Victoria Fox's Blog, page 164
December 12, 2023
Annual statistics from Google: Google users particularly often search for information about Gaza
Internet users have recently searched Google particularly often for information about the war between Israel and Hamas. This is evident from the company’s annual statistics. In the so-called what questions section, the question “What is the Gaza Strip” was at the top.
Google’s annual review shows the search terms that experienced the highest percentage increase in search interest in a given period compared to the same period last year. Topics that were searched for the most are not included, as searches for the current weather or websites such as Amazon or YouTube have been at the top for years.
Great interest in Till LindemannLast year, the Ukraine war dominated almost all sections of Google’s annual charts for Germany. This year, only a few individual topics, such as the mercenary group Wagner and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash in August, were at the bottom of the charts.
When it comes to celebrities, many people googled Rammstein singer Till Lindemann, against whom there were allegations from several women this year. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office has now stopped the investigation against Lindemann. In second place on the people charts was the search for Djamila Rowe, who was in the 16th season of the show I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here this year! won. The reality show Promi Big Brother brought Iris Klein to third place, followed by pop singer Jürgen Drews and presenter and podcaster Amira Pocher.
Prominent people who died were frequently googled again this year. In the farewell category, the search for rock singer Tina Turner was at the top. Friends star Matthew Perry and ski racer Rosi Mittermaier were also frequently searched for.
People google quiz shows at the same timeMany people use several media at the same time. This is shown in second place in Google’s What Questions ranking: “What is a Zentenar?” RTL presenter Günther Jauch had this question on February 27th in his quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? placed. Google users quickly learned what the quiz candidate didn’t know: a centenarian is a centenarian.
Two topic categories are shown in Google’s annual statistics for the first time: artificial intelligence and climate. According to the statistics, when it comes to climate protection, users are primarily interested in what they can personally do to combat climate change. In the AI section, the question of ChatGPT was the focus of interest, followed by more general questions such as “What is AI?” and “What can AI do?”.
Internet users have recently searched Google particularly often for information about the war between Israel and Hamas. This is evident from the company’s annual statistics. In the so-called what questions section, the question “What is the Gaza Strip” was at the top.
Google’s annual review shows the search terms that experienced the highest percentage increase in search interest in a given period compared to the same period last year. Topics that were searched for the most are not included, as searches for the current weather or websites such as Amazon or YouTube have been at the top for years.
"Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora": At least the surface
is shiny
It’s nice here, that’s for sure. Rolling hills, lush greenery. In the distance a waterfall; The sound of rushing water fills the air, with all sorts of creatures buzzing through it. The view into the distance shows a gigantic country that is just waiting to be explored. And it shows many small and large missions waiting to be completed. Check, check, check – until the credits roll.
Just in time for the Christmas season, Ubisoft is bringing the next big open game world to consoles and PC with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora . It is the first game of this dimension in the ever-growing universe of Avatar , which, in addition to the movies, has also long included comics, novels and video games. And while the size of the open world can certainly rival the length of the films, the game is above all a typical Ubisoft game in an avatar costume.
"Lego Fortnite": Something is being put together
Fortnite is a pop culture magnet. Since the game’s release in summer 2017, the developers at Epic Games have brought an illustrious list of well-known characters into the survival shooter. From Lara Croft to Daryl Dixon from the TV series The Walking Dead to basketball player LeBron James and numerous superheroes from the Marvel universe: they all appear in Fortnite . The latest collaboration could surpass all of that. Because instead of individual figures , Fortnite brings a completely new game into play – a Lego game.
"The Day Before": Dead after five days
There are many reasons why video games don’t live up to their hype. Some are more than a decade in the making, only to disappoint ( Duke Nukem Forever ). Others are struggling with serious technical problems at the time of release ( Cyberpunk 2077 ). Others promise features that don’t make it into the final game ( The War Z ). And still others promise a game that may not even exist.
As in the case of The Day Before.
Last Thursday, the game – or at least a game – was released as a pre-release version, as an early access title, on the Steam gaming platform at a price of 40 euros. Today, Tuesday, the developers at Fntastic Games pulled the plug. The game is no longer available, the company’s YouTube channel and the founders’ social media accounts have been deleted. Fntastic Games’ website states that the studio has been dissolved. The Day Before currently has more than 20,000 “extremely negative” reviews on Steam.
BStartup grows with 20 specialists and two centers in Barcelona and Madrid
Banco Sabadell’s start-up service has invested in 89 companies in its ten years of activity, of which 67 are still in the portfolio, and has granted 1,200 million euros in financing.
BStartup , the service for newly created companies of Banco Sabadell , is preparing a series of actions to reinforce its activity and face the new challenges of the entrepreneurial ecosystem just as it marks ten years since its launch.
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The operator expands its 5G fixed and mobile service in 76 new rural municipalities, thus resolving the population dispersion and the orographic difficulty that prevents fiber optics.
