Latest news with #Beacons
New York Times
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
The Sun Is Slowly Disappearing in This Haunting Novel
SUNBIRTH, by An Yu What happens to us after an abandonment? And what if we're abandoned not only by the adults who help us grow, but also by the natural forces we rely on to live? An Yu's evocative third novel, 'Sunbirth,' explores these questions in a speculative landscape that is memorably vibrant despite a mounting sense of loss. In Yu's world, the sun is disappearing bit by bit over a period of many years. No one knows how much of it will go or when. The people in the town of Five Poems Lake have learned to survive; a person can still buy broccoli on occasion, but it's wan and pricey. The unnamed narrator, a young woman, has taken over the family pharmacy after her grandfather died, and supplies local residents with traditional remedies when she can: an expensive bird's nest to boil for one customer, herbs for another. Resources grow scarce, but there are still basketballs to play with, TV shows to watch and a thriving camellia plant over the urn containing the narrator's father, who died mysteriously years earlier and was a rock of support for the family. Pressures intensify as the sun continues to diminish. In a thrilling and unexpected plot turn, citizens begin transforming, their heads swallowed by radiance: 'I saw the outline of his face before a bright light pushed itself out of his open mouth.' It's a startling but convincingly written shift in the story. The changed beings, called Beacons by the town, evoke the sun while not being the sun, hot and bright without nourishing anything, and it's unclear how much of the human is left once they transform. As the narrator, her sister and a family friend negotiate this frightening world, they discover some painful truths about the past, unearthing long-buried secrets. We also spend time in a flashback with the narrator's father, Dong Yiyao, a respected police officer who tries to do right by others, even if he fails. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Engadget
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Engadget
No Man's Sky's free Switch 2 update adds full multiplayer and 4K support
Here's another game to play on that shiny, new Switch 2 console. Hello Games just announced that it's releasing a free update for No Man's Sky to launch alongside Nintendo's new device. It includes many features that the original Switch version lacked, like 4K texture support. The update also finally brings full multiplayer to this version of the game, along with cross-play and cross-save. In other words, players can save the game on the Switch 2 and pick it up on another device. Spoiler alert: No Man's Sky is on just about every platform imaginable. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. The developer promises DLSS and DLR support, a better UI, touch controls and a resolution boost for both handheld and TV modes. Hello Games says this update took a full year to make, after receiving development kits around 12 months ago. The Switch 2 version will also include the latest big update for the game, called Beacons . This brings a town management mechanic to the title, with plenty of new homesteads to discover. Players can design their own hangout locations within these towns, like bars or fishing ponds. Beacons is available on all platforms. To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. This is just the latest refresh for No Man's Sky . Recent updates have added archeology , freighter combat and black holes . The game has come a long way in nine years. No Man's Sky isn't the only game getting a software refresh for the Switch 2. The console launches alongside several Switch 2 editions that feature graphical overhauls, like both recent mainline Zelda titles .
TechCrunch
15-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Threads now lets creators add up to 5 links to profiles, track clicks
Instagram Threads is taking on Linktree and other 'link-in-bio' solutions by introducing a way for creators to use their Threads profile to share links to their other interests and online presences. At launch, the feature will support adding up to five links to a bio, which can connect visitors to the creator's blog, newsletter, website, or other social profiles, for example. In addition, creators will be able to access new tools to see how well those links perform. The Meta-owned social app, which now has over 350 million monthly active users, is positioning the feature as an alternative to its competitor X. However, Threads' ability to point users to a host of other social and web profiles from links easily accessed from within a creator's bio is something that could eat into the business of services like Linktree, Beacons, Koji, and others that offer tools that allow creators to build a landing page for multiple links. These services initially emerged because social media apps only offered one place to add a URL to a bio, and creators needed a way to direct their fans to everything else they published online, including their posts on other social networks as well as their own websites or storefronts. With the update, Threads will provide creators with insights that allow them to see how many people have visited the links in their profile as well as any links shared in their posts. The company explained that the idea is to make Threads a place where creators can grow their reach, even if that means helping creators promote a presence that's outside Meta's app. In addition, Meta says it will soon launch a weekly recap feature for Insights that offers a summarized snapshot of the past week, including a week-over-week comparison of the number of posts they've shared, total views, new follower counts, and replies on their posts. These recaps will also include other personalized tips to help creators learn how to better engage their community.
