Month: August 2021

Enlarge (credit: Microsoft)

As leaked a few weeks ago by a QuakeCon scheduling slip-up, a re-release of iconic FPS Quake slipped onto console digital storefronts on Thursday, slightly ahead of the project's official announcement. The $10 release is out now. Those who own Quake on Steam or from the official Bethesda.net store can access this update for free.

Bethesda's re-release is available for Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation. This might be positive news after Microsoft's acquisition of that studio, which generated worries about exclusivity moving forward, although Xbox Game Pass subscribers can access this visually updated edition as part of that service. For those who don't mind waiting, Limited Run Games has a physical disc/card release for the PS4/Switch, respectively, including a pricey limited edition that comes in a box mirroring the in-game nail-gun ammo.

Looking mighty fine in 4K. (credit: Microsoft)

Four expansions are included: "Scourge of Armagon" and "Dissolution of Eternity," which launched at retail shortly after the original 1996 game, along with MachineGames' "Dimension of the Past" and "Dimension of the Machine." And, yes, online matchmaking is available, too, complete with platform crossplay. Local split screen remains intact for up to four players, and a quick run through the Xbox version reveals numerous graphical options, even on the Xbox Series X. For instance, players can drop the resolution to "SD" levels and apply fog.

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  The Apple TV+ series is an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of novels. [credit: YouTube/Apple TV+ ]

A mathematical genius predicts the imminent collapse of a galactic empire, and he and his protege set plans in motion to preserve the foundational knowledge of their civilization in Foundation, Apple TV+'s adaptation of Isaac Asimov's hugely influential series of science fiction novels. It's a story that takes place across multiple planets over 1,000 years, with a huge cast of characters. That makes adapting it extremely difficult, particularly to film. But the streaming platform is betting that the series format will be better suited to bring Asimov's futuristic vision to life. It's certainly one of several hotly anticipated science fiction projects debuting this fall.

As I've written previously, Asimov's original trilogy centered on a mathematician named Hari Seldon, who has developed a mathematical approach to sociology. Called "psychohistory," it enables him to predict the future of large populations—like the Galactic Empire, which incorporates all inhabitants of the Milky Way. Unfortunately, Seldon's theory predicts an imminent collapse of the empire. This will usher in a Dark Age lasting 30,000 years, after which a second empire will arise.

Seldon cannot stop the collapse, but he insists there is a way to limit those Dark Ages to just 1,000 years. He proposes creating a Foundation, a group of the most intelligent minds in the empire, charged with preserving all human knowledge in the Encyclopedia Galactica. Rather than executing Seldon, the committee decides to exile him to a remote world called Terminus, along with the members of the new Foundation, where they can begin compiling the encyclopedia.

Enlarge / Scott Harris, Alabama's State Health Officer, discusses his state's vaccination data in his office on June 29, 2021, in Montgomery, Alabama. (credit: Getty | ELIJAH NOUVELAGE)

Medical professionals in Alabama are sounding the alarm over the monstrous surge of COVID-19 cases that is overwhelming the state's hospitals—which are quickly running short on staff and space.

"We are set on a path that looks disastrous," Dr. Donald Williamson, president and CEO of the Alabama Hospital Association, said in a state medical association COVID-19 update Thursday.

Currently, Alabama is reporting around 4,000 new cases per day. Medical experts in the Yellowhammer State expect that, sometime next week, Alabama will exceed its previous record in average daily cases, which was set in January at around 4,500 new cases per day.