Daily Archives: August 4, 2017

A boring, linear, heavily scripted shooter, with tons of health packs and mountains of ammo scattered everywhere.

Worse, this game is strongly anti-Russian, on a level of a cheap B-movie. Also, it's obvious that not a single Russian native speaker was in the dev team. There are many flags and banners and posters everywhere in the scenery with Russian sentences or words - all of them Google-translated from English. I mean, as a native speaker, I usually was confused by those sentences as they didn't make sense, but after I literally translated them backwards to English, then I understood what they meant. Even the name of the place, katOrga-12, with O stressed, is totally wrong! First, there is a Russian word "kAtorga" (A stressed!) which is obsolete and was mostly used until end of 19th century, and means "imprisonment" (the process of being in prison) or "hard work" and not "prison" itself as a place - I guess the devs meant to call this place a "prison" or "labor camp". Even then, Russians would never name a secret military/sci installation a "prison" ("turmA"), instead it would be something like "camp" or "base" or just "objekt 12345" or something. I could provide tons of other examples.

So that you could understand me, imagine you are playing a Chinese game where everything is in Chinese, and the Chinese devs make a game about the USA, so to make Chinese players feel it's about the USA they insert random broken English sentences which they Google-translated from Chinese in hope that no American will ever play the game, and Chinese don't know English anyway. Yes, it will feel like a nuthouse to you as an English native speaker, should you ever play this game. It will clearly show that devs are amateurs. You would think: are there so few Americans in China so that they couldn't hire a single guy for proofreading?

If I were on the dev team, I'd suggest writing every banner and every poster in Russian purely, as it should have been in reality in a Russian military base. But when the player looks at them, there would be subtitles shown with an English translation. Btw those sentences with mirrored R and N (to look like and ) are almost unreadable!

More:

Singularity for PC Reviews - Metacritic

From time to time, the Singularity Hub editorial team unearths a gem from the archives and wants to share it all over again. Its usually a piece that was popular back then and we think is still relevant now. This is one of those articles. It was originally publishedSeptember 1, 2016.We hope you enjoy it!

How many cyborgs did you see during your morning commute today? I would guess at least five. Did they make you nervous? Probably not; you likely didnt even realize they were there.

In a presentation titled Biohacking and the Connected Body atSingularity University Global Summit, Hannes Sjoblad informed the audience that were already living in the age of cyborgs. Sjoblad is co-founder of the Sweden-based biohacker network Bionyfiken, a chartered non-profit that unites DIY-biologists, hackers, makers, body modification artists and health and performance devotees to explore human-machine integration.

Sjoblad said the cyborgs we see today dont look like Hollywood prototypes; theyre regular people who have integrated technology into their bodies to improve or monitor some aspect of their health. Sjoblad defined biohacking as applying hacker ethic to biological systems. Some biohackers experiment with their biology with the goal of taking the human bodys experience beyond what nature intended.

Smart insulin monitoring systems, pacemakers, bionic eyes, and Cochlear implants are all examples of biohacking, according to Sjoblad. He told the audience, We live in a time where, thanks to technology, we can make the deaf hear, the blind see, and the lame walk. He is convinced that while biohacking could conceivably end up having Brave New World-like dystopian consequences, it can also be leveraged to improve and enhance our quality of life in multiple ways.

The field where biohacking can make the most positive impact is health. In addition to pacemakers and insulin monitors, several new technologies are being developed with the goal of improving our health and simplifying access to information about our bodies.

Ingestibles are a type of smart pill that use wireless technology to monitor internal reactions to medications, helping doctors determine optimum dosage levels and tailor treatments to different people. Your body doesnt absorb or process medication exactly as your neighbors does, so shouldnt you each have a treatment that works best with your unique system? Colonoscopies and endoscopies could one day be replaced by miniature pill-shaped video cameras that would collect and transmit images as they travel through the digestive tract.

Singularity University Global Summit is the culmination of the Exponential Conference Series and the definitive place to witness converging exponential technologies and understand how theyll impact the world.

Security is another area where biohacking could be beneficial. One example Sjoblad gave was personalization of weapons: an invader in your house couldnt fire your gun because it will have been matched to your fingerprint or synced with your body so that it only responds to you.

