt RED, who say that it certainly will not be.

You will not find empty buildings and locations

Marthe Jonkers assures that although Night City is huge, the creators took care of the amount of details on the map.Hence, there is not even one building or room that seems empty to us.

Wherever we go, we have a great opportunity to explore and explore the world.

Weve made sure that something interesting appears in every corner.

What does something interesting mean?Hard to say.Perhaps it is about additional tasks or specific people with whom you will be able to interact.

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In Cyberpunk 2077 It Is No Use to Look for Empty Buildings and Undeveloped Spaces - Code List

The beautiful bugs of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare beta – Eurogamer.net

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As the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare beta soldiers on, so do the bug reports from its army of players.

Many of the issues with Modern Warfare are important to the integrity of the game, as you'd expect. Clipping, for example, is one (the last thing you want is players hiding in the wheels of vehicles). Shotguns don't seem to work properly, either. And the spawns need some work.

But some of the reported bugs are a lot of fun - and one in particular makes Modern Warfare look like Cyberpunk.

Here's a fun one: if you sprint near a door you can sometimes open it - even if you're not actually touching the door or even springing away from the door. It's the Force push bug, if you will. (By the way, Infinity Ward has said this is being worked on for launch.)

Speaking of doors, the following bug involves a door opening with such force, it blows a soldier across the room. (I love this clip because you can see the confusion running across the minds of both players present.)

I've seen multiple players report the following bug: it makes your soldier appear as if they've teleported into the game from the Nintendo 64.

This next one's a bit nightmarish.

Speaking of nightmares, kill this one. Kill it with fire.

And finally, my favourite: this bug, experienced by it seems multiple players, turns Call of Duty: Modern Warfare into a neon-drenched Cyberpunk setting. It's super cool, and makes me wonder what a Cyberpunk-set Call of Duty game might look like.

Now, reporting bugs is what betas are for, of course, and it's good to see players report these bugs with a laugh rather than with a pitchfork. The launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a month away, so with any luck the developers at Infinity Ward will be able to sort this stuff out before release.

Well, not the Cyberpunk graphics. They can stay.

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‘Quarter Killer’ Introduces New Vision of the Future (Preview) – Hollywood Reporter

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Joining Ayala and Lore on the series are artist Jamie Jones (Joey Ryan: Big in Japan, Puerto Rico Strong) and letterer/designer Ryan Ferrier, who together draw on very specific parts of the past to create a complete vision of the future that nods to cyberpunk and classic SF, as well as hip-hop and video game cultures, as can be seen in the preview below.

Jones, Lore and Ayala talked to THR about the series.

Quarter Killer feels like multiple comics in one, in the best way; its something that is wonderfully complex, without feeling overly complicated. For a world that feels not only complete, but also as if its always existed, Im curious: What and where were the origins of the book? Where did Quentin come from?

Vita Ayala: One of the most fundamental parts of Danny and my friendship is riffing creatively. Its like freestyling, but with storytelling. This has been the case from the beginning.

QK as a general concept came very early in our friendship almost 10 years ago now when we were talking about some of our favorite cyberpunk stories and going but what if it was New York and black? We are both huge fans of the genre overall, and the idea of digital espionage and fighting corporations with their own tools.

The idea of the hacker as a lone cowboy type is pretty standard, and so the spin is that, no, what if they were doing it for the culture? Why wouldnt a hacker use their skills to help their community? That is such a big part of who Danny and I are, and we wanted to bring that to a genre we love.

Danny Lore: QK mostly originates in the fact that were a big group of nerds, but like, cool nerds well, the rest of the team is cool. QKwas literally us riffing in the comic shop like yo, what if there was this dude... and they took mercenary jobs... but its the future, so they take quarters because they can play games and call their mama. Over time, [Quentin]became a real character, and we started to populate the world around them. Some of the character concepts were just joke concepts to start and then they took on lives of their own. And thats especially true once Jamie started doing concepts.

Jamie Jones: When taking on the look of the book, something we all thought a lot about is how NYC would look in the not-too-distant future. What this means from my end is taking trends that are happening now and making them bigger or taking fashion trends from the past and bringing them back to light. Hip-Hop fashion of the '80s plays a big part in the way people dress in our future. So the work comes in making these dated trends and uncomfortable fabrics work for future fashion. One of the ways I approached that was by giving characters a distinct print. A pattern that could be pasted in the lining of jackets or shirts that would make the world feel vibrant in a pretty bleak setting.

Vita, you alluded to this already, but the book feels like a purposeful response to the fact that so much sci-fi and especially the cyberpunk-esque space that this feels like it fits into is, well, filled with cis white dudes frowning a lot. This is more colorful, and for all the retro touches, feels far more like the future. Am I reading too much into that?

Ayala: I grew up on sci-fi, both hard and more gentle, gritty and shiny. It was my first love as a genre, and will always be where I return to.

That being said, a lot of what I do when given the choice, is to try and be in conversation with what is lacking (or what there is not as much of). I write for younger versions of myself, to try and give them what they didnt have when they needed it, and for future versions of myself, to look back on and feel seen.

And I also want to write for folks that are nothing like me to see folks like me I lost count of how many people I was a first (black friend, queer friend, non-binary friend, etc) for. A large part of empathy is exposure to different folks in ways that humanize them, and that has always been a goal for me to engender empathy so that younger folks coming up have less nonsense to deal with.

Also, yes, there is a lot of Serious and Frowny sci-fi, and I want to help add to the fun and slick corner of the genre! You can have things to say and still make jokes and be more light hearted, absolutely.

Lore: So whats always been important to me is that the underpinnings of cyberpunk have always been brown and queer! Transhumanism is about technology and its relationship to the body and how one changes the other, right? In the same vein, cyberpunk has always been about marginalized people under the shadow of those in power, and how they survive, fight, and game the system. While a lot of the stories that made it big in the supposed canon feel very cis white dude, but weve always existed as part of the structure and heart of the genre.

I think what makes even the retro touches feel futuristic is that its not simply a future that we made brown and queer. Its our future, its the future of the people that Vita and I grew up around, that we become, and how those communities react to what comes next.

Jones: Diversity is something that I really wanted to translate in the world around QK. I spent a few weeks prior to working on the book just coming up with a color palette that I could always go back to. Finding colors that worked well together under different lighting. Running through the middle of the palette is a progression of skin tones varying from very dark almost usability so to very white also unusable. This helps me just pick different colors from background characters and constantly being varied.

