Tag: solar
Metaverse Avenue – World’s First NFT Based Advertising Metaverse
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Metaverse avenue – the world’s first NFT based advertising metaverse is all set to release its presale which is scheduled to go live on 26th January, 2022.Whitelisted participants can enjoy 50% discount. Unlike regular NFT collections, they sell advertising space in the NFT format. Metaverse avenue consists of interactive billboards located in the metaverse. A project that …
Gotham Gal –
The last two years were just strange. Life moved on, but the constant white noise hits home every time you have to put the mask on. It’s pretty incredible how we have adapted. At first, Trump appeared to be a nightmare that we would never wake up from (although we seem to still be in the aftershocks). Then a global pandemic showed up at our doors. It felt so apocalyptic. But the interesting thing is, humans are pretty adaptable because the alternative is worse.
With that in mind, think of all the things we could adapt to in order to save our planet. There will be short-term pain, and the cost could be high, but the benefit will outweigh the road to getting there in the long term. If all the technology and products were there for us just to decide, it would have to be from the President and the United Nations because there are too many muppet heads out who don’t see reality.
The list is endless. Through these past two years, so much has come to light that needs to change. Let’s start with the easiest. Nobody can drive a gas car anymore. There are simply no more gas stations. We will need to rethink the lithium in batteries, but I am sure somebody is on that. All of our homes would be fueled with either solar or nuclear energy. Plastic bags are no longer made, even my favorite zip-locks. Industrial farming ceases to exist. We eat less food, and it comes from local farms. Livestock is produced in smaller, more humane ways. We spent billions on transportation, especially in urban cities. Pesticides and weed killers would be made from natural products. Bottled water is banned. Fashion is continuously recycled, and we all start consuming less because there will be less to consume. Fast fashion is over. Ecommerce must be shipped in biodegradable boxes. Let’s just start here even though are so many more things we could do.
If this actually happened, and we had no choice, there is no doubt that we would adapt. The bigger problem is that it would kill our economy in the short term. Years ago, remember when Sears brought on a new CEO named Eddie Lampert? He happened to own the majority of shares in the business. It is clear that he killed Sears. What is also clear is that although he didn’t seem to know how to run a retail operation or have any vision for where Sears could go and forgot to mention to his shareholders that his ideas would plummet the sales and leave the business with less capital to move the business into the next century, he did try to do something new. That is more than most department stores appear to be doing these days. Maybe it would have worked but he wasn’t given more time. The pain was too great for the shareholders.
I call these problems “the golden handcuff.” Everything works, and it works, and everyone is making money, so why change? It is evident from the constant weather disasters that we need to try and follow many of the things on the list above, although once again, keep in mind; short-term disaster = long-term gains.
Something to think about as we enter the ongoing masked pandemic in 2022. Happy New Year!
ESL Open #105: Solar, ShoWTimE, herO win
Bitcoin And The Monetary Chakras
Iron Banter: This Week In Destiny 2 – The Osmium Girls And Orb Outrage
Just about every week brings something new to Destiny 2, whether it's story beats, new activities, or interesting new combinations of elements that let players devastate each other in the Crucible. Iron Banter is our weekly look at what's going on in the world of Destiny and a rundown of what's drawing our attention across the solar system.
With most of the major content for the Season of the Lost out of the way, we're more or less officially in the hype period--the run-up to The Witch Queen that's going to see a deluge of details and hints before the expansion's final launch on February 22. It got going this week with a new trailer for The Witch Queen that included a deeper look at the locale and some fun hints about what might go on there.
So, hey, guess who's thinking about story possibilities--this guy [points at self].
There's a lot of room for rampant speculation, but with the new trailer, we at least have some areas on which to focus. The big thing that interests me is the broader story of Savathun and her motivations, because I think everything's about to get a lot more complicated in The Witch Queen.
Sister Act
I spent the early part of the week pouring over the latest Witch Queen trailer and breaking down everything it included, scrounging for clues about the story that Bungie might be trying to tell in the next chapter of Destiny 2. (Relatedly and at the same time, Saniya Ahmed dug deep on old Mars story threads that seem like they're about to become very relevant.) It raised more questions than answers, sure, but there were a couple of tidbits that play into ongoing feelings I've been having about where The Witch Queen is headed. The main one is this:
That's a statue of Oryx, the Taken King, fighting the worm god Akka. It's a scene out of the Books of Sorrow, the Hive's creation myth, which seems at least partially true but may also include its share of lies--much like everything to do with the Hive. But I think it's more than just a cool reference to an intense lore thing (which you should absolutely read, as it's some of the best story stuff in the Destiny universe).
