Survival games are all about extremes – they tend to either focus on a single survivor or a massive city with dozens of people. Stranded: Alien Dawn falls somewhere in the strange middle: it’s a kind of colony simulation where you start your adventure with no more than 4 people.

In Stranded: Alien Dawn, you command an initial party of 1-4 survivors who find themselves hastily fleeing a starship disaster in an escape pod. Your men emerge from the pod with enough supplies for a few days (and maybe a laser gun if you’re lucky). They find themselves in an alien world filled with unknown mysteries. It’s time to get to work.

A colony simulator with a very small colony

Settlement sims hold a special place in my heart – they feel a bit more personal than town sims with thousands of people. You can carefully organize your staff to take on different roles, and Stranded: Alien Dawn is no different in this regard. Where it changes things, however, is scale.

The maximum of four characters in your starting party presents unique challenges that you don’t typically see in games of this style. In other words, you will often have too much to do and too few people to do it. Prioritizing your work is essential if you want to survive, at least until you have the chance to save other survivors and grow your community.

Battling hunger, bad weather, and planetary disasters, you may be able to make a living with a simple cabin and a small farm full of strange glowing mushrooms. You will soon discover the horrible truth: this place crawls.

Insects! Insects!

The world you’ve landed on doesn’t just have weird plants and adorable alien creatures – it also has deadly bugs, and they’re hunger. Fortunately, you can build the means to defend yourself.

Haemimont managed to distill colony simulation and base building gameplay into a slightly simpler formula while still maintaining a healthy challenge for players.

Bugs will attack every few days in the game, adding that extra element of pressure that makes colony sims so compelling. You must juggle the needs of your survivors and progress through the tech tree with building and defending your base. You also need to plan things carefully, lest a huge bug tear your new home to pieces.

You may eventually have enough farms and power generators to keep everyone fed and happy, but the threat of bugs is still there and getting worse. You’ll want the adorable little beetles back when you see the first giant mantis attack or a wave of flying insects fly over your wall.

Trade-offs and challenges

Games of this style can get quite tedious, and Stranded: Alien Dawn is no different. You must manage the health, happiness, hunger, rest and relaxation of your people. If happiness falls too low, they can erupt into a meltdown similar to the temper tantrums of dwarf fortress. A Survivor may just burst into tears – or decide instead to start ripping apart all of your furniture.

It’s not too hard to keep everyone happy once you have a better understanding of what you’re doing, at least on the default medium difficulty. Part of this balance is undoubtedly due to the lack of certain survival mechanisms. Water, for example, is not something you need to worry about, nor do you have to worry about your colonists going to the toilet or bathing. (You’ll need to replace their clothes regularly, though.)

Haemimont managed to distill colony simulation and base-building gameplay into a slightly simpler formula while still maintaining a healthy challenge for players, building on the excellent game design it showcased with 2018. . Survive Mars. I tend to scoff at games that reduce complexity, but everything I’ve played so far feels like I’m in the right place.

A bit of Jank

Stranded: Alien Dawn was released in Early Access to get community feedback as the developers add more polish and flesh out more content. I only encountered one or two crashes in 60 hours of play and I don’t remember any major bugs. This does not mean that this game is in perfect condition just yet.

An example that comes to mind is my survivors trying to collect items scattered on both sides of a wall. You’d think a survivor would grab everything from one side, walk through the door, and then grab everything from the other side. In place. they bounced between two sides of a wall, needlessly traveling long distances instead of picking things up right next to them.

You may eventually have enough farms and power generators to keep everyone fed and happy, but the threat of bugs is still there and getting worse.

You’re sure to encounter occasional bouts of AI stupidity. I can’t count the number of times my survivors have ignored a critical need in favor of just one more task. Part of the problem is that the game’s scheduling system doesn’t let you designate times to eat. This is something that needs to change, especially when careful management of your resources is so important to survival – otherwise, Stranded: Alien Dawn could turn into a mess of micromanaging your survivors.

I was also a bit disappointed that there doesn’t seem to be a way to build a second floor for buildings either. You can build stairs and you can have rooms at different vertical levels, but you can’t stack them on top of each other for some reason. Building vertically is key to maintaining a small footprint and getting the most out of your base; I sincerely hope that this feature will be added in a future release.

