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Does xQc gamble? When and how did pro Twitch streamer lose nearly $1M?
Does xQc gamble? When and how did pro Twitch streamer lose nearly $1M?
After setting the Big Win record for 'The Wild Machine' and winning over $800K, xQc lost his money due to a server error
2023-06-03 12:57
Toyota's profits rise as global chips supply crunch subsides
Toyota's profits rise as global chips supply crunch subsides
Toyota’s January-March profit has edged up 3% from the previous year on robust sales as a chips supply crunch gradually eased
2023-05-10 16:54
Elon Musk says Twitter's cash flow still negative as ad revenue drops
Elon Musk says Twitter's cash flow still negative as ad revenue drops
Elon Musk said Twitter's cash flow remains negative because of a nearly 50% drop in advertising revenue and
2023-07-15 22:24
Scientist shares routine that can 'make you better at everything'
Scientist shares routine that can 'make you better at everything'
The emphasis on a good night's sleep is nothing new. But now, neuroscientist, Dr Andrew Huberman, has shared one routine that he suggested can make you "better at everything." In a YouTube talk on After Skool, Dr Huberman said he immediately starts his day with a sunrise walk at 6.30am. "Getting outside for a 10-minute walk or a 15-minute walk is absolutely vital to mental and physical health," he shared. Despite coffee being the get-up-and-go drink for most, Huberman says the first beverage he consumes is salty water, as he claims it helps improve bodily functions. "There are certain foundational behaviours - certain dos and don'ts that set the stage for you to be better at everything," he continued. "It always comes back to two elements - that's sleep and what I call non-sleep deep rest. Sleep is the fundamental practice or part of our 24-hour cycle where if you don't get it on a consistent basis, you are down-regulating your ability to do everything." He went on to discuss a "90-minute bout of work," in which he says he turns his phone off to fully optimise this time. "You'd be amazed how much you can get done in 90 minutes if you are focused," he said. Huberman then ensures he gets in an hour's worth of exercise before exposing himself to cold temperatures such as an ice bath. The NHS states that there are no official guidelines regarding how much sleep a person should get each night as everyone is different. "On average, a 'normal' amount of sleep for an adult is considered to be around seven to nine hours a night. Children and babies may sleep for much longer than this, whereas older adults may sleep less," they wrote. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
2023-08-25 21:58
COP28 Holds Key to Global Carbon Market That Could Help Improve Offsets
COP28 Holds Key to Global Carbon Market That Could Help Improve Offsets
Climate negotiators at COP28 may bolster carbon trading when they decide on rules for a new United Nations-overseen
2023-11-24 13:55
How Apple put Snoopy into its new Watch faces
How Apple put Snoopy into its new Watch faces
When the Apple Watch first launched back in 2015, there were 10 Watch faces. Now, there are more than 50. The newest among these is the Snoopy Watch face, designed in conjunction with the Charles Schulz Studio. The Independent sat down to talk to Gary Butcher, human interface designer at Apple, Eric Charles from Apple Watch product marketing and Paige Braddock, chief creative officer at Charles M Schulz Creative Associates to discover everything about the new Watch face. This is not the first time Snoopy has been on watches and he’s even appeared on high-end models like the Omega Speedmaster. As Eric Charles explains, “There’s a deep horological legacy of Snoopy appearing on watch faces from his early as the 1950s, and on Apple Watch, we’ve been able to bring Snoopy to life in whole new ways.” There 148 different animations for the Watch, which would run for 12 minutes if you played them one after the other; it’s tempting to try. They were all developed from an intense brainstorming session. Braddock, who was hired back in 1999 by Charles Schulz himself to work as an illustrator at the studio, reveals the creative dynamic: “Both Apple and peanuts have strong identities and a strong desire to connect in an authentic way with fans. “At the Schulz studio, we wanted to be authentic to Snoopy’s DNA and simultaneously explore the Apple Watch technology. Everyone knows that Peanuts is a comic strip that exists in a different decade: there are no smart phones or iPads in the comic strip. “But with mutual respect, it is possible to coexist as a modern tech company and a comic strip with a rich historic legacy. I always feel like a true collaboration is not one thing eclipsing the other, it’s finding a balance and working with contributors’ strengths.” As Braddock points out, there’s something about Snoopy for the Watch that’s a great fit. “If you look at a comic strip like this, it’s basically a four-panel storyboard. Even the aspect ratio from the comic to the watch face is almost the same. We sourced numerous animated sequences directly from Schulz’s original comic strips.” Snoopy’s look has evolved over the decades, from the fifties when he walked on all fours, to the sixties when he discovered he could do it on two legs. The shape of his canine head also changed. The collaborators had to decide whether the animation should be two-dimensional like the comic strip or 3D like the Snoopy Show. This led to a style that looks anything but electronic. Braddock again: “Ultimately, we chose to keep the watch animations as close as possible to the original Schulz drawings. Charles Schulz had a very specific and rare pin nib that he used. It was a nib that you had to dip in the ink bottle each time to fill it with ink and it meant he could create a varied line from thin to thick. “This sort of active drawing gives the character life. It’s obvious when you see these drawings that they’re handmade and not digital, and this is the feel that we wanted to preserve in the Watch animations.” But then Apple’s engineering kicks in. When you look at Snoopy on the Watch face, there’s a level of subtlety that you only notice after a while. Sometimes his activity is based on the weather, sometimes on what you’re doing. For instance, when you go swimming, so does Snoopy. Sometimes he even interacts with the Watch face itself, specifically with the minute hand. Gary Butcher expands on this: “One of the things we were especially excited to do is to have Snoopy and Woodstock interact with the minute hand of the watch. He can lean on it, He can throw things that bounce off of it. He can kick it when he wants to be fed. And he can jump up on it to wave to Woodstock on the other side.” This is one of the things that might mean you find yourself checking the time more than you actually need to. One time, he’ll peep out from behind the minute hand, his body magically hidden. Next, he’ll