I've been cultivating the opinion for a while that Savathun wants to be friends. That idea was somewhat born out with the Season of the Lost, when Savathun revealed that she had been impersonating Osiris and claimed that her (admittedly evil-seeming) manipulations of events had actually been tuned toward a helpful purpose. She claims she wants to be allies, even though she can't help being super-creepy about it, and while The Witch Queen marketing seemingly paints Savathun as the villain of the expansion, the impression cultivated with trailers and hints so far does more to suggest that Savathun is guiding or pushing us in a particular direction through the course of the expansion, rather than just trying to kill us like the Hive usually do.
Let's pause for a second and acknowledge that Savathun is the Hive god of deceit, so anything could be a lie or a machination to confuse and obfuscate because she literally feeds off tricking people into believing her lies. That said, Savathun's actions over the course of more than a year have backed up the feeling that she really has switched sides and is now an active enemy of the Darkness, the evil power in the Destiny 2 universe, and the worm gods, which have empowered the Hive for eons. Her own sister, Xivu Arath, is hunting Savathun and seemingly intent on killing her in service of the Darkness. And in past seasons, Savathun has worked to keep us Guardians away from the Darkness's influence. Whatever other lies she's telling, given the events we've seen and the fights we've actually fought, that Savathun is actually fighting the Darkness seems to be a truth.
So okay, take it as proven that Savathun doesn't want to be a slave to the Darkness or the worm gods anymore. This statue then might just be a cool piece of art with which Savathun commemorates Oryx's battle against Akka. It could be a tribute to family, or a monument to the first defeat of the worm gods, since Savathun isn't a fan anymore. But it could also be something more.
There's been something of a fan theory floating around for a while that a burgeoning Hive goal is to resurrect Oryx. After all, we left a vacancy on Oryx's throne when we killed him back in Destiny 1 and nobody has filled it--something that was a major theme of Forsaken and all our visits with Toland the Shattered in the Ascendant Realm. Shadowkeep is about factions trying to rise to take over the Hive hierarchy and dissent about Hive leadership. And though Savathun might be lying to us, something she said that actually rings true in the Season of the Lost was about her dedication to family. While the Hive gods warred on each other countless times over the millennia, they always considered these attacks to be love meant to strengthen one another--to force evolution through what is essentially their religion, the Sword Logic. I think it's true that Savathun feels for her siblings even now.
So maybe this monument isn't just tribute to past deeds of Oryx or historical recollection of a worm-god ass-kicking, but some reverence for the Taken King. I think it's possible Savathun wants to bring Oryx back--through, you know, some kind of weird Destiny space magic--and if that's the case, I think Savathun wants not only to free herself from the Darkness, but Oryx too.
So that's my big fun fan theory of the moment. The truth we're going to learn about Savathun is that she wants to resurrect Oryx and release the Hive from the worms altogether. The Witch Queen expansion sees Savathun gaining the power of the Light, and while we'll stand against her, Put me on record as seeing that as another manipulation--by the Darkness this time, not Savathun herself. We'll see the error of our ways eventually.
Ultimately, I think, it won't be the forces of Light that stand against the Darkness, but the forces of life. We're already finding allies among the Eliksni and the Cabal, alien races who were our enemies for years (if not, in the story sense, centuries). We'll join with the Hive eventually too, I think, and probably the Vex. It'll be life fighting against death, with all of us living beings demanding a right to exist.
I mean, what if they resurrected Oryx and the Taken King was our friend? How sick would that be?
Orbs of Atrocity
In the This Week at Bungie blog post this week, the developer outlined a relatively minor change that has kicked off the outrage that the Destiny 2 community sees from time to time. Venture over to the r/destinythegame subreddit to see what I mean. It boils down to this: Guns aren't going to generate Orbs of Power through Masterwork anymore. With The Witch Queen, you'll equip certain mods to your armor, which will cause guns of a specific type to generate Orbs for you.
The ostensible reason for this particular change is to remove the requirement that players must gather Exotic catalysts for certain Exotic weapons. If you're unfamiliar, catalysts are certain items you can find or earn in Destiny 2 that equip to Exotic weapons, and once you've completed whatever their requirements are, amp up that particular gun. They also generate Orbs of Power. A bunch of catalysts are only available through random drops in certain activities, which means a lot of people don't have them, and it can take a long time to get them. Sometimes you get lucky. Often you don't. Until you do, that spiffy Exotic that you like doesn't generate Orbs. This new mod solution remedies that.
