It was an incredible year for gaming. While there were no new consoles, we did get new virtual reality headsets and a wave of new portable PCs offered even more options for gaming on the go (or at least on the couch). That's reflected in many of our picks for the best games of the year, with several PC-only options.
The year began with a fantastic new version of space horror. Dead space and the great success, pizza tower. But there was so much more. Obvious picks? Yes: the latest Zelda The epic is there, as it is. Baldur's Gate 3. If you have some time between Christmas and New Year's, there may be no better way to spend it than with one of these games. Have Cocoon waiting for me.
-Mat Smith
You can receive these reports daily directly to your inbox. Subscribe right here!
The most important stories you may have missed
Apple Watch import ban is on pause, for now
What happens next depends on the ITC's response.
Urgh, tech news whiplash. A federal appeals court in Washington DC allowed Apple to continue importing the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models. This was just a day after Apple filed its appeal against the International Trade Commission's decision to ban imports. of both Apple Watch models due to a patent dispute. But you've probably read all about it.
Keep reading.
The New York Times sues OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement
The artificial intelligence companies used the newspaper articles to train themselves.
The backlash against ai companies and their tools continues to grow: these ai models need data from somewhere. The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for using its newspaper articles to train their artificial intelligence chatbots without an agreement to compensate it for its intellectual property. It alleges that more than 66 million records, ranging from breaking news articles to opinion pieces, published on the websites of the NYT and other affiliated brands were used to train the ai models. The NYT also says that these ai products can generate results that “mimic your expressive style.” This echoes the complaints of comedians and authors such as Julian Sancton.
Keep reading.
Swedish researchers develop an “electronic soil” that accelerates plant growth
'eSoil' is here.
Researchers at Linköping University (Sweden) have developed a “bioelectronic soil.” It can apparently accelerate the growth of plants in hydroponic spaces or farms that grow plants in environments composed primarily of water. After integrating the engineered 'eSoil' into the framework where the seedlings grow, the researchers found that sending electrical signals through the soil caused the barley plants to grow 50 percent larger on average.
This is done by placing a conductive polymer within the soil and applying a voltage as small as 0.5V into the eSoil to electrically stimulate the roots.
Keep reading.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-best-games-of-2023-121548149.html?src=rss