be skating and bounce off the minute hand because it’s in just the wrong place. Another time, a flying Woodstock will drop a bone for a recumbent Snoopy, which will bounce off the minute hand into his mouth. Then… look, you’re going to have to discover these things for yourself. On your birthday, Snoopy will celebrate. He’ll decorate his dog house for Christmas, or dress up for Halloween. In the creative process, they realised that with a little ingenuity, they could make these animations appear at different times. “To maximise the chances you’ll see those animations,” Butcher says, “we figured out we could simply rotate certain animations. I say simply rotate but under the hood is a really sophisticated scene layout engine being driven by an equally sophisticated decision engine.” Sometimes the rotation only needs to affect certain frames of the animation. If Snoopy is standing on the minute hand, he’s affected only when he’s up top, and his free fall into leaves below is unchanged and he falls naturally downwards, otherwise he’d shoot off sideways. “Each animation is only five seconds long, but by looping the whole animation or even just a few frames at the end, We’re able to keep certain scenes alive for much longer,” Butcher says. There’s more detail yet. Look closely and you’ll see the backgrounds are made up of dots – just the way it used to look in newsprint. Monday to Saturday has a half-tone dot background, but then bursts into colour for Sundays, again, just like it appeared in newspapers. This is called the Sunday Surprise. Eric Charles comments, “What I love about the way we’ve designed this watch face is that you may never see all of them. Because I live in California, I may not see the winter animations. I may never see the icy ones. I hopefully will never see the stormy ones either.” The team wanted to surprise and delight. Charles goes on to explain that they sought to find more and more content, all day long: “Those two words, surprise and delight, were basically the mantra of how we looked at this project. A certain animation can show up at 10.09 but when you raise your wrist again and it is still 10.09, what else can we serve you? What else can we present to you?” The mission to present Snoopy to the world was key to the endeavour, it seems. Paige Braddock says, “I don’t want the generation that uses modern devices to miss out on this really fantastic character. And I think Apple Watch is a bridge for some of those fans to discover – or rediscover – Snoopy.” Read More The Apple Watch has a major issue but Apple is working on a fix Don’t believe your eyes: how tech is changing photography forever Police to trial use of drones as first responders to emergencies Don’t believe your eyes: how tech is changing photography forever Police to trial use of drones as first responders to emergencies SpaceX launches world’s most powerful rocket – and then it disappears
2023-11-20 00:26
Good news for the college class of 2027: It's not too late to get more financial aid
Good news for the college class of 2027: It's not too late to get more financial aid
This weekend, the Class of 2027 checks into their college dorms at US institutions, from Columbia University in New York City to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the University of Colorado Boulder.
2023-08-26 16:29
FarEye Launches Grow – A Game-changing Self-Serve Merchant Portal for Logistics Companies to Accelerate Customer Acquisition and Drive Growth
FarEye Launches Grow – A Game-changing Self-Serve Merchant Portal for Logistics Companies to Accelerate Customer Acquisition and Drive Growth
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 2023--
2023-05-11 22:22
4 of the Best Ergonomic Office Chairs, According to Experts
4 of the Best Ergonomic Office Chairs, According to Experts
The best ergonomic office chairs on Amazon and other sites can be pricey, but experts say these picks are well worth the investment.
2023-08-17 04:26
Zalando sues EU Commission over landmark online content rules
Zalando sues EU Commission over landmark online content rules
By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS Zalando, Europe's biggest online fashion retailer, on Tuesday sued the European Commission for
2023-06-27 15:28
Elon Musk to start human trials with brain chip startup Neuralink
Elon Musk to start human trials with brain chip startup Neuralink
Elon Musk’s brain chip startup Neuralink has begun recruiting for its first human trials, having previously tested the technology on pigs and monkeys. Neuralink’s brain-computer interface received approval in May from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test its technology on humans, which the company hopes can help people with brain disorders and spinal injuries. “We’re excited to announce that recruitment is open for our first-in-human clinical trial,” Neuralink posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “If you have quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you may qualify.” The study will assess the safety of both the wireless chip and the surgical robot used to implant it in the brain. If successful, subjects will be able to control a computer cursor or keyboard using only their thoughts. The ultimate goal for Neuralink, according to Mr Musk, is to not just treat medical patients but augment the ability of humans in order to allow them to compete with advanced artificial intelligence. Implanted chips could provide “enhanced abilities” like greater reasoning and improved vision, while enabling people to perform previously impossible tasks like streaming music directly to their brain. Neuralink has faced criticism from animal rights groups for the treatment of its research subjects at the University of California’s Davis Primate Centre. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) accused Mr Musk’s startup of subjecting monkeys to “extreme suffering” and providing “inadequate animal care”. Both Neuralink and Mr Musk have denied the allegations, with the tech billionaire claiming last week that research experiments were only carried out on primates that were already close to death. “No monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant,” he wrote on X. “First our early implants, to minimise risk to healthy monkeys, we chose terminal monkeys (close to death already).” Read More Elon Musk is ‘unofficial president’ of the US, Netanyahu says Elon Musk says monkeys implanted with Neuralink brain chips were ‘close to death’ First photo emerges of Elon Musk and his baby twins with Neuralink director Elon Musk reveals trillion dollar algorithm that explains everything he does
2023-09-20 20:23
British consortium to invest $9 billion in Indonesia mining, EV batteries, minister says
British consortium to invest $9 billion in Indonesia mining, EV batteries, minister says
JAKARTA A British consortium that includes mining giant Glencore will invest about $9 billion in Indonesia's mining and
2023-05-31 17:53