Biohacking can also simplify everyday tasks. In an impressive example of walking the walk rather than just talking the talk, Sjoblad had an NFC chip implanted in his hand. The chip contains data from everything he used to have to carry around in his pockets: credit and bank card information, key cards to enter his office building and gym, business cards, and frequent shopper loyalty cards. When hes in line for a morning coffee or rushing to get to the office on time, he doesnt have to root around in his pockets or bag to find the right card or key; he just waves his hand in front of a sensor and hes good to go.

Evolved from radio frequency identification (RFID)an old and widely distributed technologyNFC chips are activated by another chip, and small amounts of data can be transferred back and forth. No wireless connection is necessary. Sjoblad sees his NFC implant as a personal key to the Internet of Things, a simple way for him to talk to the smart, connected devices around him.

Sjoblad isnt the only person who feels a need for connection.

When British science writer Frank Swain realized he was going to go deaf, he decided to hack his hearing to be able to hear Wi-Fi. Swain developed software that tunes into wireless communication fields and uses an inbuilt Wi-Fi sensor to pick up router name, encryption modes and distance from the device. This data is translated into an audio stream where distant signals click or pop, and strong signals sound their network ID in a looped melody. Swain hears it all through an upgraded hearing aid.

Global datastreams can also become sensory experiences. Spanish artist Moon Ribas developed and implanted a chip in her elbow that is connected to the global monitoring system for seismographic sensors; each time theres an earthquake, she feels it through vibrations in her arm.

You can feel connected to our planet, too: North Sense makes a standalone artificial sensory organ that connects to your body and vibrates whenever youre facing north. Its a built-in compass; youll never get lost again.

Biohacking applications are likely to proliferate in the coming years, some of them more useful than others. But there are serious ethical questions that cant be ignored during development and use of this technology. To what extent is it wise to tamper with nature, and who gets to decide?

Most of us are probably ok with waiting in line an extra 10 minutes or occasionally having to pull up a maps app on our phone if it means we dont need to implant computer chips into our forearms. If its frightening to think of criminals stealing our wallets, imagine them cutting a chunk of our skin out to have instant access to and control over our personal data. The physical invasiveness and potential for something to go wrong seems to far outweigh the benefits the average person could derive from this technology.

But that may not always be the case. Its worth noting the miniaturization of technology continues at a quick rate, and the smaller things get, the less invasive (and hopefully more useful) theyll be. Even today, there are people already sensibly benefiting from biohacking. If you look closely enough, youll spot at least a couple cyborgs on your commute tomorrow morning.

Image Credit:Movement Control Laboratory/University of WashingtonDeep Dream Generator

Link:

The Age of Cyborgs Has Arrived - Singularity Hub

Ever since Anish Kapoor signed an agreement with Surrey NanoSystems, for the exclusive artistic use of the worlds blackest black, Vantablack, the art world has been up in arms. Luckily, Waltham, Massachusetts, firm NanoLab, Inc., has introduced acarbon nanotube black paint of their own, called Singularity Black, and anyone can use it.

Last month, Massachusetts-based artist Jason Chase unveiled the first artwork created using Singularity Black, titledBlack Iron Ursa. He coated acast-iron gummy bear sculpture in the uncannily dark substance, displaying it against a wooden circle painted in rainbow wedges to best accentuate the blackness of the material, which makes the 3-D form look flat and featureless.

Being the first artist to use this technology, I want to share it with my fellow artists and collectors. It is important to create access so artists can use it, said Chase in a statement.Artists are always the ones who take new materials and push them to new limits.

Vantablack. Courtesy of Surrey NanoSystems.

He noted that Kapoors Vantablack had prevented experimentation and stunted the artistic possibilities of working with the new materials, but that starting with my work, those days are over. (Kapoor has had a high-profile feud with artistStuart Semple, who has released a pinkest pink and most glittery glitter that Kapoor is banned from using. Semple has also created a blackest black paint of his own, calledBlack 2.0.)

The invention of Vantablack, which absorbs 99.96 percent of light, was announced in 2014. Not a pigment, Vantablack is actually a dense network of carbon nanotubes, grown in a high-heat chamber. The company has since developed a spray paint version.