R continues to advance to extend its ‘rural Internet’ and already covers a total of 224 municipalities in the four Galician provinces. The last push has been given by bringing this service to 76 new municipalities in A Coruña; Lugo, Ourense and Pontevedra, with some 300,000 homes or companies available to have converged fixed and mobile 5G internet, with speeds of up to 150 megabytes and the possibility of connecting several devices with minimal latency thanks to the Wi-Fi 6 system.
The teleoperator explains that when it completes in the coming months the extension of its rural Internet in areas of difficult access either due to dispersion or for reasons of orography “the digital divide in the community will be reduced.” The 224 municipalities to which it already provides this service represent 71.5% of the total in Galicia (313). In the province of A Coruña there are a total of 75; 46 in the province of Lugo; 50 in Ourense and 53 in Pontevedra.
At the same time, to support greater population coverage in rural areas, R has signed an agreement with Rede Aberta, the neutral telecommunications provider that deploys ultra-fast fiber optic coverage in territories with difficult coverage.
“We are very satisfied with this strategic collaboration with Rede Aberta, which has deployed its fiber optic network in numerous rural areas of Galicia in the last three years. This alliance allows us to expand the presence of R services and reach more homes and companies throughout the territory, reinforcing our commitment to the digital transformation of our society. Together we are prepared to promote the future of communications in Galicia,” said Alfredo Ramos, director of R.
For his part, Pere Antentas, general director of Rede Aberta , has emphasized that with the agreement “rural villages will enjoy R services just as they do in A Coruña and Vigo. It is the agreement of two companies who speak and think in Galician: a river of economic prosperity for rural people.
In total, 200,000 properties in rural areas in 278 population centers in 86 municipalities and in the 4 Galician provinces have R ‘s advanced telecommunications services thanks to Rede Aberta’s fiber optics.
The future of Spanish digital terrestrial television is decided in Dubai
The radio communications conference being held in Dubai must decide whether television will continue to have exclusive ownership of the spectrum that has been reserved for DTT until 2030 or whether it will be transferred to ‘telcos’.
The future of digital terrestrial television (DTT) in Spain , a reality in decline, but still with formidable sociological, political and electoral weight, is being decided these days in the Persian Gulf . The World Radiocommunication Conference
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Or sign up with your Google account in two clicksChina’s WeRide tests autonomous buses in Singapore, accelerates global ambition
After years of aggressive expansion at home, China’s autonomous vehicle upstarts are now setting their gaze on overseas markets. WeRide, in particular, has been on a licensing spree.
On Monday, WeRide announced it has obtained two licenses from Singapore that will allow its robobuses to test on public roads on a “larger” scale. The two permits, called M1 and T1 respectively, are granted by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore and will enable WeRide’s self-driving buses to test in areas including the One North tech cluster and the National University of Singapore.
The news came just five months after WeRide announced it had secured a self-driving license to test its robotaxis on open roads in the United Arab Emirates, which has a bold agenda to automate its transport system. The company also holds various levels of AV permits in the U.S. and its home country China.
In recent years, China’s AV companies have taken a turn to ramp up their commercial efforts, thus placing relatively less emphasis on the cash-hemorhaging pursuit of Level 4 robotaxis. Deeproute, for example, is forging closer ties with car manufacturers, while others, such as WeRide, are investing in autonomous buses that move at a lower speed, in fixed routes, and have less unpredictable traffic conditions to navigate.
As one of the densest cities in the world with an aging workforce, Singapore started its push into AVs in 2014 as a means to cope with its land and manpower constraints. According to the LTA, the city with over five million people has a measured approach to rolling out AVs and has completed the first phase in “test beds,” or controlled environments.
The island state is now gearing up to enter the second phase of development, wherein AVs for passenger and utility purposes are allowed to operate in selected areas. It’s attracted other global players in the self-driving arena, including the Aptiv-Hyundai joint venture Motional, which has been building and testing robotaxis in the city.
One of the licenses that WeRide obtained is called Milestone 1 or M1, which, according to the LTA’s categorization, denotes that AVs can test on open roads in certain areas with safety operators who have full control of the vehicles.
Entering a foreign market takes months if not years of relationship building with regulators and business partners, and WeRide has been diligently preparing. Its list of investors, which together have shelled out over $1.4 billion in funding, include SMRT, a major public transport operator in Singapore, and K3 Ventures, a local investment firm.
On the business side, WeRide recently signed strategic cooperation agreements with Woodlands Transport Services, one of the country’s largest private transport operators, and bus service company EZ Buzz.
WeRide has become a poster child in the wave of Chinese tech firms expanding to Singapore, attracting the attention of high-profile political figures. In March, the city-state’s prime minister Lee Hsien Loong took a ride in a WeRide robotaxi on his visit to China. Singapore is a “regional center” for the company’s Asia-Pacific market expansion, WeRide’s founder and CEO Tony Han said during his reception of Lee’s entourage.
