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Doctor Who has been around in one form or another since 1963. As a science-fiction series about a time-traveling alien and his blue police box that is bigger on the inside, one would expect the franchise to be swarming with creative and iconic alien races. Like many great sci-fi franchises, a lot of effort and detail tends to go into these creatures’ design, history, and motivations. Sadly, the newest alien menace in the show, The Monks, fails on all counts.

The latest three episodes of the current season have revolved around The Monks, a race of humanoid corpses who want to rule the world — insert an M. Bison “Of course!” meme here. The Monks’ first episode, “Extremis,” is compelling due to the plot twist in which the characters and world in the episode are nothing more than computer simulations, which drives home how powerful The Monks are. The second episode, “The Pyramid at the End of the World,” is where things began to fall apart. The audience is left with many questions. Why do The Monks pilot a pyramid?  Is it actually space ship disguised as a pyramid, not unlike how The Doctor’s T.A.R.D.I.S. is a time/space ship disguised as a blue police box?  What do The Monks actually look like?  Well, the pyramid is just a pyramid, and we are given a veritable non-answer for why they look like rotting corpses. At least The Monks’ mentality of “we can only rule the world if you ask us to save it first” is novel, but all of my goodwill disappeared faster than a Weeping Angel’s victim in the final episode, “The Lie of the Land.” That episode quickly establishes that The Monks rule the world by brainwashing humans to believe The Monks have been humanity’s benevolent protectors since before humans evolved. In other words, The Monks rule through a fascist government that relies on alternative facts, alternative history, and fake news. And no, that’s not my own personal examination: The Doctor flat out states this in the episode. Never have I seen a more blatant and hyperbolic mocking of Donald Trump since Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s “Agents of HYDRA” arc.

The Monks are nothing but an unsubtle mockery of Donald Trump and his supporters. There is no substance to these creatures — The Monks (not Trump supporters). Audiences aren’t given any explanation for anything about The Monks. Why they look like corpses, why they fly a pyramid, why they shoot lightning from their hands — none of it is ever explained. Sometimes a lack of explanation can work (The Beast from the episodes “The Impossible Planet” and “The Satan Pit” is a good example), but not so with The Monks, especially since their motivations are never explained. They want to rule the world. Ok, but why? The episode never touches on this crucial point. Think about the first Doctor Who alien/villain that pops into your head. What is its motivations? Odds are you can link motivations to most creatures seen in Doctor Who. Daleks? They want to kill humans because they view all non-Dalek life as a threat. Cybermen? They believe organic life is inferior and that forcibly assimilating humans does them a favor. Weeping Angels? Everyone needs to eat, and that includes eldritch statues. The Monks? Um…because they control a bunch of other worlds? But then why do The Monks control those worlds in the first place? This lack of any true motivation reveals The Monks as little more than an excuse to place someone’s political message in the show.

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Now, don’t get me wrong; I don’t hate The Monks because they’re a political message but because they’re an unsubtle political message. Doctor Who has provided nuanced political messages in the past. The two-parter, “The Zygon Invasion/Inversion,” is an example of a well-done, or at least decent, political message. To quickly sum up, these episodes are a follow-up to “The Day of the Doctor,” wherein numerous Zygons (shapeshifting anthropomorphized octopus tentacles who entered Doctor Who canon in 1975) are left to live on Earth. In “The Zygon Invasion/Inversion,” most of these Zygons want to live peacefully on Earth, but a radicalized few decide to supplant humanity as the dominant species. These radicals forcefully recruit peaceful Zygons by turning humans against them and espousing an “us vs. them” mentality. I had to re-watch the episode twice to determine that the episodes were a message about the Muslim population in the UK. Much like the Zygons, most Muslims want to live peacefully side-by-side with other people, but a few Zygons/Muslims don’t want to give peace a chance and intentionally sabotage relationships so they can recruit others to their cause. These radical Zygons/Muslims do this by tricking non-Zygons/Muslims into believing that all Zygons/Muslims are untrustworthy and bloodthirsty monsters. What really dives the point of the episodes home is that Muslims look like the general population, much like how the shape-shifting Zygons can look like anyone. There is nothing subtle about The Monks, however, especially since The Doctor spells out their campaign of fake news for the audience. Finally, messages against racism are far more timeless (pardon the pun) than messages against Donald Trump.

I would not be surprised if The Monks aren’t the least effective villains in Doctor Who. However, they’re still nothing more than a barely-disguised political message and a reflection on the opinion of Trump in much of the population of the UK, or at the very least the opinion of the guy who wrote The Monks’ final episode.

All you have to do to get my attention is talk about video games, technology, anime, and/or Dungeons & Dragons - also people in spandex fighting rubber suited monsters.

Gaming

Shift Up unveils the intriguing details behind the physical packaging of Stellar Blade for the PS5

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It appears that many

are eagerly anticipating the launch of the highly anticipated PS5 exclusive, Stellar Blade. Shift Up, the developer, has shared a lengthy video showcasing the “secrets” found in the physical box of the game for PS5. From what we can gather, these secrets include a reversible cover/dust jacket and a download code for cosmetic items.

