Avengers Infinity War ended on a dismal note as Thanos halved the universe’s population with a snap of his fingers. As we saw many of Earth’s mightiest heroes turned into dust, the original Avengers were still coming to terms with the future. The Mad Titan, however, had gone back to some kind of idyll, looking over (literally) greener pastures
However, as the latest Avengers Endgame synopsis shared by theatre chain Vue, the Mad Titan has been busy since the Decimation. “After the power of the infinity stones decimated half of the population, Thanos (Josh Brolin) has taken up the mantle as ruler of the universe, leaving the Avengers in ruin,” according to the synopsis, which goes on to say, “The demi-god will only expand upon his tyrannical rule – unless someone manages to stop him.” If the Avengers fail, they will “suffer a hopeless existence…”
Things on earth are looking dismal. After the power of the infinity stones decimated half of the population, Thanos (Josh Brolin) has taken up the mantle as ruler of the universe, leaving the Avengers in ruin.
The demi-god will only expand upon his tyrannical rule – unless someone manages to stop him. So, with no time to mourn their losses, Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) must remain resilient and rally the remaining members of earth’s mightiest heroes – and call on the services of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson).
Together, they must to figure out a way to bring back their vanquished allies and defeat the Mad Titan, or suffer a hopeless existence…
Scarlett Johansson (Isle of Dogs), Josh Brolin (Deadpool 2), Robert Downey Jr (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Chris Evans (Gifted), and Chris Hemsworth (Bad Times at the El Royale) star in Avengers: Endgame, the final chapter in a culmination of a decade of Marvel blockbusters, and one not to be missed.
Pokémon GO creator Niantic is looking to end a lawsuit that was first started back in 2016, during the height of Pokémon GO’s popularity. The suit was filed by numerous homeowners who believed the company had caused players to trespass onto their property to catch Pokémon or activate Pokéstops.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, The homeowners are proposing a settlement, which if accepted by a judge in California, would force Niantic to implement new features and restrictions into the popular mobile game.
The features are listed below.
Upon complaints of nuisance or trespass and demands of the removal of a “PokéStop” or “Gym,” the company will make commercially reasonable efforts to resolve the complaint and communicate a resolution within 15 days.
Owners of single-family residential properties get rights of removal within 40 meters of their properties.
Niantic will maintain a database of complaints in an attempt to avoid poor placement of these virtual creatures.
When Niantic’s system detects a raid of more than 10 players congregating, a warning message will appear on their screens reminding them to be courteous and respectful of surroundings.
Niantic is also working with user-reviewers and mapping services like Google Maps to also mitigate any problems plus maintaining a mechanism so that park authorities can request a park’s hours of operation be honored.
At the company’s expense, Niantic will have an independent firm audit compliance with obligations during a three-year period.
The lawsuit dates back to 2016, when some residents were angered by hundreds of players walking around their private property or near their home or condo. Some residents in Villas of Positano condos, located in Florida, described players as “…zombies, walking around bumping into things.”
The case is interesting because it could change the definition of trespassing in the digital era. Is a company, like Niantic, at fault for placing digital items in private locations? How much responsibility should a company face for their players attempting to get these digital items and in doing so breaking the law?
For now, it seems Niantic and the homeowners affected by the game will settle soon. If the settlement is accepted by the judge, named plaintiffs in the lawsuit will receive $1,000 each.
Minecraft is a sandbox game that allows you to develop your creativity and build your own world. The game is the most popular game of this time and it managed to be a success for many years. Nowadays, there are many similar alternatives out there. If you are looking for something new, we have prepared a list of Minecraft alternatives which are just as entertaining. Let’s take a look.
SurvivalCraft
This game is quite similar to Minecraft. You find yourself on the shores of a world made out of blocks. Just like with Minecraft, you need to explore, mine for resources and create your own tools and weapons.
Starbound
Starbound is an indie game, just like Minecraft once was. The game is a 2D one, but it comes with lovable, beautiful pixelated graphics. In the game you get to explore the world in order to find new items and obtain weapons to defend yourself. The game is available for OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux.
Terraria
Terraria is based on a concept that isn’t very different from the one Minecraft is based on. The game is a 2D one, but the goals are mostly the same. You have to explore the world, dig, find resources and build in order to survive. The game comes with multiple levels and it also includes action and combat.
Roblox
Roblox can also be considered a Minecraft alternative, although there are some differences between these two. For starters, Roblox is available only online, while Minecraft works both online and offline. In this game you will get your own avatar and you will be able to customise it however you want, from hats, clothes and gear. In the game you will be able to interact and chat with other players, as well as battle and play games with them.