We don't have all the details about the Orb situation, it must be said, because Bungie is dropping additional details later. However, it sounds like Orbs will factor into the new weapon crafting system and that more alterations to the Orbs system altogether are likely happening.
But this is one of those things that has players pretty upset, and it's possible to see why. Currently, you can generate Orbs with all three guns in your arsenal, provided you either Masterwork them or have their catalysts if they're Exotic. And Orbs are very useful in gameplay, since they help you gain your Super faster and can give you additional benefits, like health or ability energy regeneration. When you build a current Destiny 2 loadout, you think about Orbs.
With the mod change, it sounds like instead of having three guns for Orb generation, you'll have...fewer, most likely. Each mod is tied to a certain damage type for Orb generation, so it seems like you'll have to equip a mod to make your Arc guns generate Orbs, or your Void guns, and so forth. That has players annoyed because it'll hinder the ability to swap guns on the fly. Instead of just going from Arc to Void as the situation dictates, they're seeing the need to swap mods off their helmets to make sure they're still generating Orbs, or worse, swapping the entire helmet for another one with preset mods ready to go.
I'm usually at odds with the community reaction to changes like this, because personally, how my guns generate Orbs of Power is not a thing that gets my blood up. It's a minor mechanic to me that barely affects how I play the game 99% of the time and thus I don't really care. I feel that way about a lot of things in Destiny 2, to be honest. This just isn't really that big of a deal.
And I do think a lot of these reactions are, in fact, over-reactions. Most activities in Destiny 2 just aren't that difficult and don't require that much care or attention for loadouts or build-crafting. That's by design--the game is largely accessible and you can breeze through it with some challenge but not min-maxing-level attention to detail. The places you might have to care about whether your guns generate Orbs in all situations are those highest-level activities like Raids or Grandmaster Nightfalls. In most of those cases, where the game is so hard that every piece of armor, weapon choice, and mod attachment matters, well, you're probably going to be equipment-locked anyway. You're not going to be making weapon swaps or mod adjustments. So the scenario in which you're swapping to make giant switches to your loadout to make sure you're still generating, again, Orbs of Power, is just not one I think is realistic.
Maybe the Orb change is going to make a drastic difference to how Destiny 2 plays, or maybe it'll just make things a little more annoying; it's tough to speculate at this point. We'll find out more soon as Bungie drops more details and when The Witch Queen actually drops. But I'm doubtful this is a change that anyone's really going to be thinking about in roughly two months.
But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Feel free to argue with me in the comments below--I'm interested in some reasonable takes about the situation, for sure, especially because while I pay some attention to build-crafting, I know there are a lot of people out there who are much more expert. That said, I'd rather talk about your Witch Queen predictions, your Hive lore deep-dive thoughts, and your Oryx friend date dream scenarios.
Disaster Preparedness: How 5 Simple Steps Can Help You Protect Your A$$ets
Hitachi Rail Partners Exclusively with Intermodal Telematics to Offer a Digital Solution to Improve Rail Freight Efficiency and Safety
Netherlands based independent solution provider IMT has pioneered the development of digital monitoring sensors and telematics solutions for freight wagons and containers. The sensors verify the exact location of the cars, the loading status, the open/close condition of doors and hatches, the temperature and pressure of the cargo and the health condition of bogies and wheelsets. The data is sent to the Cloud via a solar powered GPS device and allows the condition of the train and its cargo to be monitored in real time, as well as alerting operators about potential issues. The partnership allows the use of AI analytics to optimise the efficiency and safety of its customers' freight services worldwide.
Powered by IMT, Hitachi can now provide fully-fledged telematics solutions that improve reliability and performance for the freight market. The technology can give companies the vital information they need to control their supply chains more efficiently and respond with appropriate interventions more quickly. With global supply chains having faced major disruption throughout 2021 and challenges predicted to continue, the partnership offers enhanced resilience for companies transporting goods via rail freight.
The partnership with Intermodal Telematics will complement Hitachi Rail's purchase of Perpetuum last year. The British rail technology firm, Perpetuum, provides Hitachi with digital solutions that improve train reliability and performance. Its remote condition monitoring detects emerging damage in train bogies long before it can be identified by other means, thus preventing failures, facilitating more efficient maintenance cycles, and increasing the life of the wheels. Coupled with the IMT solution, Hitachi will now be able to completely monitor freight vehicles in real time.