Appropriately for this kind of story, theres a more going on that meets the eye in this first issue which is saying something, considering how great the visuals of the book are, but well come back to that in a second. Yet, despite the plot twists and reveals, each character feels very clear and immediate. How did you go about making Quentin and Aya so complete so quickly? Within their first interaction, the reader is left knowing who they are and what theyre about or is that a sneaky double bluff on your parts?

Lore: Quarter Killer and Ayas meeting is quick, but, to be honest, it was years in the making for all of us, and I think itd be disingenuous to discount that. Part of the clarity of that opener comes from us having known the characters for as long as we have. Its much easier to write that opener once youve got a good grasp for who they are. As for double bluffs weve got plenty of those, but were not going to let you in on our tells!

Ayala: For me, I wanted to find a way to make them tangible quickly in the way that when you first meet someone at a party, you dont necessarily know a persons entire history but you get a sense of them as an entity. I thought a lot about first introductions to folks, and more, about introducing two people I know very well to each other. What does that look and feel like?

A lot of it has to do with dynamics everyone has their needs, wants, and dislikes, how do those interact? Because Danny, Jamie and I have been living with these characters for a long time; we know them well and we know how their edges will fit together. I am glad they feel complete, because to us, they are we know almost everything about them, and so the trick is to find a way to NOT put it all in one scene, but to give enough while hinting at the hidden parts.

Jones: Posture is everything! Just little head tilts or leans can translate entire personality traits to characters.

Quarter Killer is a comic that, it feels, is perfect for something like ComiXology Originals a comic that speaks to a mainstream audience that might not go to comic stores, but will instantly understand the references and worldview of the book. When youre working with a publisher like ComiXology, do you feel a freedom to push what you can do, compared with something aimed at the direct market?

Ayala: There are different, not less though, considerations for the digital model, but I think not having to think about physical production and distribution gives us a chance to show what we can do without stressing out a longer chain of people who have to consider things like the overhead of a store. Having worked comics retail for a while, I sympathize and respect the balancing act!

The folks over at ComiXology have been incredibly supportive of us doing our thing. I think part of it is the medium and the story, absolutely and yes, a cyberpunk book that is digital definitely has a nice flavor to it but I think part of it is that they are confident of us as a team.

Lore: ComiXology really allowed us a lot of freedom, and that means that were telling the exact story that we set out to tell. In a way, for me, doing QK for ComiXology feels like the first time I got an E-reader: the very first thing I ever did was buy Neuromancer by William Gibson and load it up. It feels different to engage with that story in the digital world, and I think we wanted to tell a story that was very specifically made to be about the future, and engaged with on a platform that reflects one of the many futures of the medium.

Lets talk about the art for a second. Jamies artwork, and Ryans letters and design, feel like theyre completely in sync, and completely immersive. Theyre sharing influences and aesthetics, and the result is something unlike any other comic out there right now. How much of this was in the script, and how much is the two of you simply going, Oh, wow, oh, yes, that?

Ayala: The fun thing about working with Jamie and Ryan is that they are both friends of ours, and so we get to talk about all that stuff before Danny and I script. Part of it is Danny and I riffing and Jamie and Ryan taking that and making magic, but as important and often, it is Jamie going, Wait, what about this or Ryan tinkering and sending files, and Danny and I screaming, Hell to the yeah! and blasting victory music.

There is always new stuff we add in the script stage, absolutely, but Jamie then goes, Yo, I did that, but also I was studying X, or this reminded me of Y, and I did a remix.

Danny and I have a vibe that is fundamentally important for this book, and Jamie and Ryan bring their experience, expertise and all sorts of ideas to the table and we get the best of it all something better than the sum of its parts.

Lore: Every day, Jamie sends us pages hell, even straight-up layouts its us going, Oh, wow, oh, yes, that. We give references sometimes, describe things, but I think Vita and I both subscribe to the idea that panel descriptions arent the be all and end all. Theyre a conversation with the artist, sometimes a jumping off point to something thats cooler and wilder than we could have conceived. There are plot points in the latter half of the series that exist because we saw what Jamie did in the first two issues and played off of that the words are as shaped by the art as it is the other way around.

And Ryan is a lettering and design beast. We would toss out inspirations, and hed hit us back with work that just blew our minds regularly. Every SFX placement, the shapes of every sound, it really brings the whole book together and is one of the best representations of our goals and aesthetic that show up, I think.

Jones: Ryan and I have worked together in the past. He is one of my favorite letterers in the biz now. You can suggest something and he comes back with a look for the book that is better than you were expecting. Speaking for myself, I come with a lot of old comics influence. One of the greatest is Eisner and the Spirit. I cant escape it. There are places in the script where Vita or Danny will add some hyperlinks to give me a reference to a specific NYC thing that they grew up with and other times when they just let me do my thing. The three of us talked a lot about what the book should look like before we started the project proper. So during the actual page production its pretty much me just trying in pages.

Heres an obvious place to end: How do you introduce Quarter Killer to a new audience? What would you say to the curious THR reader whos about to read the preview and thinking about picking the series up?

Ayala: I think that there are a lot of points of entry to this book. It is visually stunning and kinetic/dynamic. The line work, the colors, the energy of it is off the charts! The design and lettering is so slick and clean and fun master-level work that makes you just fall into the story.

The story is universal while still being so very New York. It is about community, about redemption, about the struggle between those with and those without. But it is also very rooted in hip-hop, in city culture, in the experience of people who know all the best spots to avoid a camera so they can play unharnessed and know that the bodega brand icee is as good as the fancy ones that come with their own spoon.

This is Robin Hood meets Neuromancer, Lone Wolf & Cub meets Snow Crash. If you like any of that, youll do just fine with Quarter Killer.

Lore: Normally, when I pitch QK to a reader, I like to phrase it as Lone Wolf and Cub meets Shadowrun. Its a cyberpunk near-future thats as queer and as brown as the world around us. Its a book for people who are looking for a vibrant adventure story in which the characters are empowered to change the world around them and get to look so fresh while doing it!

Quarter Killer No. 1 will be released Wednesday on ComiXology, and available for no additional charge for Amazon Prime, Kindle Unlimited and Comixology Unlimited members.

