Author: Kavish

The Prismatic Shard is one of the rarest minerals in Stardew Valley, worth a decent chunk of change and useful in many ways. While you will need to find one to complete the Museum collection, it might be a while before you actually get one. There are a few different places you can find a Prismatic Shard, although many of those avenues have very low odds of it actually appearing.How to get Prismatic ShardThe Prismatic Shard is a rare drop in Stardew Valley.The best place to find a Prismatic Shard is in the Skull Cavern. There is a small chance…

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta (Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg headlined at Siggraph last week. While the fireside chat with Huang didn’t really cover any new territory, the subsequent chat between Zuckerberg and Huang was fascinating, particularly when it came to what they didn’t talk about, which was the future of Facebook with AI. But, based on what they did say, I think I can fill that gap. The two men differed on the future of personal technology, mainly because Zuckerberg talked about what could be done, while Huang focused on what should be done. That dynamic is worth exploring,…

Marko: Beyond Brave is not at all what I expected. From the hand-drawn visuals to the cryptic lore tablets, and from the silent protagonist to the largely underground opening levels, I figured it would tickle the same part of my brain that adores the likes of Hollow Knight. But Beyond Brave seems to put a far heavier emphasis on grounded combat–more than I’m used to when it comes to a metroidvania. In the hour demo I played, I never quite got used to it, but the Slavic folklore-inspired world seems interesting and I want to try the game some more…

Malicious actors on the internet know the meaning of service. In a report released Tuesday on digital threats for the first half of 2024, a global AI cybersecurity company found that many of the prevalent threats deployed during the period heavily used malware-as-a-service (MaaS) tools. The report by Darktrace, based on analysis of data across the company’s customer deployments, reasoned that the growing popularity of MaaS is due to the lucrative subscription-based income of MaaS ecosystems, as well as the low barrier to entry and high demand. By offering pre-packed, plug-and-play malware, the MaaS market has enabled even inexperienced attackers…

Best Buy’s three-day weekend sale includes abnormally large discounts on the Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld. The base model ROG Ally with Ryzen Z1 chipset is on sale for only $380 (was $500), while the Z1 Extreme edition has received an even steeper discount of $150, dropping the price from $650 to $500. As an added bonus, you’ll also get the official ROG Ally travel case. ($40 value) and one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The ROG Ally runs Windows, but Valve confirmed this week that the handheld will receive Steam Deck OS support.These Asus ROG Ally deals end…

The field of database administration is far from glamorous. Even within the uncompromisingly geeky domain of information technology, database administration would be among the last fields picked for a game of proverbial kickball. However, the future employment landscape for tech jobs remains uncertain in these changing times. Despite its somewhat unglamorous reputation, database management and administration is an industry experiencing rapid growth, persistent talent shortages, and significant changes brought by AI. This field has much potential for those willing to cash in on its viable career path. These watershed moments invariably present significant opportunities as well as challenges. Percona, an…

If I was a father, I think I’d love playing a game like The Plucky Squire with my kid–based on a few of the early chapters I played, its plotline seems straightforward and it’s mechanically simple while also offering some fun variety in its assortment of minigames. Plus, the game features a story that intriguingly deals with themes about fate and choice, and then frames that against childhood passions and interests. The Plucky Squire feels like one of those stories I so clearly remember experiencing when I was 10 or 11 years old and loving for how it broached symbolism…

With the advent of AI and rapidly changing corporate needs and performance, many companies have announced layoffs this year, and I expect we are far from done. These layoffs range in size from small, like eBay’s announcement of 1,000 layoffs, to the much larger 12,000-plus layoffs expected from Dell and Intel, among others. Regardless of the size of the layoff, employees face difficult and unexpected choices. Making the wrong decision could not only end your career but also lead to legal trouble if you act impulsively without considering the risks. Let’s discuss layoffs this week, and I’ll close with my…

Reviews are now live for Black Myth: Wukong, one of the most-anticipated games of August. A fast-paced action-RPG game inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, the game puts you in the boots of The Destined One as they navigate a dangerous world full of monsters and titanic threats. So far, reviews have been mostly positive, praising the game for its imaginative presentation and rich combat.There have been some criticisms over technical issues, and it’s worth noting that only PC review codes were provided to the press for review purposes, although the game will also launch for…

When ChatGPT exploded on the tech scene in November 2022, one of the burning questions in the minds of many technologists was how Google — which, up to that point, was known for its prowess in artificial intelligence — could be caught flat-footed when the starter’s gun sounded in the race to bring generative AI to the masses? Paul Buchheit, creator of Gmail, suggested some answers to that question in a recent edition of the Y Combinator Startup podcast. Buchheit, who left Google in 2006, maintained that after the company’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, began to reduce their…