We know you watched a few videos this year, but did you watch a few Polygon videos this year? To celebrate another year in the can, the Polygon video team gave each producer the chance (...and assignment) to shout out their favorite work from 2024 to give you an idea of where to dive in. Clayton Ashley The Great Game: The Making of Spycraft This video is more like my favorite of the last three years, because my colleague Simone de Rochefort and I worked on it at least that long. The Great Game: The Making of Spycraft is a feature-length documentary about the titular video game Spycraft: The Great Game . That big-budget, full-motion 1996 video game featured both a former KGB major general, Oleg Kalugin, and a former CIA director, William Colby. The parallel stories of two titans of Cold War espionage, and the making of a technology-pushing game, became too fascinating to ignore. Working on this video was unlike anything else I’ve done at Polygon. When I threw out the idea to have Jamelle Bouie — of New York Times op-ed, TikTok, Unclear and Present Danger podcast fame — narrate the documentary, I never dreamed it’d actually happen. We also had outside help for narration, graphics, and all the complicated production issues that full-length documentary creation entails, and it’s a testament to the whole team that it turned out as good as it did. If you spend the time to watch, I deeply appreciate it! ‘ Guy talks About Starship Troopers for 25 minutes NOt clickbait ’ I’m a big fan of Starship Troopers . Not only is it my favorite of Paul Verhoeven’s films, it’s one of my Letterboxd Four, and if my friends are any indication, it’s an R-rated feature our generation was exposed to at a very not R-rated age. Years later I learned and appreciated that it was a biting satire, perhaps the most biting in decades if the number of dissenting critics it fooled in 1997 is any indication. That’s a point that Pat’s video exquisitely illustrates. His video is actually a lot about Starship Troopers , both the movie and the book, as well as one of my favorite games of the year, Helldivers 2 . But that’s not why I think it’s important. Of course, I think all of our videos are important , but I think this video is important in a more... urgent way. Because... you know . (I’m gesturing around at everything. I realize now that this is much harder to convey in writing than in video.) While Starship Troopers and Helldivers 2 take center stage, what the video is really about is that it’s important to think critically about satirical media in a world where “Get it? It’s fascist” isn’t a joke. That even incisive, penetrating satires like Starship Troopers and Helldivers 2 aren’t without their flaws and limitations. That sometimes it helps to dive deeper not just into the commentaries filmmakers make, or the books that inspire movies like Starship Troopers (well, especially not that one), but also the history that inspires a director to make a movie about how war makes fascists of us all (yes, even that war). Christina ‘XTINA GG’ Gayton ‘ Subtle nerd clothing recommendations ’ My favorite video I did this year is this TikTok on subtle nerd clothing. It’s a sartorial interest I’ve had for a while and I’m glad so many people could relate to it. The video is about how geek apparel used to always be very bold and in-your-face, like Hot Topic T-shirts with the logo and name of the game on the front of a shirt in big, colorful lettering. These days you can find a myriad of clothing to express your interests in more subtle ways that would only be recognizable to other fans of the IP, such as the Unown pants from Atsuko (that I think might be out of stock now??). ‘ Sonic the Hedgehog Interview 3: Into the Shadow Realm ’ My favorite video from one of my co-workers is the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 interview Pat did with Ben Schwartz. I was impressed by their improvisational chemistry. I think it’s a testament to the creative possibility for interviews and how they can be fun and interesting. It felt like watching two friends rather than a professional interview. Also, I LOVED Sonic the Hedgehog 3 . It was so good. Patrick Gill ‘ Tekken is still weird and that’s what makes it great ’ I loved making this video because I got to dip into all of my little interests and tie them together: fighting games, animation, martial arts films, and weird wrestling history. But on a more personal level, I wanted to eulogize the spirit of martial naïveté. Growing up in a pre-MMA world with limited internet access, it was entirely possible for kids like me to go to our strip-mall karate classes and practice throwing chambered punches from our deep horse stances, believing we were learning how to fight. When I saw schoolyard scraps devolve into clumsy, red-faced grappling, I could tell myself it was because neither one of them knew how to execute a well-targeted palm strike. My sensei’s word was law, and my sensei said if an opponent grabbed my lapel like this , I could counter with a wrist lock like this . It was a comforting dream. Anyhoo! This is a video about how fighting affects fantasy and how fantasy affects fighting. I have a lot more to say on the topic and maybe, one day, I will! ‘ Stop lying about Assassin’s Creed Unity’s Notre Dame ’ Boy, do I love to see a myth busted. Take that, you stupid myth! Sometimes, you hear something, and you believe it. Maybe you repeat it to someone else — perhaps because it confirms how you think about the world, or because it makes you mad, because it is just nice to think about. Did you know Rutger Hauer improvised that entire Blade Runner monologue on set ? Wow! It’s especially easy to do this on the internet, where I can overlay some text on a picture of Keanu Reeves and convince a not-insignificant number of people that he holds opinions on the topic of “fake friends.” I love it when someone puts the time and effort into thoroughly correcting the record. But once is never enough. Simone has made this video a few times now in different forms . Misinformation can be genuinely harmful, or just seriously annoying, but it is always hard to kill. It comforts me to know that each time this particular myth swells up from the roiling bogs of discourse, Simone will be there to fight the good fight. Simone de Rochefort ‘ I played Elden Ring wrong for two years ’ This is maybe not my most substantial work, but I love when I am inspired to make something because shit is