Latest Stories from Jamie
What Nvidia’s AI NPC demo could mean for game development
Nvidia demoed its capabilities for AI and unique character building during Computex 2023. The gaming giant showed how an innocuous NPC could provide generated, off-the-cuff responses to player’s unique prompts during an in-game interaction. Contemporary titles can have anywhere between a handful and hundreds of non-playable characters (NPCs). Primarily intended to carry the overarching narrative forward by delivering missions, these secondary characters carry the bulk-load for creating a sense of emotional...
70% of California beaches could reportedly vanish by the century’s end
Geological researchers believe California’s beaches could diminish by up to 70% by the year 2100. Satellite data collected over two decades is now being peer reviewed. The Golden State may lose some of its glorious sheen, thanks to the impacts of climate change. Globally famed for its sprawling beaches and ceaseless waves, California could reportedly face the grim prospect of waving goodbye to 70% of its coastline by the year 2100. Satellite...
Is football betting becoming too normalised in the UK?
Around 700 gambling ads are visible in every Premier League match and live odds are constantly touted online. Here’s why banning front-shirt sponsors for bookies isn’t sufficient. Football has become synonymous with gambling in the UK, and that is indubitably a problem. As someone obsessed with the beautiful game, my mind is usually preoccupied with the sporting permutations of each weekend; who is looking likely for a title run, who’s in...
Greenpeace criminalised and forced to disband within Russia
Greenpeace has been forcibly liquidated within Russia, meaning the continuation of its activities would be illegal and put staff at risk of prosecution. The term ‘foreign agent’, once synonymous with the Soviet era, is returning with worrying regularity within Russia, leaving many to believe civil freedoms are being systematically bulldozed. The latest to be branded an ‘undesirable organisation’ by Moscow authorities is Greenpeace, effectively forcing the ecological outfit to disband or...
Ad agencies and regulators claim era of greenwashing is over
Several major cities face stricter regulatory restrictions on annoying greenwashing tactics. Advertising agencies are being told to reconsider relationships with major polluters, and false claims of being ‘carbon neutral’ and ‘nature positive’ will be thwarted by marketing authorities. Everyone blags their way through professional life to some extent, right? When it comes to the future prosperity of the planet, however, we need to be sure companies are legitimately taking action. Wanting...
Abuse of Vinicius Jr renews calls to address racism in football
Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr was subject to racist abuse during a La Liga tie against Valencia on Sunday. Past and present teammates have since come out in support of the 22-year-old, along with the wider football world. The beautiful game, at times, can be extremely ugly. One of football’s most exciting starlets, Vinicius Jr, was subject to racist abuse during Real Madrid’s Spanish league tie against Valencia at the Mestalla...
Meta fined a record $1.3bn for EU data transfers to the US
Meta has been hit with a record $1.3bn fine for transferring the Facebook data of EU citizens to the US despite security risks. Is Mark Zuckerberg’s burgeoning social media enterprise already reaching last-chance saloon territory? To summarise the current Meta situation in Gen Z terms, there’s only one phrase that springs to mind: ‘common L’. Mark Zuckerberg’s burgeoning social media enterprise is looking more like a strange social experiment by the...
Is the upcoming bodycam shooter ‘Unrecord’ too true to life?
An upcoming shooter game called Unrecord aims to accurately simulate the bodycam of a tactical officer. But has its developer’s emphasis on overtly realistic mechanics, graphics, and themes created something a little too true to life? The technology available to game developers today is allowing them to create more immersive and marvellous experiences than previously thought possible. Thanks to digital toolkits such as the Unreal Engine 5, we’re able to...
Brazil’s Amazon deforestation fell by 68% in April under Lula da Silva
Taking the reins from Jair Bolsonaro in January, Lula da Silva has thus far honoured his pledge to tackle Brazil’s astronomical deforestation problem. In April, the rate of such activity was down 68% on the previous year. In the run-up to Brazil’s elections last October, several ecological experts suggested the future of the Amazon rainforest relied solely on who would become president. Jair Bolsonaro’s contentious stint of three years had brought...
Salted crops can provide cost-effective carbon capture say researchers
Cost effective carbon capture is currently a bit of a myth. But could arguably Earth’s oldest preservative, salt, provide a solution to lock atmospheric carbon deep underground? Carbon removal is now deemed essential to stay within all theoretical pathways of 1.5C warming, says the IPCC’s AR6 Synthesis Report. Depending on how effectively we transition the most pollutant industries away from fossil fuels, we’ll need to actively sequester somewhere between 5...