Minecraft commands can give you god-like control of your game. Whether it’s to copy an existing build, change the gamemode, or flat out cheat your way to glory, Minecraft console commands are an important part of playing the game day-to-day. While there are a lot of different commands out there, all varying in complexity, we’ve got a run down of the ones you need to know, and, of course, the ones you can use to troll your friends. Because what’s Minecraft without a bit of friendly griefing?
If you're wondering how to enter the Minecraft console commands listed below, all you need to do is hit the forward-slash key (/) and that’ll bring up a small window. Input the code and hit enter and your command will activate.
Shorthand Code Commands for MinecraftRECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU…CLOSE
Volume 0%
Below are the shorthand codes to save you from typing in different player names. These are worth memorising so you don’t have to type in names like “Sniper_Kitty_Bruv_91” every time some jobber joins your game.
@p – the player nearest to you
@r – a random player
@a – all players
@e – all entities in the world.
@s – yourself
The clone command
/clone <x1> <y1> <z1><x2> <y2> <z2><x> <y> <z>
Clones a selection of blocks to another location. Very helpful if you’re building a city space and want to duplicate multiple buildings to different areas. “<x1> <y1> <z1>” is your start point. “<x2> <y2> <z2>” is the end point. And “<x> <y> <z>” is where you want the cloned blocks to spawn.
Example: /clone 100 234 -10 200 100 0 300 200 100
How to change the difficulty
/difficulty <difficulty>
Changes the in-game difficulty. Replace the latter section of the code with one of the following:
Adds a status effect to the targeted player. “[seconds]”, “[amplifier]”, and “[hideParticles]” are all optional conditions, so feel free to ignore them unless you want to change the length, how strong the effect is, or whether the effect shows as particles or not. If you want to remove an effect from a player, type “/effect <player> clear”.
Example: /effect PCGamer water_breathing 30
Enchant an item
/enchant <player> <enchantment ID> [level]
Adds an enchantment to the item the player is holding. So that’s smite, bane of the arthropods, sharpness—any enchantment you’d pull from a book or enchant table. Here's a list of Enchantment IDs.
Example: /enchant PCGamer minecraft:smite 1
Exp modifier
/xp <amount> [player]
Gives the targeted player an amount of experience points. If you just want to add levels instead, which is easier for enchanting, try “/xp <amount>L [player]”.
Example: /xp 100L PCGamer
Change the gamemode
/gamemode <mode>
Changes the gamemode for everyone in the session. Add a player’s name to the end of the code to alter the mode for different players. Replace “<mode>” with one of the following options:
Survival
Creative
Adventure
Spectator
Example: /gamemode Survival
Give an item or items
/give <player> <item> [amount]
Drops an item into the player’s inventory. Perfect for if you want to start a run with a full set of diamond gear. Just keep in mind the amount section only works for stackable items. You can’t give yourself 100 diamond swords in one go, as cool as that’d be. For a full list of item IDs, head here.
Example: /give PCGamer diamond_sword 1
Help if a command isn’t workingAdvertisement
/help [command name]
Offers additional information about any console command. If you’re trying a command and it isn’t working as it should, type the above command before the name of the command that isn’t working and you’ll be treated to more details about how it works.
Example: /help kill
Turn keep inventory on
/gamerule keepInventory true
Changes the game rules so should you die, you keep all the items in your inventory. Replace “true” with “false” to turn it off again.
Kill everyone or everything
/kill
Kills everything, including the player. But should you want to kill another player, use “/kill <player>”. And to kill a certain type of mob, “/kill @e[type=mobType]”.
The play sound command
/playsound <sound> <player>
Plays a specific sound file. Great for if you want to use a command block to play a sound when someone opens a door. Who doesn’t love a good doorbell? Take a look at all the sound file names here.
Displays the seed for their current world should you wish to replay the seed again from scratch or pass it along to a mate.
Set the world spawn
/setworldspawn
Changes the world spawn to wherever the player is standing. If you don’t want to do that, you can also set it to a predetermined location with “/setworldspawn <x> <y> <z>”
Example: /setworldspawn 100 80 0
Stop time from changing
/gamerule doDaylightCycle false
This completely turns the daylight cycle off so it’ll always be the current time of day. To reenable the cycle, replace “false” with “true.”Advertisement
Spawn a mob
/summon <entity_name> [x] [y] [z]
Summons a mob to a specific location. Remove the “[x] [y] [z]” section at the end to have the mob spawn right on top of you. Just remember if you’re spawning the Wither you’ll need to leg it as fast as possible.
Example: /summon creeper
Teleport
/tp [target player] <x> <y> <z>
Teleports the targeted player to a designated location. And yes, you can indeed teleport a friend into the sky and laugh as their body flails back down to earth.
