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Fans Are Not Pleased with The Magic School Bus Rides Again’s Animation

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Earlier today, Netflix released the trailer for the upcoming remake/reboot of The Magic School Bus, titled The Magic School Bus Rides Again, and fans are not having it. While I expected some fan backlash, because there’s always fan backlash, I never expected the cause to be the show’s animation.

I grew up with The Magic School Bus. I read the books; I played the games (the dinosaur-themed one, anyway), and of course, I watched the show. The characters, their voices, and their appearances are as much ingrained in my mind as Mark Hamill’s laugh as The Joker in Batman: The Animated Series or Grimlock’s grammatically incorrect speech patterns in Transformers. I learned a lot about science, the natural world, and countless other subjects from both The Magic School Bus or Bill Nye the Science Guy, and the reboot of The Magic School Bus is a godsend; it gives parents my age the opportunity to show a new generation of children one of the best edutainment shows ever created. However, since The Magic School Bus Rides Again is as much a continuation of the original series as it is a reboot, some changes were inevitable. Quite frankly, when the trailer revealed that the quirky and irreplaceable Ms. Frizzle — voiced by Lily Tomlin — was being replaced by her younger sister — voiced by Kate McKinnon — I half expected people to complain and make “#NotMyFrizzle” memes. But no, most people railed against the animation and stated how ugly it is, and I am embarrassed to say I somewhat agree with these displeased fans.

The original The Magic School Bus cartoon tried to emulate the book series’ art style but has supplanted the book in the minds of audiences as the definitive Magic School Bus look. The animation was, at times, cheap, but it had a certain charm that has remained in the collective unconscious.  But Rides Again doesn’t try to look like the original books or the cartoon, and instead adopts what can only be described as a generic Flash animation look. Why do I call it generic? Because all the children look alike. Right now, I’m staring at the paused video, so I can confirm the children look similar, and quite frankly I’m creeped out by how homogeneous they look. Moreover, most of the children do not resemble their original show and book counterparts. The only ones I can identify immediately are Ralphie, Dorothy, and Arnold, and that’s because Ralphie is the only student wearing a hat; Dorothy is the only blonde girl, and Arnold is, well, Arnold.  As for the other children, I stared at the screen for a minute before I recognized Carlos, Keesha and Tim are almost completely unrecognizable, and Wanda and Phoebe have been replaced by two new girls, assuming the show’s makers didn’t decide to change Wanda’s race and Phoebe’s hair color and style. And Ms. Frizzle, dear god, she looks as if she got a botox injection. That is not a good sign. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Flash animation. Like the Unity game engine, Flash gets a bad rap for being the choice of lazy showrunners who want to put as little effort into making a show as possible, but plenty of cartoons made with Flash are good, if not spectacular; The Venture Bros., Archer, Gravity Falls, and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic come to mind as standout shows made with Flash. Heck, The Venture Bros. and Gravity Falls. don’t even look as if they were made with Flash. But, unlike The Magic School Bus Rides Again, these shows do not look cheap. For all we know, The Magic School Bus Rides Again isn’t made with Flash animation, but that doesn’t change the inescapable fact that it looks as if it was made on the cheap with Flash.

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I am hoping beyond hope that The Magic School Bus Rides Again makes up for its cheap-looking animation with clever, informative, and enjoyable writing. I’m not expecting anything on the level of Steven Universe or Avatar: The Last Airbender, but at the very least Rides Again should be on the level of the original show. And even if The Magic School Bus Rides Again isn’t a good show, the theme song is still as catchy as ever.

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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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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