Chicago Tribune
11-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Valparaiso University President Jose Padilla speaks at final graduation, urges grads to lean into greatness
Valparaiso University President José Padilla spoke at his final commencement ceremonies Saturday, urging graduates, 'Don't run away from greatness. Lean into it hard.' 'Maybe one of you will be a United States senator in the state or Indiana or the state of Illinois. It's entirely possible,' he said. Others will go on to greatness in their chosen fields, Padilla said. The university is searching for a new president as Padilla heads toward retirement. 'This fortress of faith, this school that punches above its weight,' will continue to embrace the graduates well into the future, he said. 'We're going to be the angels on your shoulders that will give the answers to you when you're facing the hardest questions of your lives,' he said. If the graduates live to 80 years old, their time at VU will be just 5% of their lives, but they will have outsized importance. 'These four years, these 1,460 days, will be the most consequential and impactful of your lives, he told them. 'The friends you have right here now will be your friends 20, 30, 40 years from now,' even if you don't see them for years, Padilla said. 'Forty years from now, you will still remember the professors would not accept mediocrity from you,' he told them. 'Here you know that the power of a sharp mind is magnified 10 times by a soft and loving heart,' Padilla said. 'Because of you, I'm so much more optimistic about the future of our world,' he said. Older generations have created a divided world. Padilla urged the freshly minted graduates to be repairers of the breach. 'You've got this world where you want it because they won't see you coming,' Padilla said. 'We know who you are, and they don't know what you're capable of doing.' 'Your values will guide you like a north star,' Gloria Castillo, who led The Chicago Community Trust's five-year We Rise Together: For an Equitable and Just Recovery initiative, told the graduates. 'Use your voice,' she said. 'Responsible exercise value and voice in a larger environment.' 'Make a mark on the world that cannot be erased,' she said. 'Make a difference and have some fun along the way.' New graduate Peyton Evans urged fellow grads to 'remember you hold the power to grow beyond one label.' 'College gives us more than just a degree,' she said. At VU, she met strangers who have become friends. 'Embrace every moment, both the joy and the struggles.' Evans was a member of the first class to go all four years with Beacons as the teams' name. 'When the university announced we would be Beacons, I really had no idea what that was,' she said. As a student, she learned about beacons' role in lighting the way. Among the Beacons who graduated Saturday is Isaiah Stafford, of Bolingbrook, Illinois, a point guard and shooting guard on the men's basketball team. The first game was an emotional time for him, but he singled out his work in the weight room. 'We always had a good time in the weight room,' he said. Paulette Burnett, of Oswego, Illinois, is proud of Stafford, her first grandchild to graduate from college. 'I'm so proud,' she said, holding a cardboard cutout of her grandson to cheer for him during the ceremony. Mason Greve, of Valparaiso, commuted for his first three years and lived in a fraternity house his final year. 'That pretty much changed my college experience,' making it seem less like an extension of high school, he said. 'At the end of the day, it was the best decision I could have made' to attend VU, he said. Rayne Velazquez, of Hammond, commuted the whole time. Her mortarboard was adorned with a sparkly tribute to Psalm 23 to 'give my respects to God and how he was here for me,' she said. A death in the family made her time at Valpo difficult for Velazquez, but professors helped her get through it. Many of Velazquez's classmates from Hammond went to Purdue University Northwest. 'I wanted a change in environment,' and her parents were proud of her for being accepted to Valparaiso.
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'UFO' and light shows bring CultureDale festival to a close
A year-long festival celebrating 50 years of the Calderdale borough will come to an end this weekend, with the grand finale showcasing a series of light Beacons event will see a UFO-like sphere shine in Todmorden, while a "searchlight spectacular" will light up the Old Flour Mill in Brighouse and a "halo of light" will be visible over has seen 50 events in the CultureDale programme, marking every year since the metropolitan borough was formed in Durrans of Calderdale Council said: "We knew we wanted something huge and memorable to give Calderdale the 50th birthday party it deserves, and the Year of Culture has certainly done that." The light shows are the culmination of more than 350 events to have taken place during CultureDale. The UFO-inspired piece, located at the Canal Basin off Burnley Road in Todmorden, is by local artist Aimee Grundell, who said people would "witness a fusion of mystery, light and sound".The backdrop for the bright beams of Brighouse will be the ROKT Activity Centre in the Old Flour said the beams would be visible for miles and would "dance and play" throughout the sky on Saturday and Sunday from 20:00 until 22:00 sight would be a "celebration of Brighouse and its enduring spirit", the council said. Meanwhile in Halifax, the sky across Beacon Hill will see a "halo of light" weaving patterns across the have called it a celebration of Halifax - its landscape, heritage and Wainhouse Tower will also be lit up in cabinet member for public services and communities, said: "CultureDale has showcased the borough's creativity, talent, distinctiveness and diversity, and will be part of its story for generations to come." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