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'Quarter Killer' Introduces New Vision of the Future (Preview) - Hollywood Reporter

From Death Stranding to Cyberpunk 2077, here are all the games of Milan Games Week 2019 – Play Crazy Game

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From 27 to 29 September, the 2019 edition of Milan Games Week will be held at the Fiera Milano Rho, one of the most important and followed videogames fairs in Europe.The organizers of the 2019 Games Week in Milan are thus preparing for the big event by drawing up the list of video games at the fair.

Among the many titles destined to magnetize the attention of the trade press and the lucky participants in the Milan fair, we will find theprestigious triorepresented by the highly anticipated video games of Cyberpunk 2077, Death Stranding and Watch Dogs Legion.

Atfuturistic RPG CD Projekt REDwithKeanu Reeveswill be dedicated an entire stand of the Italian gaming event, through which you can relive some of the most iconic scenes of gameplay admired in these long months of waiting for the release of the new blockbuster by the authors of The Witcher 3. As forDeath Stranding,those wishing to receive more information on the adventure of Hideo Kojima will be able to admire a trailer in the theater set up on thePlayStation stand.No less important is the program organized by Ubisoft forWatch Dogs Legion,with a demo played by the same developers that we can always watch from the PlayStation stand theater.

Those who will go to Fiera Milano Rho can also immerse themselves in many other videogames experiences.Each industry giant will showcase its prized pieces with live demos, rehearsals and various insights.Here is a (more or less) exhaustive list of thetitles present at the Milan Games Week 2019:

Eternal DOOM, Dragon Quest XI S, Dreams, FIFA 20, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, GRID, Just Dance 2020, Laytons Mystery Journey Katrielle and the Millionaire Plot, Luigis Mansion 3, Mario & Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Marvels Avengers, Marvels Iron Man VR, MediEvil, Nioh 2, Ori and the Blind Forest Definitive Edition, Pandemic, Pokemon Sword and Shield, The Witcher 3 Complete Edition for Switch, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Borderlands 3, Gears 5, Zelda Links Awakening and many others.

Theninth edition of Milan Games Week will, therefore, be staged fromFriday 27thtoSunday 29th September:on these pages, you will find all theinformation on ticket sales.

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Celtic fun kicks off with Kiltober in Lakewood Ranch – YourObserver.com

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Lakewood Ranchs John Hanlon can relate to a T-shirt he saw. It read, There are the people who are Irish and those who wish they were.

Hanlon happens to be one of the lucky ones.

Im first generation, he said. My parents (Michael and Teresa Hanlon) are from Ireland.

He grew up visiting their home country, playing Irish football and Gaelic hurling, and being exposed to the countrys music and culture.

Its easy to fit in, he said of the Irish culture. Celtic people are welcoming, in general. Theres always lively music, adult beverages and good stories and jokes.

Its that sense of fun and camaraderie Lakewood Ranch resident Frank Shea hopes to instill in others, starting at the Kiltober event Sept. 28 at Grove. Its an Oktoberfest event with a Celtic flare that will offer Celtic food and drink as well as live music by West of Galway, Clovers of Revenge and Bucky Lastard.

The event, created by Shea and Grove, will also highlight Sheas newly formed Lakewood Ranch Club, the Celtic Heritage Society, which aims to provide Lakewood Ranch residents with information about their Celtic heritage. Monthly meetings will be a forum at which members can learn about history, Celtic customs and Celtic dance and even have questions, such as why do the Scottish wear kilts or where the idea of leprechauns came from, answered. He wants to have demonstrations and speakers to keep meetings fun and exciting.

Our goal is to keep some of these traditions alive, Shea said.

Shea said an estimated 30% of Americans have some sort of Celtic heritage.

Tara Preserve resident Sharon Stewart does not know what percentage of her lineage is Irish, but she knows shes part of a fourth generation of red-heads. She enjoys going to Celtic events because theyre both fun and remind her of her upbringing.

You get to laugh out loud, Stewart said. All cultures certainly need to be identified in their tradition, but I think the Irish theres so much history. I think its the one that most commonly speaks to the majority of the people in this community because its something they grew up with. Everybody knows the Irish jokes, the Irish dancing.

Irish culture is fun. We dont have to worry, she said. Its no drama.

Lakewood Ranchs Steve and Kelly Christie both enjoy their Celtic heritage. They were married in Ireland, and Steve Christie, who has more Scottish history than Celtic, said he likes wearing his kilt on special occasions. In fact, he opts for a black kilt in lieu of a tuxedo for more formal affairs, he said.

Shea said he grew up in Boston, where there is a strong Celtic presence, and missed Celtic-style get-togethers, drinking beer at pubs and other customs when he first moved to Lakewood Ranch 12 years ago. He didnt feel at home at Celtic holidays and would travel back to his hometown for bigger celebrations, such as St. Patricks Day.

However, after he helped Lakewood Ranch Community Activities Corp. start the Irish Celtic Festival about 10 years ago, he began meeting other Celts and enjoying the camaraderie he experienced in Boston.

Shea said the Celtic bond is special. Historically, the Celts were pushed out of their homelands by other groups, but they fought to remember their heritage and keep their traditions alive. Their lively culture resonates with people, whether Celtic by blood or not.

People love parties, Shea said. People love having fun and joining in.

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SEC Power Rankings: Georgia heads into bye week after big win over Notre Dame – Red and Black

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Each week of the 2019 season, The Red & Black football writers will rank the teams of the SEC. This week, The Red & Black gives our conference rankings after Week 4.