Example: /tp PCGamer 100 0 10
Alter the in-game time
/time set <value>
Sets the in-game time. Add one of the following numbers onto the end to change the time of day to something else:
0 – Dawn
1000 – Morning
6000 – Midday
12000 – Dusk
18000 – Nightist
Change the weather to something nicer, or worse
/weather <clear/rain/thunder>
Changes the in-game weather to a different type. I.e. “/weather thunder” would start a thunderstorm. This one’s a must if you’re going after charged creepers. Nobody's got time to sit around waiting for it to thunder.
With Effortless Building, you can place duplicate blocks in real-time, template and repeat entire sections, and loads more.
Building anything in Minecraft is an intensive task, and it's frustrating how few tools the game gives you to play with. Thankfully, modder Requios is here to save the day with their Effortless Building mod that comes packed with some incredibly useful tools so you don't have to assemble buildings one block at a time.
Using Effortless Building, players have access to a special menu screen full of options to speed up building by automating the process of placing blocks. The simplest tool is mirroring, which allows you to place multiple blocks at once but in mirrored positions. It's a bit complicated to explain, but watch the video above to see the mod in action. Essentially, if you're building a symmetrical structure (like a house), mirroring requires you to only build one quadrant of the house manually, with the rest being filled in automatically. It's very handy.
The other core feature is arrays, which is similar to mirroring but it “copies your build in a certain direction a certain number of times.” If you were laying fence posts, for example, you could use the arrays option to have it automatically duplicate your posts with just a single click. The video below shows it in action.
There's several other handy features too. Radial mirrors lets you—you guessed it—instantly place blocks in a circle around a certain point, while the Randomizer Bag makes it easy to add a little variety to features like a cobblestone pathway by randomly placing specifically chosen blocks. You can also use Quick Replace to easily swap out blocks (no more digging up earth to lay down some wood flooring) too. And, what's great is that this mod works in Survival Mode and will automatically use the appropriate number of harvested blocks when placing them using any of these tools.
If you're big into building in Minecraft, Effortless Building seems like a must-have mod to help speed up the process. You can download Effortless Building here, and Requios recommends checking out this YouTube walkthrough to get started.
Everybody should learn to code. That’s a statement that we’ve been hearing a lot for the past 3-4 years. From an article we got back in 2016, to the numerous workshops and hackathons on coding that we’ve covered, it’s pretty clear that coding and learning to program will play an important part in the future. It’s not only us who think so though. Microsoft is of the same thought as well.
Celebrating Computer Science
On Friday, 8th of February 2018, the tech giant held their flagship computer science workshop. This was in commemoration of the Computer Science Education Week. The purpose here is to inspire and encourage children to take an interest in computer science.
The purpose behind the Computer Science Education Week is to encourage students to pick Computer science as a field of study (Image Credits: ACCESS)
The workshop, held at the Microsoft Sri Lanka office at Access Towers 2 saw over 100 students taking part. The students, representing public and private schools were also joined by underserved youth from in and around Colombo. Once gathered, the participants were invited to take part in a gamified approach to coding.
Microsoft does it again
If you recall, we attended a session like this in 2017 as well. The coding exercise, called Voyage Aquatic, took the form of an underwater treasure hunt. To make things even more interesting, the exercise employed elements from Minecraft (similar to Hero’s Journey in 2017).
Participants had to complete certain objectives by using the blocks. Each block was coded to perform a certain action. In this manner, the students learned about the logic of each function, and also learned how to code it.
Students learning to code via a Minecraft exercise
Coding is for everyone
In a parallel session, students from grades 10-12 were taught about the BBC Micro: bit. Carried out by members of Micro: bit SLUG, the session covered the basics such as what a Micro:bit is, and what it can be used for. Students were also given a hands on approach to coding their own Micro: bit by means of virtual and physical Micro:bit kits.
Older students were taught the uses of Micro:bit and IoT
Getting Teachers future-ready
Last, but by no means the least, a workshop was also carried out for teachers. The workshop was carried out by Microsoft Certified Educators (MCEs. Here, teachers were encouraged to facilitate real-world problem solving by means of ICT tools. In addition, teachers were also educated on the technology literacy competencies required to provide a wholesome learning experience for students.
There was also a workshop for teachers as well
Following the end of the workshop, certificates were handed to all who participated. This included both students and teachers. Hasitha Abeywardena – Country Manager Microsoft Sri Lanka and the Maldives took the stage to talk about what Microsoft is aiming to do with the Computer Science Education Day.
He emphasized that all efforts are to help bridge the gap in STEM education. He added that more than 50% of jobs today require technology skills. By 2026, it is estimated that the number would grow to 77% of jobs worldwide.
smacap_Bright
With platforms such Micro:bit and Voyage Aquatic, students can gain the required knowledge so that they can have a successful future. We saw events such as the Global Game Jam as well, where participants were encouraged to step into the world of game development as well. All these efforts go to show that the world is indeed changing, and it is up to us to keep up with the trends.