just happening to me . The anecdote at the core of this video is that I spent two years brute-forcing and cheesing my way through Elden Ring , only for my boyfriend to look at my build and go “your shit’s fucked.” But also : It’s about how I was having fun anyway . But also : The response to the video has been my favorite part. I was understandably a bit apprehensive about putting out a video basically saying “lol I’m bad at video games.” But there’s a ton of people in the comments being encouraging, or sharing their stories of sucking at Elden Ring , and it made me really happy! For me, having fun isn’t synonymous with being good at something, and it looks like I’m not alone! ‘ Elden Ring does this better than anyone else ’ The thing about this video is that I was going to make it. I like making videos about how game mechanics work, and the idea was to do one about how cloth is modeled. I turned to Gwen Frey, who I had interviewed about the Bread Boy in BioShock Infinite , because she had worked on video game cloth design before. We had a great interview, and then I sat down to write the video, and it just... didn’t work. Separately, Pat had pitched a video about Elden Ring ’s costuming and how it communicated character design. This also didn’t end up going anywhere. Until . Pat needed an idea for his next video, and I needed to stop lying to my boss about how I was making a video about cloth. The solution was clear: Pat was going to make a video about cloth. And he knocked it out of the park. The great thing about Pat is that he’s incredibly skilled at observing and explaining tiny details in games. And there are so many tiny details in Elden Ring . He takes a huge topic (ALL OF THE CLOTH IN ELDEN RING ???), and makes it funny and digestible and educational. He did a much better job with this than I would have, and I love it because he succeeded where I failed. And that’s why it’s so great to work on a team as talented as this one. Featured Videos Video
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes got back to climbing on Wednesday after the latest update on inflation appeared to clear the way for more help for the economy from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% to break its first two-day losing streak in nearly a month and finished just short of its all-time high. Big Tech stocks led the way, which drove the Nasdaq composite up 1.8% to top the 20,000 level for the first time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, lagged the market with a dip of 99 points, or 0.2%. Stocks got a boost as expectations built that Wednesday's inflation data will allow the Fed to deliver another cut to interest rates at its meeting next week. Traders are betting on a nearly 99% probability of that, according to data from CME Group, up from 89% a day before. If they're correct, it would be a third straight cut by the Fed after it began lowering rates in September from a two-decade high. It's hoping to support a slowing job market after getting inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. Lower rates would give a boost to the economy and to prices for investments, but they could also provide more fuel for inflation. "The data have given the Fed the 'all clear' for next week, and today's inflation data keep a January cut in active discussion," according to Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Expectations for a series of cuts to rates by the Fed have been one of the main reasons the S&P 500 has set an all-time high 57 times this year, with the latest coming last week. The biggest boosts for the index on Wednesday came from Nvidia and other Big Tech stocks. Their massive growth has made them Wall Street's biggest stars for years, though other kinds of stocks have recently been catching up somewhat amid hopes for the broader U.S. economy. Tesla jumped 5.9% to finish above $420 at $424.77. It's a level that Elon Musk made famous in a 2018 tweet when he said he had secured funding to take Tesla private at $420 per share. Stitch Fix soared 44.3% after the company that sends clothes to your door reported a smaller loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave financial forecasts for the current quarter that were better than expected, including for revenue. GE Vernova rallied 5% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500. The energy company that spun out of General Electric said it would pay a 25 cent dividend every three months, and it approved a plan to send up to another $6 billion to its shareholders by buying back its own stock. On the losing end of Wall Street, Dave & Buster's Entertainment tumbled 20.1% after reporting a worse loss for the latest quarter than expected. It also said CEO Chris Morris has resigned, and the board has been working with an executive-search firm for the last few months to find its next permanent leader. Albertsons fell 1.5% after filing a lawsuit against Kroger, saying it didn't do enough for their proposed $24.6 billion merger agreement to win regulatory clearance. Albertsons said it's seeking billions of dollars in damages from Kroger, whose stock rose 1%. A day earlier, judges in separate cases in Oregon and Washington nixed the supermarket giants' merger. The grocers contended a combination could have helped them compete with big retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon, but critics said it would hurt competition. After terminating the merger agreement with Kroger, Albertsons said it plans to boost its dividend 25% and increased the size of its program to buy back its own stock. Macy's slipped 0.8% after cutting some of its financial forecasts for the full year of 2024, including for how much profit it expects to make off each $1 of revenue. All told, the S&P 500 rose 49.28 points to 6,084.19. The Dow dipped 99.27 to 44,148.56, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 347.65 to 20,034.89. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.27% from 4.23% late Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, edged up to 4.15% from 4.14%. In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was an outlier and slipped 0.8% as Chinese leaders convened an annual planning meeting in Beijing that is expected to set economic policies and growth targets for the coming year. South Korea's Kospi rose 1%, up for a second straight day as it climbs back following last week's political turmoil where its president briefly declared martial law.