Georgia made perhaps the biggest statement of the weekend, outlasting Notre Dame 23-17 in the biggest non-conference game in Sanford Stadium history. While the Bulldogs still have some question marks, they proved that they are indeed one of the nations top teams. Alabama cruised past Southern Miss on Sept. 21 and keeps its spot at the top of the SEC. LSUs offense, which scored 66 points in a win over Vanderbilt, is the real deal. But its defense is shaky. Both of LSUs Power Five opponents have scored 38 points on Ed Ogerons squad. Myan Patel

Auburn is starting to make a case for a spot in our top tier. The Tigers traveled to College Station, Texas, and beat No. 17 Texas A&M 28-20. Freshman quarterback Bo Nix threw for just 100 yards but now has two wins over ranked opponents in four starts. Meanwhile, the Gators took care of business against lowly Tennessee. Starting quarterback Kyle Trask staked his claim for the job in the absence of injured Feleipe Franks. Nathan Moore

Auburns win against Texas A&M doesnt bode well for the Aggies, who still have to play Alabama, LSU and Georgia. Quarterback Kellen Mond looked good, but Texas A&M only had 56 rushing yards behind an offensive line that also gave up three sacks against the Tigers. Mississippi State will have its opportunity to beat Auburn on Sept. 28 after defeating Kentucky on Sept. 21. Missouris win over South Carolina didnt boost its resume, but its defense still looks awfully good. One week after Gamecocks quarterback Ryan Hilinski threw for 324 yards against Alabama, Missouri limited him to 166 yards. Henry Queen

Kentucky was defeated by Mississippi State on Sept. 21, its second loss in a row. The Wildcats have struggled in short yardage situations. On Sept. 28, Kentucky will face South Carolina in the battle of the fourth tier. The Gamecocks were held to only 16 total rushing yards against a strong Missouri defense on Sept 21. The outcome of this weekends game between Kentucky and South Carolina will shake up our fourth tier. Anna Glenn Grove

Its been a rough go in the SECs bottom tier. Ole Miss fell to California in a Week 4 heartbreaker, and a trip to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama this week is daunting. Vanderbilt has a chance to get its first win after an 0-3 start when the Commodores take on a 1-2 Northern Illinois team that was trounced 44-8 by Nebraska on Sept. 14. Arkansass 31-24 loss to San Jose State, a Group of Five team, put a sour taste in its mouth before its game against Texas A&M. Florida defeated Tennessee 34-3, but the Vols get a Week 5 bye before hosting No. 3 Georgia on Oct. 5. Augusta Stone

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Sandra the orangutan heads for new life in US ape sanctuary – Buenos Aires Times

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Sandra shows little interest as she slowly shuffles past the structure of beams and ropes built for her to climb on inside her concrete enclosure in Buenos Aires. Outside are tall buildings and traffic that bear no resemblance to the lush forests where orangutans naturally live.

But the unstimulating, solitary life of the 33-year-old orangutan with gentle eyes and dark-red hair will take a turn on Thursday when she leaves Buenos Aires for the United States. After a quarantine period in Kansas, she is expected to become the new resident of the Center for Great Apes in Florida, a sanctuary much better suited to her needs.

"There she will be able to spend the rest of her life in a more dignified situation," said Argentine judge Elena Liberatori, who in 2015 famously ruled that Sandra was legally not an animal but a "non-human person" who has rights, turning the orangutan who has only known limited concrete enclosures into a focus of world attention.

Long journey

It has been a long journey for Sandra, who was born in a zoo in Germany and moved to Argentina a quarter-century ago.

She has lived most of her life in a basketball court-sized cell in the more-than-century-old Buenos Aires Zoo (today known as the EcoParque BA), in conditions protested by animal rights groups as inadequate.

Her release seemed possible in 2014 following a landmark court ruling that she was entitled to some legal rights enjoyed by humans and better living conditions. Then came Liberatori's ruling. Her release seemed nearer in 2016 when the City zoo closed its doors and officials said that hundreds of its animals would be set free as it was transformed into an eco-park.

But Sandra's caretakers argued that it might be better just to improve the conditions of her cage because sending her to a reserve abroad or releasing her into the wild would put her life at risk. Since Sandra is classed genetically as a hybrid orangutan half Sumatran, half Bornean experts fear she might not be able to adapt if sent to Indonesia, where most of the world's wild orangutans live and there are a number of sanctuaries. Suitable facilities might be found abroad but they would need to be reviewed carefully.

Enter the sanctuary near Wauchula, Florida, whose mission is to provide a permanent home for orangutans and chimpanzees rescued or retired from the entertainment industry, research or the exotic pet trade.

"Sandra will have bigger compounds and special care-givers" in the Center for Great Apes, which is in a more forested and humid area than Argentina's capital, said Federico Iglesias, the director of EcoParque BA.

'Sentient beings'

Liberatori's 2015 ruling was in response to a complaint by an Argentine animal rights group that Sandra was living in inadequate conditions.

"With that ruling I wanted to tell society something new, that animals are sentient beings and that the first right they have is our obligation to respect them," she told The Associated Press.

Liberatori has a large picture of Sandra in her office. On the picture is a twig that Sandra passed through the bars of her enclosure to anyone outside willing to interact with her.

In 2017, after studying the opinions of biologists and veterinarians about a list of possible destinations for Sandra, including Brazil and Spain, Liberatori decided on the Florida sanctuary, which has 21 orangutans and 31 chimpanzees. Its best-known resident is Bubbles, late singer Michael Jackson's chimpanzee.

Chuckie, Pebbles, Kiki, Pongo, Popi and Tango will be some of Sandra's companions, according to the website of the center, where she will have much more freedom and space to move about though not complete freedom since she has never experienced it and it might be dangerous for her.

In the larger compound she will be able to interact with other animals, and run and climb more freely. A system of elevated tunnels will allow her to explore the area. In the Argentine zoo, Sandra was the only member of her species.

Nervous

Officials at the Florida centre have told the judge they sought to arrange the transfer of Sandra to avoid any extreme change in climate: spring in Argentina and early autumn in Florida. And EcoParque BAhas successfully sent lions and bears to sanctuaries in the United States.

Despite the assurances, Liberatori acknowledges feeling nervous about Sandra's transfer to the United States, which will be in a ventilated metal container.

The orangutan will be inside the container for a roughly 11-hour commercial flight to the Dallas airport. From there, she will be sent by a truck on a highway to Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas. She will be quarantined there and if her health checks out she will be sent by highway to Florida.

Her Argentine caretakers have trained her to feel comfortable inside the container and will accompany her on her voyage all the way to Florida.

"I am happy, but a bit nervous that everything goes well," said Liberatori. "After she arrives in the sanctuary I will visit her. It is going to be a very happy moment for me."

by Almudena Calatrava, Associated Press

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Why More DC Men Are Dyeing Their Gray Hair – Washingtonian

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Approximately 50 percent of people will find that 50 percent of their hair is gray by the time they turn 50, but to walk around DC, youd find this statistic awfully suspect. The District is lousy with blondes who can reminisce about the days before dial-up, brunettes who remember rotary phones, redheads who voted for Reagan.