We must clarify that while we do appreciate the variant cover, it may be more appealing than the game’s standard art. However, it is not something we would typically classify as a “secret.”. However, what’s interesting is that Shift Up has confirmed through the comments section that this will be the case in all regions. Additionally, the visually striking action RPG will remain uncensored worldwide.

It’s refreshing to witness a developer going the extra mile for physical collectors, and it’s evident that the developer is determined to leave a favorable mark in the console realm. Stellar Blade is set to make its highly anticipated debut this Friday, April 26th, exclusively on the PS5.

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Gaming

Here are all the patch notes for the new PS5 firmware update that adds the community game help feature

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Sony has recently launched the newest PS5 system software update, which is always an exciting occasion for avid PlayStation fans. With a size of slightly over 1GB, you can download and install it right away. As always, the question remains: What exactly does the update bring to the table?

According to the official patch notes, there have been some notable improvements, particularly in the area of game help. We are introducing an exciting addition to our platform: the Community Game Help feature. This feature enhances the PS5’s Game Help system by providing you with gameplay videos from fellow players. Players have the option to choose whether or not they want their gameplay videos to be shared using this feature.

If you’re concerned about it, you can now hide your Remote Play connection status as well.

Presenting the complete patch notes:

  • Game Help has been enhanced with the addition of Community Game Help features
  • Within Game Help, players can find Community Game Help hints in supported games. These cues come from gameplay videos that other players have shared.
  • If you’re up for it, you have the option to contribute to Community Game Help by giving permission for your gameplay video to be automatically recorded and included in the feature after it’s been reviewed
  • If you want to join in, navigate to Settings, then Captures & Broadcasts, followed by Captures, Auto Captures, and finally Community Game Help. From there, simply choose the option to participate. Users have the option to unsubscribe whenever they choose
  • During Remote Play, players now have the option to hide the persistent message “Remote Play connected.” that appears on their game screen. To ensure a seamless gaming experience, navigate to the Settings menu, then proceed to the System section. From there, locate the Remote Play option and activate the Hide Remote Play Connection Status feature
  • The system’s software performance and stability have been significantly enhanced
  • The messages and usability on some screens have been enhanced

While not the most groundbreaking update, the Community Game Help feature has the potential to be intriguing, contingent upon the number of games that offer support for it. What are your thoughts on the latest update? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

 

 

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Geek Culture

In the TV show Fallout, would the “rule of thumb” really work?

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Walton Goggins’ character, who plays someone in the first episode of the new TV series Fallout on Amazon, mentions a “rule of thumb” when it comes to nuclear explosions.

According to the character known as “The Ghoul,” he learned in military school that if you raise your thumb and extend your arm toward the blast, you can tell if you are going to live or die. According to the rule, some Americans will be safe from the radioactive fallout if the mushroom cloud is smaller than their thumb. If the mushroom cloud is bigger than their thumb, they won’t be as lucky.

Many other survivors will probably ask you why you’re giving a mushroom cloud the big thumbs up. Is it worth it?

The idea has been looked into a bit thanks to the Fallout video game series, which caught the attention of physicists in their first year at the University of Leicester. They had heard a false rumor that the show’s mascot, Vault Boy, was giving a happy thumbs up to show support for the thumb rule. They wanted to find out if the rule was true.

The team looked at smaller blasts that would fit with the setting of the show and chose a 15-kiloton blast, which is the same size as the blast that happened when the US dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. The first thing the team did was figure out how far away you would have to be from the mushroom cloud for your thumb to cover the blast. They came up with a number that was about 12.6 kilometers (7.8 miles).

“Assuming the detonation occurred on the ground, the radius for avoiding all burns is 4.67 km [2.9 miles] away from the blast center, and the radius for radiation sickness symptoms is 1.56 km [0.97 miles],” the team said in their paper. “This would mean that you would be safe from the initial blast effects of radiation and burns.”

Even though you just saw a nuclear explosion nearby, that doesn’t mean you are safe. And that’s before you worry about nuclear winter. The radiation coming at you from the wind should be your main concern.

“Assuming an average wind speed of 24 km/h, the fallout would reach you within approximately half an hour if you were to be standing directly upwind.”

Getting caught in this wind will give you enough rads to make you sick. One more rule, though: run like hell. This might help you lower your dose.

“This investigation showed that if a 15-kiloton nuclear bomb was to detonate and your thumb extended at an arm’s length just covered the blast, you could survive most negative radiation effects by running laterally in the direction of the wind for a minimum of 1.65 km [1 mile] in half an hour, given that you are standing directly upwind from the blast,” the team said.

But this only works for a blast much smaller than the weapons the world has now. And even for smaller blasts, the rule probably won’t help because of the radiation that is released into the air and the fact that the wind can change quickly. Ruth McBurney, who is the executive director of the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors in Frankfort, Kentucky, told Inverse that “shelter is the best thing to do if you think you might be in a place where fallout might be present or coming.”

More plans call for temporarily taking refuge in whatever is available, and then moving to better nearby shelters about 30 minutes after the blast. There are, of course, official rules about what to do during a blast. In short, you should stay inside and away from windows, wash your hands, and wait for more instructions. Please don’t condition your hair while you’re doing that.

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