Singularity Black, which combines carbon nanotubes with a binding agent for stabilization, was invented separately by NanoLab in 2011 under contract to NASA. It isused by the space agency in equipment for observation of far away stars, absorbing stray light so as not tointerfere with the sensors.

The best way to use Singularity Black, which the company describes as a paint-like analog of the aligned forest,is inside a fume hood or spray booth, and ideally should be applied ona metal surface. After application, the paint must be super heated to 600 degrees Fahrenheit to eliminate the binder. Once activated, it is a no-touch surface, notes the product description.

Jason Chase, Black Iron Ursa, created using Singularity Black, a light-absorbing black paint made with carbon nano tubes by NanoLab. Courtesy of Jason Chase.

The paint is really fragile, Chase told the Boston Globe. If you touch it, its going to flake off, kind of like when you touch a butterflys wings.Heplans to share his ongoing studio research about how to best use Singularity Black, and hopes to curate a group show of works made using the new paint.

NanoLab estimates that Singularity Black will costsomewhere in the low to mid-hundreds of dollars for 250 milliliters to one liter of paint.

Jason Chases Black Iron Ursa will be on view atLaconia Gallery,433 Harrison Avenue,Boston on August 24; and at the Artisans Asylum, 10 Tyler Street, Somerville, Massachusettson September 6.

View original post here:

Lab Introduces Singularity Black, the Blackest PaintAnd You Don't Have to Be Anish Kapoor to Use It - artnet News

If you love science and technology, chances are you love science fiction too. But sci-fi isnt just for geeks anymore. Or maybe more accurately, more of us are geeks now than ever.

Television shows Black Mirror and Westworld, for example, are two of the most talked-about series in recent years. Feature-length film Arrival won an Oscar this year and was nominated for seven more, including best picture. The latest two Star Wars films made over $3 billion worldwide, and a brand new Star Trek television series is set to premier in September.

But it isnt just about big budgets and network deals. Science fiction films are coming to the internet too. There are an increasing number of independent sci-fi short films available for free online. Some of these are aimed at the big screen, a kind of proof-of-concept or pitch for a feature-length film. Others fit the short form just so, compactly addressing a single idea.

Like all great sci-fi, short or long, written or filmed, sci-fi shorts take the worlds present state and advance the script. The best science fiction is based on existing trends and scientifically plausible technologies, and the implied question is often: Do we like what we see?

Many of these short films are posted on Vimeo or YouTube, where publishers find and introduce them to their readers. Its sort of an ad-hoc processwhich is where sci-fi video platform Recursor.TV comes in. Recursor is a one-stop shop for short indie sci-fi online.

Although there are dozens of sites dedicated to comedy and other genres, including horror, science fiction is under-represented, especially online, says EJ Kavounas, Recursor founder and CEO, in a recent interview with Singularity Hub.

Its time that changed. Quick-moving technologies such as AI, robots, and biotech, are being seriously written and talked about across the mainstream press. More people see technology as a force rapidly changing society, and they want to know whats in store.

Meanwhile, digital technologies are making it possible to build whole worlds and compelling future scenarios in which to immerse ourselves. As they approach photorealism, todays visual effects dont require the same suspension of disbelief they did in the past.

Most importantly for independent sci-fi, you dont need a Hollywood-sized special effects budget to make good visuals, and distribution is being democratized by the internet.

My first job in the entertainment industry was on the sci-fi television series Babylon 5, produced in the dinosaur era of CG. In the early 90s, it took years of apprenticeship to learn [the tricks of the trade]. Filmmaking techniques were passed down to subsequent generations like feudal-aged blacksmiths, Kavounas says. Thankfully, Moores Law and the internet democratized VFX, allowing anyone to create studio-quality CG on a laptop and, more importantly, facilitated instant knowledge transfer.

Now you can make decent effects and learn the trade thanks to thousands of how-to videos online. Even so, its hard to make truly compelling stuff and rise above the noise. Recursor aims to do both by creating their own original films and connecting other filmmakers to viewers.