The terminology is telling: You merelygetwrinkles, but yougogray. Gray is a destination, a change of emotional address. A Census report on the rapidly aging population of the United States is titled The Graying of America, suggesting, in an official government document, that nothing communicates aging quite like the drop in color production at the hair follicle. This national graying, like the universe, is rapidly expanding. Yet it seems the aesthetic of our region is moving in the opposite direction.

Its no wonder so many Washingtonians color their hairours is a city filled with people whose careers are contingent upon their continued relevance, or the appearance thereof; people who need to project vigor, savvy, and strength; people who say optics unironically.

Women have been dyeing their hair in droves ever since Clairol introduced its at-home hair color, Miss Clairol, in 1956, the first kit that enabled customers to bleach and dye their hair in one step in the privacy of their bathrooms. This normalized hair coloring for women who were neither movie stars nor prostitutesso a significant slice of the population. In the previous decade, only 7 percent of women were coloring their hair. These days, as many as 87 percent of women do, according to Anne Kreamer, author of the 2007 bookGoing Gray: What I Learned About Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matters.

According to Kreamers research, she tells me, women spend more time dyeing their hair than they do having sex. This holds, she claims, across ages and demographics. I calculated in the 25 years that I had dyed my hair, I probably spent $65,000 total. So imagine what I could have done had I invested that money! We spend a lot of time, a lot of moneytheres opportunity costs associated with doing it on some level. But its a nonnegotiable thing. Women just feel like, This is one of the line items in me successfully running my life.

In an interesting move toward a kind of gender equality, women arent alone in feeling the pressure to camouflage this sign of aging. Today, 11 percent of men ages 50 to 64 dye their hair, up from 7 percent in 2010, which was a rise from just 2 percent in 1999, according to the market-research firm Multi-sponsor Surveys. The number is surely higher among the age 30-to-49 set, considering that thats the window in which most peoples gray begins to show. Not that anybodys talking about it.

I ask Guillaume Philippe Choquet, owner of O Salon in Georgetown, if any of his hair-color clients will speak to me about hiding their gray. His response is immediate laughter.Among my clientele, we have socialites, politicians, he says. People who color their gray hair would never tell you they color their gray hair. I know so many clients who say to never book an appointment at the same time as their husbands.

Hiding gray is like listening to Ed Sheeran or watching pornography: Though the data would indicate a great many people do it, no one will cop to it.

In Washington, professional concerns are paramount. Choquet says he can sense the fluctuations in the economy based on the frequency of hair-color visits among his clients. A woman dyeing her hair typically comes in ten times a year. When a recession hits, that drops to seven.

The reality is when the economy is bad, youre going to stay in the job you occupy, [where] they already know you as you are, he says. When the economy is good, thats when you start thinking, Maybe I could get a better job. And thats when you reinvent yourself, try to go younger.

Salon owner and colorist Ian McCabes clientele is full of very powerful women, he says. Some of them come every two weeks. They take it that seriously, that they dont want grays to be seen.

Both salon owners have seen their male client base grow in the past decade or so. You have a lot of young people who are coming into the market, and theyre trying to compete in new technology, Choquet says. You want to look like the new kids on the block. You dont want to look like you were there when they invented the internet.

The coloring technique differs for men, who typically have shorter hair and cant hide their roots by flipping their part, as women often do. For male clients, McCabe prefers using semipermanent color to blend and reduce the gray, [rather than] completely covering it, he says. Im not a huge fan of 100 percent coverage, not a gray to be seen, because I dont think it wears well as it grows out.

Because rigid standards of masculinity are crushing for us all, men are even more concerned with the illusion that their hair color is natural, lest they be caught indulging in the oh-so-feminine vanity of regular trips to the salon. Theres nothing worse than seeing a guy who obviously colors his hair, says McCabe. To me, its so cheesy and corny. It should always look blended and grow out well. It shouldnt be a tell-tale giveaway, like Yeah, he colors it. It should just be He looks good.

These gendered expectations around hair color are perhaps at their most visible, and fraught, in politics.

Joe Bidens teeth are whiter than whitewhiter than Chiclets, than sugar cubes, than his, shall we say, vintage attitude about desegregating schoolsbut his hair is even whiter and has been for decades. Bernie Sanderss hair is as thin and white as dental floss. At least five of their fellow male presidential hopefuls (all the ones you cant tell apart, plus Bill de Blasio) have gone as gray as smoke. Yet only one of their female competitors has any white or gray hair.

We have been sold this bill of goods about what is acceptable for the way a woman should look, and it is the most constrained for women in politics, says Kreamer. They just have been boxed in, [even though] politics is an area of our life and society where wisdom and experience should be the thing that matters the most.

The lone exception is Tulsi Gabbard, who sports a streak of white that she says sprouted after her deployment to Iraq. She wears it like a flag pin, as a daily reminder of her experience and purpose, her sister explained on Twitter. This echoes Choquets observation: He says that among his female clients who keep their gray are military mothers, women whose sons have been sent to Afghanistan, and you notice, in less than six months, these women get more gray hair than any woman you can find.

Save for that symbolic stripe on Gabbards head, its difficult to imagine any of the women vying for the presidency with gray hair. Its a total double standard, for men versus women, says McCabe. Its not fair, but nothing is. It is what it is.

For what its worth, McCabe isnt so hot about gray hair on anybody: There arent many people who can pull it off well, generally. Theres less people that look good with it than dont.

Hair color is part of your identity, and the thought of losing it simply because you used to be 35 and now, rudely, you are not can feel absurdespecially when an alternative is accessible via your neighborhood salon.

For Phyllis Edelman, who is retired, coloring gray is a way to reclaim her sense of self. Two bouts with cancer and chemotherapy caused her to lose her hair twice in two years. The second time, it grew back in a shade she describes as a sort-of-gray, the ugliest color hair Ive ever seen. The cost of seeing light-brown hair in the mirror is so steep that she refuses to share it (I dont think my husband even knows how much it costs me every time), but she has no doubt the result is worth this unspeakable sum. For me, its like a symbol that I survived.