Edoardo La Ficara, Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer for Operation, Service & Maintenance, Hitachi Rail, said:
"Hitachi Rail is focused on growing its digital offer to develop data-driven solutions to meet our customer's complex challenges. Our exclusive partnership with IMT delivers this and enables Hitachi to provide an enhanced digital freight offer across the globe, with a strong initial focus on European and North American markets.
"This solution will enable operators and maintainers to be aware of vehicles' position and status at all times. This will provide a radical evolution for the freight industry, whose railcars are overwhelmingly without any telematics or monitoring whatsoever."
IMT will now exclusively offer the Perpetuum sensor solution in the freight market, which will further broaden IMT's full portfolio in asset and cargo monitoring for the international rail market. Commenting, Dethmer Drenth, Managing Director and Founder of IMT, said:
"This partnership adds a significant value to our railcar market offering as we expand our renowned assets and cargo related monitoring to specific predictive asset maintenance monitoring with the Hitachi/Perpetuum sensor. In that way we create a holistic view of the railcar above and below the axle, alerting the asset and cargo owner on a need-to-know and managing-by-exception basis."
The integration of digital technology has a major role to play in enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of operations, train maintenance and safety. The partnership follows the global mobility firm's strategy of expanding its digital capabilities, including Hitachi's Lumada platform that uses AI and the Internet of Things to turn data into actionable business insights.
The partnership's initial focus for the new digital service will be in European and North American markets. Hitachi Rail is already an established provider to freight operators in North America, where over 34.5 million carloads and intermodal units were transported in 2021, a growth of 4.8% compared to 2020.
About Hitachi Rail:
Hitachi Rail is a fully integrated, global provider of rail solutions across rolling stock, signalling, service & maintenance, digital technology and turnkey solutions. With a presence in 38 countries across six continents and over 12,000 employees, our mission is to contribute to society through the continuous development of superior rail transport solutions. We are proud of our global achievements, from our world famous "bullet trains", to our signalling solutions and turnkey projects, state-of-the-art traffic management and digital solutions. Drawing on the wider Hitachi Group's market-leading technology and research- and-development capabilities, we strive for industry leading innovations and solutions that can deliver value for customers and sustainable railway systems that benefit wider society. For information about Hitachi Rail, visit www.hitachirail.com.
About Intermodal Telematics (IMT)
IMT is the world leading independent telematics solution partner for the tank container industry, offering smart sensor technology and a web application with which operators, container manufacturers, lessors and shippers can obtain the insights they need to improve their delivery performance, operational efficiency and safety. R&D, production, hardware and software development are all in-house, delivering cost-effective product development via a team of 74 people in the Netherlands, Germany and Spain, backed by an entrepreneurial management team with significant industry experience. IMT offers a complete range of monitoring sensors and telematics systems including location, temperature, pressure, full/empty and heating sensors, all connected to its proprietary software platform. More information about IMT, visit www.intermodaltelematics.com.
For more information, please contact:
Adam Love, Group Head of External Affairs:
+44 7860 273 317 or adam.love@hitachirail.com
Anja Smid, Marketing Communications Manager, IMT, on +31 6 222 23 974 (or +31 76 231
02 00) or at anja.smid@intermodaltelematics.com.
Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.jcnnewswire.comHitachi Rail and Intermodal Telematics (IMT) have agreed an exclusive long-term partnership that will add IMT's pioneering monitoring sensors to Hitachi's existing digital freight service.
Where Is Xur Today? (Jan. 14-18) – Destiny 2 Xur Location And Exotics Guide
What is likely the final Iron Banner event for the Season of the Lost continues through the weekend in Destiny 2, which means you should take advantage of this last opportunity to secure armor, weapons, and bounties from the multiplayer event. Put your best foot forward by grabbing some fresh Exotics and Legendary weapons and armor from Xur to help you best the competition.
Xur arrives in the solar system with the daily reset on Friday, so we'll update this article when he makes it to the solar system.
Xur is present every weekend in Destiny 2, starting with the daily reset at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET each Friday. His exact location is always a mystery when he first arrives, as he is not listed on the map, and for novice players, he can be easy to miss. However, there are a set number of locations where he takes up residence, including the Tower Hangar area, on Nessus in Watcher's Grave, and in the Winding Cove area of the EDZ.
Alongside changes in his location, Xur's inventory also rotates weekly. That means it's worth visiting him each time to check out his new weapons and rolls on Exotic and Legendary armor. You can visit him any time between his arrival Friday and the weekly reset at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET the following Tuesday when Xur departs the solar system.