Organic Lampeter farm returns to growing carrots thanks to Welsh veg in schools initiative
Following a three-year ( three months!) wait, another season of Netflix’s has come and gone. And coming out of Season 2, we’ve got lingering questions. Already this season, TVLine has recapped ... the outcome of in Episode 6... and , which teed up Season 3 with a tragic death. in our Performer of the Week column. Now, let’s review the burning questions that we have about Season 2, kicking off with... and he/she was quietly replaced after “Red Light, Green Light”? Or did they gamble that no one would notice a Player 001 was missing from the first game? 4 You had 365 players, which divides into 73 five-person teams. Running two five-minute races run at a time, with maybe 10 minutes for ( ) clean-up between... that equals of sitting, if you were among the last to compete! Speaking of which.... By picking up on hacks and tips and no-nos? Was there a plan to use “blanks” on him, or...? or was he just making his team sweat? Um, had they not found it...? In Season 1 (when Sae-byeok went there to access/crawl through the air ducts), it seemed like it was just off the dormitory. (Then again, Season 1 was ago.) doesn’t it seem like the game masters would have the option to simply flood the dorm with knockout gas? Gi-hun’s good friend Jung-bae being among the players... a son his mother... pregnant Jun-hee her baby daddy... or No-Eul (aka Soldier 011) and the father (Player 246) of the little girl she bonded with at the amusement park? Or were those all on purpose, because the game masters are sick of bastards? var pd_tags = new Array;pd_tags[“14833797-src”]=”poll-oembed-simple”; var pd_tags = new Array;pd_tags[“14830867-src”]=”poll-oembed-simple”; Sign up for . For the latest news, follow us on , , and .
The rise and fall of strongmen, and justice for a woman unbowedNoneJim Rossman | Tribune News Service Cord cutting used to refer to abandoning pay TV and putting up an antenna to watch free over-the-air TV. Then cord cutting expanded to include streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and individual streaming sources. Related Articles TV and Streaming | Best TV of 2024: A modestly better lineup than usual, but why didn’t it feel that way? TV and Streaming | ‘Emilia Pérez’ leads Golden Globe nominations with 10, followed by ‘The Brutalist’ and ‘Conclave’ TV and Streaming | Column: 40 years after it premiered, ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ remains one of the best Doyle adaptations TV and Streaming | What to watch: ‘Flow’ and ‘The Order’ are both worth your attention TV and Streaming | ‘Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary’ review: More than an ironic musical pleasure Now we also include streaming bundles, like YouTube TV or Hulu Live or DirecTV Stream. These bundled services mimic cable and satellite service, in that they have hundreds of channels. The ease or complexity of the cord cutting experience depends on how you have things set up. Let’s take a look at some gift options for your favorite cord cutter. As far as I know DirecTV is the only streaming bundle service that offers its own hardware. The Gemini Air is a small dongle that plugs into an HDMI port on your TV. It is paired with a remote control to allow for easy navigation. If you were an AT&T U-Verse TV customer, the Gemini Air/DirecTV Stream experience will be very familiar. The Gemini Air is a rarity in that it has number buttons. DirecTV Stream has the option of turning on channel numbers in the guide. I’ve used DirecTV Stream with my Roku TV and with the Gemini Air and the Air makes navigating the huge list of channels much easier. The Gemini Air runs the Google operating system, so you can see and use all your other streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Max and more. You can also load apps and games from the Google Play store. The Gemini Air connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network, and it can stream 4K content to your TV. The remote control has a microphone so you can use your voice to search or interact with Hey Google’s voice assistant. DirecTV Stream customers can get a free Gemini Air from AT&T with their service. Additional units are available for $120. There are lots of smart TV brands. Some run on the Roku operating system, some run Google TV and some use their own brand of smart TV apps. If you’d like to add Google TV to any set, you can get Google’s new TV Streamer (4K) for just $99 from store.google.com. The small device connects to your TV’s HDMI port. It also can connect to your home’s internet via Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection. The Google TV interface is not tied to any specific streaming service. You can use any streaming service or app that’s available on the Google Play store. It features a simple remote with voice control and the Google TV Streamer is also a hub and controller for Matter and Thread home devices that work with Google’s home ecosystem. If you use an over-the-air antenna for watching your free local channels, I’m betting you’d like the option to record those channels. TiVo used to be the best/easiest way to record OTA TV, but they’ve discontinued their OTA recorders. A great alternative is from TabloTV, which is a small box that you connect to your TV antenna. The TabloTV does not directly connect to your TV. Instead it connects to your home’s Wi-Fi, and