For others, though, theres power in welcoming gray, changing their relationship with their hair instead of battling the color itself. I think weve become more accepting of gray hair in our culture today from ten, 15 years ago, says Norah Critzos, a stylist at Ferro Salon DC (formerly Cristophe Salon). I think it has become more mainstream.

While most women still hide their gray, anecdotal evidence suggests that the minority of women who choose not to are now flaunting it: Entire Instagram feeds, such as @young_and_gray29 and @Grombre, celebrate women with gray hair.

Critzos estimates that about 25 to 30 percent of her clients who are gray or gray-white or that beautiful steel color are keeping it that way and turning heads at the salon when they do. I notice other clients say, Wow, great hair color! And that has shifted. Back in the day, people never commented on gray hair unless it was Barbara Bush.

Critzos did Bushs hair occasionally and remembers that the former First Lady was adamant about maintaining her natural color. She had a thick, gorgeous, full head of hair. It was stunning. Glistening! Bush was an exceptional case in her day, but Critzos thinks more women will pick up her mantle. Were slowly changing the culture.

I happen to think if one of the women [running for President] had Christine Lagardes hair color, or Meryl Streeps inThe Devil Wears Prada,theyd rock it and differentiate themselves and look authentic, says Kreamer. If more women in senior positions actually had their natural hair color, it would be fantastic.

In Washington, Choquet concedes, everything is tied to appearance, [even] your professional life. I work with a lot of professional women, and the reality is when they apply for a new job, we go through the list: Whats the company like? Whats the culture? And with that, I will advise what to do. But the reality is not as simple as You should embrace your gray hair.

Choquet would be happy if America were more like his native France, where gray isnt so stigmatizedand certainly isnt seen as mutually exclusive of hirability or sex appeal: That would be a perfect world.

This article appears in theSeptember 2019issue ofWashingtonian.

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Jessica M. Goldstein is a reporter in DC. She has written for the Washington Post, McSweeneys Internet Tendency, Vulture, and others.

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Why More DC Men Are Dyeing Their Gray Hair - Washingtonian

The Tribe Heads To UAlbany, As Both Look To Make September A Winning Month – FloFootball

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Picked to finish 11th and 12th in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason poll, William & Mary and UAlbany have both shown sustained flashes of excellence through the non-conference portion of their schedules.

Who:William & Mary (2-2, 0-0) at UAlbany (2-2, 0-0)

When:Saturday, Sept. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET

Where:Bob Ford Field; Albany, New York

Watch:LIVE on FloFootball

The two meet Saturday at Bob Ford Field, and the winner will leave with a record above .500 to close September, and a 1-0 start to CAA play.

We understand how this thing switches when you get into conference. Its a different world, said UAlbany coach Greg Gattuso. Its a huge football game for us.

The Great Danes rebounded from an overtime heartbreaker at Monmouth in Week 3 to rout Lafayette, 36-7. The Patriot Leagues Leopards provide a common opponent between UAlbany and William & Mary; the Tribe rolled against them in coach Mike Londons debut Week 1.

William & Mary finished its out-of-conference docket last week in a defensive struggle against its second FBS opponent of the season, East Carolina. With former James Madison coach Mike Houston in his first season captaining the Pirates, Saturdays game pit the last two head coaches to win national championships from the CAA head-to-head.

Proud of the players coming out of this four-game stretch here with two FBS opponents, a preseason FCS Top 25 school (Colgate), London said. Proud of where we are [but] obviously gotta get better going into conference play. Every team, in my experience in this conference, is a very good team and a playoff-caliber type of team.

One of the top priorities facing London and his staff upon their arrival was reinvigorating the offense. William & Mary scored the fewest points in the CAA last season by a considerable margin.

First-year offensive coordinator Brennan Marion implemented the GoGo scheme, which immediately turned around Howard previously.

To deem the GoGo an offshoot of any one system wouldnt be accurate: Rather, this hurry-up approach is a hybrid of multiple looks, sometimes lining up multiple wide receivers with two running backs alongside the quarterback; other times going in a Pistol look.

The variety of the offense, which includes zone-read and option principles, keeps defenses on their heels. At William & Mary, the GoGos started to unlock potential in the run game. Quarterback Hollis Mathis and running backs Owen Wright and Albert Funderburke have all broken off long runs this season while sharing carries.

At Howard, the offense thrived with a multifaceted passing attack that parts still in development with freshman quarterback Mathis at William & Mary.

The bulk of the passing yardage on Saturday is likely to come from the other side, with UAlbany coming in posting 229.3 yards per game.

UAlbanys passing attack is possible thanks to a deep and talented rotation of wide receivers. Juwan Green ranks ninth in the nation with 408 receiving yards, and his six touchdowns are tied with Houston Baptists Ben Ratzlaff for second-most.

The receiving corps feeds off quarterback Jeff Undercuffler, who Gattuso said is progression well in his first full season as starter.

He has a good complement of people around him. He needs to trust them and understand he doesnt have to do everything himself, and I think he is, Gattuso said.

UAlbanys shown it can attack as effectively on the ground as through the air. The Great Danes have a capable one-two combination in Karl Mofor and Alex James; the latter won Week 2 CAA Offensive Player of the Week after decimating Bryant with 229 yards.

Mofors been the primary ball-carrier the rest of the way. He also adds an element to the passing game, making him the clear every-down back for UAlbany.

Hes multi-dimensional, Gattuso said of Mofor. Hes an exceptional blocker and a great pass receiver.

Its all-hands-on-deck for the Great Danes pass-catchers against one of the CAAs premier pass defenses. The Tribe have picked off six passes in four games, including Arman Jones pick-six, and one from All-CAA defensive back Isaiah Laster.

A theme from last seasons 25-22 William & Mary win that looms this year is UAlbanys red-zone efficiency. The Tribes outstanding defense forced the Great Danes into three field goals in the red zone a year ago. Turn even one of those into a touchdown and extra point, and its a UAlbany win.

A byproduct of or perhaps a reason for UAlbanys offensive improvement thus far in 2019 lies in its red-zone efficiency. The Great Danes are 10-for-10 when crossing the 20, with eight of those going for touchdowns.

Conversely, William & Marys been solid defending the red zone. Opponents have converted 14-of-17 opportunities, but nearly half of those scores (6) were field goals. The ability of the Tribes linebackers to drop back effectively into pass coverage while Bill Murray and Co. up front clog rushing lanes compacts the already-short field for opposing offenses.