As one of China’s most-funded AV companies, WeRide was valued at $4.4 billion last year and confidentially filed to go public in the U.S. in March.
Cristiano Ronaldo joins $40M funding for UFL soccer game
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Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo has stepped into the realm of video game investments, joining the backers committing over $40 million to UFL, an upcoming free-to-play soccer video game.
The Portuguese superstar, renowned for his prowess on the pitch, is moving into the digital gaming arena. Ronaldo’s engagement signals a substantial shift in UFL’s trajectory, elevating its ambitions to change how soccer aficionados engage with virtual gaming experiences.
Ronaldo has a staggering 614 million followers on Instagram, and his involvement extends beyond a mere financial commitment, the company said. He will actively contribute to shaping UFL’s development, aligning with the game’s core mission.
Ronaldo said in a statement, “I’m thrilled to be a part of this project as UFL can become the new breed in football gaming.”
Behind UFL is Strikerz, the gaming brand under XTEN Limited, an international gaming company established in 2016. With a global team of over 200 people across four regional offices, Strikerz aims to reinvent online soccer simulation gaming through UFL.
Eugene Nashilov, CEO of Strikerz, said in a statement, “Having Cristiano Ronaldo join us as a partner and investor is a significant step forward and an endorsement of our vision to create the leading game for football fans in the world.”
UFL focuses on delivering solid gameplay, rewarding tactical knowledge and gaming skills. It enables players to build their clubs from scratch and ascend to championship status. And the game champions a fair-to-play philosophy, emphasizing skill over pay-to-win mechanisms.
While an official release date is yet to be confirmed, a closed testing phase will start soon. The game’s availability spans across the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S consoles.
GamesBeat’s creed when covering the game industry is “where passion meets business.” What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you — not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.
5 travel trends to look out for in 2024
From holidaying at the location where a popular TV series was shot to travelling just to taste the milk cake that a celebrity raved about vacationers valued impulsiveness and new experiences in 2023. Flexibility and quality of life were high on people’s priorities as they chose to travel as much as work. Some even chose sleep tourism, making vacation decisions based on how comfortable the destination would be to catch up on sleep.
As a new year approaches, people are already marking out long weekends and charting plans for vacations. A recent report from YouGov and ACKO suggests that almost half of Indians plan to increase their travel budget next year and 60% have their eyes set on international destinations. Here are some travel trends likely to rule in 2024.
In search of waterAs the temperature rises, people are looking to cool off. 2023 is set to be the warmest on record, going by a provisional report from the UN, released earlier this month. According to Booking.com’s 2024 travel predictions report, 51% of holidayers say their travel plans will be impacted by climate change, and they will use their vacation to cool down. More travellers are expected to indulge in water-centric travel with 75% agreeing that being close to water makes them feel less stressed.
AI travelWith artificial intelligence (AI) tools being developed for every aspect of life, it’s not surprising that it will also dominate travel. Currently, AI is used to plan trips, create itineraries and find destinations. In its recent Unpack 2024 report, Expedia predicts that the “generation of generative AI” travellers will come of age and embrace its use in travel planning. Half of travellers are interested in using generative AI to create a plan for their trips, 40% said they would use AI to find the perfect stay and 35% would use it to plan activities.
Dry trippingOne of 2023’s trends was dry dating, or going on alcohol-free dates. In 2024, this is likely to extend to dry tripping by booking trips for detox or planning trips to places where activities don’t include drinking. Vacations are traditionally synonymous with letting loose but there has been a shift towards lower consumption of alcohol since the pandemic. More than 40% of travellers say they are likely to book a detox trip in 2024, and half say they would be interested in staying at hotels that offer alcohol-free beverage options, the Expedia survey shows.
Affordable luxuryIn 2024, travellers are predicted to balance their craving for luxurious travel with budgetary constraints. Almost half of the travellers will vacation during the off-season, even if it means their children miss school for a few days, the Booking.com survey reveals. About half of the travellers plan to pay for holidays using credit cards as it’s easier to pay in instalments and 39% of pet parents would bring their pets along to avoid pet-sitting costs.
The ‘dupe trend’ of using affordable alternatives instead of expensive products will make its way to the travel space in 2024, with people looking for destination dupes of popular but expensive locations to cut costs. For instance, instead of Seoul, people plan on heading to Taipei, or Pattaya to avoid Bangkok, Expedia explains.
Eco-travelWith heat waves, wildfires, and rapid glacier melting dominating the news, people have recognised the looming climate crisis. Travellers are opting for mindful travel and stays that value sustainability, including hotels with less single-use plastic, having kitchen gardens, and plans to be in harmony with nature or conserve forests. About 53% will look for accommodation that focuses on sustainability innovation. Three in five travellers want to see sustainability in action, while 65% want to visit locations with green spaces.
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