The motivation to self-publish is similar to other industries, where content creators attempt to disintermediate gatekeepers in the hopes that an online audience will embrace them and prove commercial viability, Kavounas says. It makes sense in theory, but the key is finding an audienceIts hard enough to make a decent-looking sci-fi short, but marketing and promotion is often a different skillset.

Kavounas has talked to talented sci-fi filmmakers who are frustrated their films havent had the reach they expected. Recursor, he believes, can bridge the gap by providing an online destination for science fiction short films and an expertly-curated selection over a variety of sub-genres, such as augmented reality, artificial life, cyberpunk noir, and post-human.

The Recursor team is also making their own contribution to the genre with the award-winning original web series, Nina Unlocked. The series, starring Lana McKissack, features Nina, an advanced AI and former military assassin whos lost her memory. She heads out on a quest of self-discovery, interviewing experts to figure out how she is similar and different from humans.

We chose an interview formatbasically Between Two Ferns meets Ex Machinain which a character interviews real guests because it felt more authentic to have unscripted responses to Ninas absurd questions, Kavounas says. Fans of science and science fiction often overlap, so Nina interviews real scientists as well as creative types.

In the first season, Nina interviewed the likes of Eli Sasich, creator of the sci-fi series Atropa, Darren Bousman, a director of the Saw franchise, and Dr. Jamie Molaro of NASA JPL.

If you come here often, you know we believe science fiction isnt only about entertainment.

While its important to forecast future trends in dry reports featuring facts, figures, and charts, humans are experiential beings. Science fiction translates hard data into compelling stories and characters we can identify with. It makes the future a topic of conversation for everybody.

Ask people what they know about AI and robots, and chances are, Terminator comes to mind. Virtual reality and brain-machine interfaces? The Matrix (plus AI and robots, for good measure). Space travel and post-scarcity? Star Trek. Augmented reality? Iron Man and Minority Report.

Hollywood has long been a dominant player, but by bringing science fiction film online, we can add voices to the conversation and explore a wider range of ideas. This matters because the story we tell influences the future we pursue. The more people engage, both creators and viewers, the more nuanced the story getsand the more thoughtfully we move ahead.

Image Credit: Recursor.tv

Read the original here:

Recursor.TV Brings All The Best Indie Sci-Fi To One Place - Singularity Hub

My recent trip to Beijing and Shanghai has me convinced China is the next technological superpower.

This blog lays out the data so you can make your own judgment.

China is the worlds second-largest economy with a GDP of $7.5 trillion, and an average 9.71 percent annual GDP growth (since 1990).

Check out Shanghai in 1990 (27 years ago) versus Shanghai today.

Shanghai 1990

Shanghai today

Recently, China is getting into the venture capital business in a big way. A really, really big way. Venture capital raised in China tripled year over year to $250+ billion in 2016. Thats the biggest pot of money for startups in the world.

Consequently, China is undergoing a technological renaissance with thousands of startups and dozens of multi-billion-dollar tech companies springing up.

Companies like Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi are capitalizing on Chinas 700+ million Internet users.

A Chinese delivery company, ZTO Express, raised $1.4 billion in its public debut. This was the biggest US IPO of the year (in 2016).

China is a manufacturing powerhouse producing 25 percent of the worlds goods and 70 percent of its mobile phones.

Today there is a list of 600+ Chinese companies waiting to go public.

Lets talk about manufacturing. 100 million people in China work in manufacturing. FOXCONN is the worlds largest contract electronics manufacturer. Notable customers include Apple, Kindle, Playstation and Xbox.

In 2015, China became the worlds largest producer of photovoltaic power. China also led the world in production and use of wind power and smart grid technologies.

China owns 70 percent of the commercial drone market. They havealso increased their space budget considerably over the last few years. And their human spaceflight program is very serious.

China has truly become an international technology superpower.

Image Credit: Peter Diamandis via YouTube

Read the original here:

China Is On its Way to Being the Next Tech Superpower - Singularity Hub

Above: Black Iron Ursa was made using Singularity Black paint.

SOMERVILLE That the gummy bear was an artwork was unusual.

That the gummy bear was so black that it looked like an optical illusion was really unusual.