Getting to the quarterback is a ubiquitous football phrase that carries different meanings. Doing so is equally important for both the UAlbany and William & Mary defenses on Saturday, but for different reasons.

William & Marys ball-hawking begins with intense pressure off the line. Murray and Carl Fowler lead a team-wide effort to produce almost three sacks per game. The Tribes 11 in total rank 20th in the nation.

Getting to Undercuffler is crucial to limiting the explosive pass plays that have been an early hallmark for the Great Danes.

On the flip side, UAlbanys defense getting to the quarterback is about limiting explosive gains, but more so at the first level than in the pocket. Mathis 52.8 rushing yards per game rank second for the Tribe, just behind Wrights 56. His contributions in the run game are especially important for igniting William & Marys approach.

UAlbanys been effective enough against the run, holding opponents to 4.1 yards per carry, but Mathis is the first truly dynamic dual-threat quarterback the Great Danes defense faces this season.

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The Tribe Heads To UAlbany, As Both Look To Make September A Winning Month - FloFootball

Were All Breathing the Same Air: How Jeppe Heins Participatory Art Project United Schoolchildren and Heads of State During Climate Week – artnet News

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Take a deep breath. Thats what Danish artist Jeppe Hein is asking the public to do as part of his participatory art project Breath With Me, which invites passerby to exhale while painting parallel vertical blue lines on canvas.

The project began as a way for Hein to center himself as he battled a serious illness, but expanded to encompass a broader group of participants and a quest for healing on a much more monumental scale. On view in New Yorks Central Parkand coinciding with a show of Heins work at 303 Gallery in Chelseathe piece measures 10 feet tall and 600 feet long.

After painting a line, Hein told artnet News, you look up at the blue sky and you say I feel good because I can breathe.'

His message resonates all the more during New York Citys Climate Week, which runs through September 29 and coincides with the UN Climate Change Summit.Breathe With Mehad a presence at the UN too, thanks toDanish art nonprofit ART 2030, which has dedicated itself to staging art projects that support the UNs 17-point agenda for global sustainable development.

Jeppe Hein, Breathe With Me (2019), Central Park, New York. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

Hein and ART2030 had already gotten the permits to stage the project in Central ParkNew Yorks communal backyardwhen the UN called the organizations founder, Danish collector Luise Faurschou, and asked if there were any plans for art projects during Climate Week. She told them about Breathe With Me. They said, Why dont you do it in our house too?' Hein recalled.

At the UN, the artist spent the Youth Action Summit and the Climate Change Summit explaining his concept to people from all over the world, many of whom didnt speak English. Several heads of state added their breath to the work, including the presidents of Greece, Peru, and Bhutan, as well as former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Hein missed a photo op with French President Emmanuel Macron, who stopped by while the artist was in the bathroom.

Central Park has drawn a different crowd, including hundreds of local children whove shared their breath thanks to a partnership with the education department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their contributions stand out, the lines starting lower on the canvas due to the childrens height.

Jeppe Hein and ART2030 founder Luise Faurschou watch Michael Bloomberg add to Heins Breathe With Me (2019) at the United Nations Headquarters, New York. Photo courtesy of the artist and ART2030.

The museums director, Max Hollein, also took part. Breathe With Mewasa moving experience, and a moment of both relaxation and reflection, he told artnet News. Jeppes work is inspirational, and invites participation and collective awareness.

Despite language barriers and cultural differences, Hein has found the work to be universally relatable.Were all breathing the same air, he pointed out. Originally, he did not conceive the work as related to climate change, although he recognizes the link today.

A child adds to Jeppe Heins Breathe With Me (2019) at Central Park, New York. Photo courtesy of the artist and ART2030.

He developed a practice of painting lines while focusing on inhaling and exhaling a decade ago during a serious illness, as a way of dealing with panic attacks. The participatory element came later, when he started showing the line paintings in museums.

Hein also grew up on a bio-dynamic farm run by his parents, so hes always understood the importance of taking care of the earth. If you cant breathe, you cant live, the trees cant live, he said. Its a very important thing.

Jeppe Hein, Breathe With Me (2019), Central Park, New York. Photo by Sarah Cascone.

The artistplans to donate many of the individual canvases from Central Park to the schools from the Met program. He would have donated some to the UN, but red tape and concerns about corruption led him to scrap that plan. Museums have already expressed interest in showing that ten-panel UN work, and Hein envisions visitors to the show breathing on the walls around the canvases, expanding on the piece even further.

Children, adultsanybody can share their breath, Faurschou told artnet News. Thats really the power of the universal language of art, to take something as fundamental as our breath, that we all know, and link it to something as complicated and complex as climate change.

Jeppe Hein: Breathe With Me is being created in Central Park at 72nd Street and Center Road (between Sheep Meadow and the Naumburg Bandshell) in New York, September 2527, 2019, 11 a.m.6 p.m. The UN version is on viewat the United Nations Headquarters, New York, September 21October 5, 2019.

Jeppe Hein: I am With You is on view at 303 Gallery, 555 West 21st Street, New York, September 12October 19, 2019.

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Were All Breathing the Same Air: How Jeppe Heins Participatory Art Project United Schoolchildren and Heads of State During Climate Week - artnet News

Emmy Awards 2019: Best red carpet fashion – CNN

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The red carpet was turned a majestic shade of purple for Sunday night's 71st Primetime Emmy Awards. And celebrities arriving for the show embraced the color change with a rather regal approach to eveningwear that turned heads and lit up social media.

The evening's entrances saw an unusual amount of gold, with "Russian Doll" star Natasha Lyonne and "Veep" actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus among the most eye-catching. There was also an abundance of shimmery metallics, exemplified by Isla Fisher, Chrissy Metz and Patricia Clarkson, among others.

Fairytale dresses -- complete with flowing chiffon and layers of tulle -- were also out in number, from actress Brittany Snow in J. Mendel to singer Halsey's strapless pink gown.

The change of carpet color also gave attendees a chance to play with shades of red and pink they might otherwise avoid. Mandy Moore in a stunning creation by designer Brandon Maxwell, Sandra Oh and Vera Farmiga were among those to do so with aplomb.