the antenna signal is wirelessly sent to any TV or compatible device in your home. Your TV picks up the signal through a free app, which is compatible with smart TV brands like Samsung, LG, Google TV, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Android TV. This method is extremely handy if you don’t want to be bothered running an antenna wire from your attic or roof all the way to your TV. It’s also great if you want to use an indoor antenna, but your TV is not situated in a room that faces the broadcast towers. You can place the antenna and TabloTV where you get the best reception. The TabloTV comes in two models – with either two or four tuners. This means you can record or watch two or four shows at a time. TabloTV has onboard storage to record up to 50 hours of shows, but you can plug in any USB hard drive and expand to record thousands of hours of programming. You can also bundle a TabloTV with an OTA antenna if you like, or you can use your own antenna. Two things to know, there are no ongoing subscription costs for guide data, and there is no streaming service integration. You will need another way to add in streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. TabloTV models start at $99.95 for the two tuner model at tablotv.com. The four-tuner model is $139.95, but they may be on sale during the holidays. ©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Trump has pressed for voting changes. GOP majorities in Congress will try to make that happen ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans in Congress plan to move quickly in their effort to overhaul the nation’s voting procedures, seeing an opportunity with control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. They want to push through long-sought changes such as voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. They say the measures are needed to restore public confidence in elections. That's after an erosion of trust that Democrats note has been fueled by false claims from Donald Trump and his allies of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Democrats say they are willing to work with the GOP but want any changes to make it easier, not harder, to vote. Americans are exhausted by political news. TV ratings and a new AP-NORC poll show they're tuning out NEW YORK (AP) — A lot of Americans, after an intense presidential election campaign, are looking for a break in political news. That's evident in cable television news ratings and a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll found nearly two-thirds of Americans saying they've found the need recently to cut down on their consumption of political and government news. That's particularly true among Democrats following President-elect Donald Trump's victory, although a significant number of Republicans and independents feel the same way. Cable networks MSNBC and CNN are really seeing a slump. That's also happened in years past for networks that particularly appeal to supporters of one candidate. Israel strikes Houthi rebels in Yemen's capital while the WHO chief says he was meters away JERUSALEM (AP) — A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen have targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa and multiple ports. The World Health Organization’s director-general said the bombardment on Thursday took place just “meters away” as he was about to board a flight in Sanaa. He says a crew member was hurt. The strikes followed several days of Houthi attacks and launches setting off sirens in Israel. Israel's military says it attacked infrastructure used by the Houthis at the international airport in Sanaa, power stations and ports. The Israeli military didn't immediate respond to questions about the WHO chief's statement. The US says it pushed retraction of a famine warning for north Gaza. Aid groups express concern. WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say they asked for — and got — the retraction of an independent monitor's warning of imminent famine in north Gaza. The internationally Famine Early Warning System Network issued the warning this week. The new report had warned that starvation deaths in north Gaza could reach famine levels as soon as next month. It cited what it called Israel's “near-total blockade” of food and water. The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, criticized the finding as inaccurate and irresponsible. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which funds the famine-monitoring group, told the AP it had asked for and gotten the report's retraction. USAID officials tell The Associated Press that it had asked the group for greater review of discrepancies in some of the data. India's former prime minister Manmohan Singh, architect of economic reforms, dies aged 92 NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, widely regarded as the architect of India’s economic reform program and a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, has died. He was 92. The hospital said Singh was admitted to New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences late Thursday after his health deteriorated due to “sudden loss of consciousness at home.". He was “being treated for age-related medical conditions,” the statement added. A mild-mannered technocrat, Singh became one of India’s longest-serving prime ministers for 10 years and earned a reputation as a man of great personal integrity. But his sterling image was tainted by allegations of corruption against his ministers. What is known about a plane crash in Kazakhstan that killed 38 of 67 people on board The crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan has killed 38 of 67 people on board. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that aren’t fully clear yet. It crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea. Officials in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia haven't commented on a possible cause of the crash pending an official investigation. Some commentators pointed out holes in the plane's tail section pictured after the crash as a sign that it could have been fired upon by air defense systems. Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy battlefield losses KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's military intelligence says North Korean troops are suffering heavy losses in Russia's Kursk region and face logistical difficulties as a result of Ukrainian attacks. The intelligence agency said Thursday that Ukrainian strikes near Novoivanovka inflicted heavy casualties on North Korean units. Ukraine's president said earlier this week that 3,000 North Korean troops have been killed and wounded in the fighting in the Kursk region. It marked the first significant estimate by Ukraine of North Korean casualties several weeks after Kyiv announced that North Korea had sent 10,000 to 12,000 troops to Russia to help it in the almost 3-year war. How the stock market defied expectations again this year, by the numbers NEW YORK (AP) — What a wonderful year 2024 has been for investors. U.S. stocks ripped higher and carried the S&P 500 to records as the economy kept growing and the Federal Reserve began cutting interest rates. The benchmark index posted its first back-to-back annual gains of more than 20% since 1998. The year featured many familiar winners, such as Big Tech, which got even bigger as their stock prices kept growing. But it wasn’t just Apple, Nvidia and the like. Bitcoin and gold surged and “Roaring Kitty” reappeared to briefly reignite the meme stock craze. Holiday shoppers increased spending by 3.8% despite higher prices New data shows holiday sales rose this year even as Americans wrestled with still high prices in many grocery necessities and other financial worries. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, holiday sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve climbed 3.8%, a faster pace than the 3.1% increase from a year earlier. The measure tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards. This year, retailers were even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there were five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mastercard SpendingPulse says the last five days of the season accounted for 10% of the spending. Sales of clothing, electronics and Jewelry rose. Why this Mexican American woman played a vital role in the US sacramental peyote trade MIRANDO CITY, Texas (AP) — Amada Cardenas, a Mexican American woman who lived in the tiny border town of Mirando City in South Texas, played an important role in the history of the peyote trade. She and her husband were the first federally licensed peyote dealers who harvested and sold the sacramental plant to followers of the Native American Church in the 1930s. After her husband's death in 1967, Cardenas continued to welcome generations of Native American Church members to her home until her death in 2005, just before her 101st birthday.Vancouver Canucks Prospect Denied Last Minute By Team Canada World Juniors
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
Following a three-year ( three months!) wait, another season of Netflix’s has come and gone. And coming out of Season 2, we’ve got lingering questions. Already this season, TVLine has recapped ... the outcome of in Episode 6... and , which teed up Season 3 with a tragic death. in our Performer of the Week column. Now, let’s review the burning questions that we have about Season 2, kicking off with... and he/she was quietly replaced after “Red Light, Green Light”? Or did they gamble that no one would notice a Player 001 was missing from the first game? 4 You had 365 players, which divides into 73 five-person teams. Running two five-minute races run at a time, with maybe 10 minutes for ( ) clean-up between... that equals of sitting, if you were among the last to compete! Speaking of which.... By picking up on hacks and tips and no-nos? Was there a plan to use “blanks” on him, or...? or was he just making his team sweat? Um, had they not found it...? In Season 1 (when Sae-byeok went there to access/crawl through the air ducts), it seemed like it was just off the dormitory. (Then again, Season 1 was ago.) doesn’t it seem like the game masters would have the option to simply flood the dorm with knockout gas? Gi-hun’s good friend Jung-bae being among the players... a son his mother... pregnant Jun-hee her baby daddy... or No-Eul (aka Soldier 011) and the father (Player 246) of the little girl she bonded with at the amusement park? Or were those all on purpose, because the game masters are sick of bastards? var pd_tags = new Array;pd_tags[“14833797-src”]=”poll-oembed-simple”; var pd_tags = new Array;pd_tags[“14830867-src”]=”poll-oembed-simple”; Sign up for . For the latest news, follow us on , , and .
Alberta UCP backbenchers support loosening ethics rules