Advertisement

Welcome to the world of Singularity Black.

Black Iron Ursa, a painted sculpture, doesnt reflect light, making it difficult to see its ears and paws. Because the human eye is trained to look for light, it is disorienting and somewhat painful to look at.

Get The Weekender in your inbox:

The Globe's top picks for what to see and do each weekend, in Boston and beyond.

Black Iron Ursa was the brainchild of Somerville artist Jason Chase, who watched baffled visitors stare at the object in his studio on a recent Sunday afternoon.

Made from cast iron, the gummy bear was coated in Singularity Black, a carbon nanotube paint developed by Waltham-based NanoLab, Inc. The paint absorbs over 99.9 percent of light, making three-dimensional objects look two-dimensional. Chase built a colorful wooden carousel to display the bear on, making the bears blackness even more striking. A small glass dome covers the artwork to protect it.

The paint is really fragile, Chase said. If you touch it, its going to flake off, kind of like when you touch a butterflys wings.

Advertisement

The blackest black paint has been a point of contention in the art world since 2014, when British artist Anish Kapoor received exclusive rights to working with Vantablack , a pigment created by a British company, Surrey NanoSystems, that absorbs 99.965 percent of light.

This arrangement frustrated other artists. In response, British artist Stuart Semple created the worlds pinkest pink and the worlds glitteriest glitter, which he made available in 2016 to everyone except Kapoor. (Kapoor managed to get his hands on the pink pigment anyway and posted a photograph of it on Instagram, taunting Semple.)

Now Chase is hoping that Singularity Black will put the whole squabble to bed.

Im really honored to be part of the launching process, he said. I remember reading about Vantablack when it came out and wanting to work with it. I hope that this means the whole art world gets to move forward.

NanoLab created Singularity Black at NASAs request in 2011. The agency frequently sends equipment into space to measure faint stars, and they wanted a pigment that would absorb stray light to keep it from interfering with sensors. Its name was inspired by the center of a black hole, where the known laws of physics stop operating.

Carbon nanotubes excel at trapping light, so the lab combined them with a binding agent for stabilization. After the pigment is applied to an object, it has to be heated to 600 degrees Fahrenheit, which eliminates the binder and leaves the carbon nanotubes in a porous arrangement for maximum light absorption.

Colin Preston, a senior research scientist on the project, noticed that Surrey NanoSystems had developed its similar product and licensed the rights to Kapoor. (NanoLab conceived the formula for Singularity Black independently, according to Preston.)

I was honestly kind of confused by that, he said. When we were done developing the pigment, we really wanted to develop our product to be commercial.

Preston had met Chase in a Drawing in Pubs class, so he e-mailed him as soon as NanoLab had successfully developed Singularity Black into a paint.

Chase, who is primarily a painter, had been working with renderings of gummy bears for a while. He made the cast-iron gummy bear a while back, during a workshop, so he dug it up and brought it to the lab for a paint job. The artwork will be displayed at Laconia Gallery , in the South End, starting Aug. 24.

Artists can buy Singularity Black off the shelf. They can apply the paint themselves after a tutorial from NanoLab, according to Preston. He estimated current price to be in the low to mid-hundreds of dollars for 250 milliliters to 1 liter of paint.

Colorado sculptor Sean OMeallie said he is intrigued by the material. He said Singularity Black opens up possibilities of doing something different and challenging.

Painting something in Singularity Black will make it harder for viewers to see a silhouette, he said. It might be a way of making art a little more hidden.

However, there are limitations to how Singularity Black can be used. It can only be applied to metal surfaces, so Chase is experimenting on copper plate. He said he wants to juxtapose traditional mediums, like oil and gold leaf, with this futuristic paint.

Preston said NanoLab has already received multiple inquiries from artists interested in getting the paint. Chase said he intends to curate an art show of Singularity Black pieces as soon as there is a collection.

I think itll fit really well in surrealist images, he said. The best thing about this paint being available to everyone is that well get to push the boundaries of the art world with it.

View Black Iron Ursa at Laconia Gallery on Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. 433 Harrison Ave.

Link:

Waltham lab develops the world's 'blackest black' paint - The Boston Globe