A brief history of the red carpet

Her on-screen love interest, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, was one of a number of men to embrace gold, with the Danish actor arriving in a dashing suave honeycomb-patterned jacket. Elsewhere, the men found plenty of ways to disrupt tradition, from the understated (see Sterling K. Brown's suit in maroon and Mahershala Ali's in forest green) to the bold (see Steven Canals' floor-length tux sleeves and RuPaul's silky pink patterned suit).

Scroll through the gallery above for some of the night's best fashion.

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Emmy Awards 2019: Best red carpet fashion - CNN

NHL’s high-powered Atlantic Division got even tougher over the summer – CBC Sports

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Jack Eichel watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final 10 rows from the ice at TD Garden last June.

A Boston Bruins fan growing up, the captain of the Buffalo Sabres didn't have a rooting interest in the series-clinching tilt against St. Louis Blues the team that would go onto to hoist the silver trophy that night.

Eichel had friends on both sides. He just wanted to be there.

"Just seeing the celebration and the emotion that was shown from the guys, I think makes you want it that much more," Eichel said. "It was one of the cooler things I've ever seen, just seeing those guys win it."

The 22-year-old dreams of getting his franchise to the top of that mountain, but the first step in the climb is trying to navigate a high-powered Atlantic Division that got even better this summer Eichel's Sabres included.

The 2018-19 campaign saw the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Presidents' Trophy, Boston and the Toronto Maple Leafs also top 100 points, and the Montreal Canadiens just barely miss the playoff dance.

"There's so many good teams, good players in the division," Eichel said earlier this month at the NHL/NHLPA media tour. "It's tough, for sure. But I think it's a good challenge."

Tampa, Boston and Toronto are the betting favourites to again grab the Atlantic's top three playoff spots and head into this season as legitimate Cup contenders, but at least three other teams will feel they deserve a seat at the table.

Montreal missed the playoffs by two points last year and have mostly the same roster coming back, while the Florida Panthers hired three-time Cup champion Joel Quenneville as their head coach and signed two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky in hopes of finally solving their goalie conundrum.

"Everyone's working on their team and getting better," Canadiens forward Max Domi said. "We're just focused on ourselves and what we're capable of as a group."

With the NHL's longest current playoff drought at eight seasons, the Sabres also have a new bench boss in Ralph Krueger, who returns to hockey after five years of running Southampton of the English Premier League, to go along with a remade blue line that features a maturing Rasmus Dahlin.

"It really feels like something good is coming up this season," Dahlin said. "We are super excited. Our goal is to, of course, make the playoffs. We're super pumped."

The Bruins had a short summer after again getting agonizingly close to the Cup, but know the grind is real in the Atlantic.

"Every single night it gets harder and harder," Boston defenceman Torey Krug said. "Hopefully that makes our team better and we can cause some damage in the playoffs.

"You're always looking to play against the best teams and to push yourself to your potential."

The Leafs still have a ton of firepower up front, but a new-look back end should help get the puck to their skilled forwards even quicker.

"You can't help but notice within the division there's been a lot of improvements," Toronto defenceman Morgan Rielly said. "Teams have gotten better, but I think if you look around the league, that's just what happens. It's very competitive."

Tampa will no doubt be looking to make amends after its 128-point, 62-win regular-season the Lightning went 23-5-0 against Atlantic Division opponents came to a screeching halt in a stunning sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs.

"We will put what happened behind us," said Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who got a consolation prize with his first Vezina win. "We just got too comfortable in the regular season. In our heads, our thoughts it was like, 'Oh, we'll be all right in the playoffs because we're doing great in the regular season.'

"But the reality is that in the playoffs, it's way different hockey. We just weren't ready for that. We just got too comfortable in the regular season."

Panthers winger Jonathan Huberdeau, meanwhile, said things are finally lining up for his team following a busy off-season.

"We've got everything we need to succeed," he said. "Now it's just to do it on the ice. We've got to stop saying it. The Panthers have been talked about a lot.

"We've got make the playoffs this year."

And then there are the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators rebuilding teams with lots of young talent hoping to carve out some success within the Atlantic.

"It'll be tough to win games in our division," Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot said. "But that's the way it is. Last year, Tampa was amazing in our division and so were Boston and Toronto. It's going to be fun. It's going to be a challenge every night.

"We'll have to battle."

Detroit centre Dylan Larkin said playing tight will be crucial with so much firepower in the division.

"We have good, young pieces and we have great veteran leadership," he said. "For us to be good, we're going to have to play a great team game."

But in the high-powered Atlantic, there's a good chance on a lot of nights even that won't be enough.

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NHL's high-powered Atlantic Division got even tougher over the summer - CBC Sports

Everything you need to know about the Cardiff half marathon – Runner’s World (UK)

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With just over a week to go before the Cardiff half marathon, heres all the essential information on the event.

The Cardiff Half Marathon takes place on Sunday 6 October.

The race has a staggered start to ensure all runners cross the start line as safely as possible. The White, Green and Red start is at 10am. The Blue and Yellow start is at 10:10am. However, organisers are encouraging runners to arrive at the race in good time. For reference, the baggage tents open 8:30am and close shortly after 9am.

The route can be accessed at the event website. It is all on roads.

The race starts outside Cardiff Castle and runners then head down past Cardiff City Stadium on the way to Penarth. They take in the glorious Penarth Marina before crossing the barrage and heading to Cardiff Bay. Runners run right through the heart of the bay taking in the Norwegian Church and Wales Millennium Centre.

The course then heads towards the north of the city and runners will complete a loop of the beautiful Roath Park Lake before the grandstand finish in the heart of the city at the Civic Centre.

Brecon Carreg water will be available to runners around the course at four drink stations every 5K and at the finish. A Lucozade drink will also be provided at the 9-mile mark. High 5 energy gels will available at 6 miles. It is not recommended that you use a gel or energy drink on race day without prior use or experience.

It looks like therell be a few showers on the day, with highs of 16C.

Car: A Park and Walk facility is being provided at the Cardiff City Football Stadium car park on Leckwith Road, Cardiff, CF11 8AZ. You pre-book your spot here. Runners are advised to explore all parking options within the city at http://www.en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/cardiff or http://www.cardiff.gov.uk, as well as road-side parking where safe and secure.

Train: Cardiff Central train station is a 10-minute walk from the Race Village.

Check out the race-day instructions.

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Everything you need to know about the Cardiff half marathon - Runner's World (UK)