Stranded: Alien Dawn Overview | Final Thoughts

Although Stranded: Alien Dawn has its rough edges, it has hardly any serious problems. My biggest bugbears boil down to a small wishlist of missing features and the AI ​​going off the rails at times. Ultimately, these small issues are an occasional distraction from an otherwise excellent game, even if it’s a bit light on content variety.

Haemimont’s latest release lays a solid foundation for what is sure to be an excellent game in the base building and colony simulation genres for both longtime fans and players new to the experience. I can’t wait to see how this game develops over the next few months.

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TechRaptor preview Stranded: Alien Dawn on PC via Steam using a copy provided by the publisher

Learn everything there is to know about Trendi and the new thrift shop added to the game. The latest addition to The Sims 4 added a new type of shop, a bubble tea cafe and a thrift shop. Although the store is quite small, there are several different activities you can take part in if you decide to visit.

RELATED: The Sims 4 High School Years: Social Bunny, Explained

In this guide, we’ll go over everything there is to know about the thrift store and the Trendi app – they’re both interconnected since Trendi is also about savings. Keep reading to learn more.

ThrifTea

ThrifTea is the newest store in town with the new High School Years Expansion Pack. Here, your Sims can socialize with the locals, attend events, grab a cup of bubble tea, grab some snacks, and find fun new outfits.

Bubble tea and snacks

One of ThirfTea’s areas is a counter that sells food and drink. If you spend a good portion of your time at the store looking for deals, your Sim will be hungry, so this is a great way to curb their hunger. There are several options to try, so you might want to visit every now and then and have your Sim try them all out.

Events at Thriftea

Each week there are a few different events you can attend at ThrifTea overnight. It’s a fun way to be part of your community. On Mondays and Fridays you can catch the ThrifTea Fashion Show, on Wednesdays there is the ThrifTea Amateur Comedy Night, and on Sundays visit the show to participate in the ThrifTea Poetry Evening.

You will receive a notification once these events start, so don’t miss it!

Saving

Economics is what it’s all about, knowing the trends and getting new outfits to wear everyday or sell for a profit. At ThrifTea, Sims can buy clothes they couldn’t get just by accessing the CAS. Every day, the clothes available to customers change and when there are exclusive clothes, you will receive a notification telling you to go to the store if you want to get them before it is gone.

When you buy clothes from the store, outfits appear in your inventory in a bag, which you can then wear or sell on the new Trendi app.

Tendency

If you love saving, you will probably appreciate the concept of trending because you can profit from this fun activity. Trendi is a platform that Sims can use to sell their thrift store outfits according to the latest trends.

You can access the Trendi app by opening your Sim’s phone in the bottom left corner of the screen, it’s the very first app there. On the app, you can learn more about Trendi, browse Trendi, check your Trendi followers, check what’s trending right now, list a look and promote a look.

To sell clothes, simply create a look using a clothes rack, name it, and save it. Then, in your inventory, select the cart and press the option “sell the outfit on Trendi”. You can buy clothes from ThrifTea, but once you have a buyer, you’ll need to send the outfit through the mailbox, so you’ll have to do it from your lot.

If you don’t want to visit the thrift store every time you want to create an outfit, you can buy your own clothes racks in Build & Buy mode. There are two options: the Catch My Thrift Clothes Rack and Shelf and the Anything Clothes Rack.

Hype on Trendi

Hype is a very important concept on Trendi because everything revolves around it. If you want to create and sell a successful outfit, you’ll need to understand how Hype works and how you can manipulate it. Like all trends, they come and go and it’s no different in the world of The Sims.

If you open the Trendi app and select the “check out the latest trends” option, you can see which trends are doing well right now and which you should avoid. But, wearing your own look on the town can get her Hype up, especially if you have a massive following. And, when sporting your own looks, you can visit the app and use the “promote a look” option, which can either increase the hype of the trend or decrease it.

Followers on Trendi

You will gain Trendi followers by selling your first outfits on Trendi, it will also increase your Entrepreneurial skill which will also make you more likely to sell more outfits. As your follower count grows, your outfits are more likely to sell out, and you might also want to make them more expensive. It is certainly possible to make a lot of money if you work to follow the trends.

NEXT: The Sims 4: How to Use Sexual Orientation Options

For a life simulator, The Sims has always been pretty fancy; playing with life should be fun, after all. The occult added a refreshing element to the sometimes mundane realities of going to work and doing laundry. Throughout The Sims series, witches (and/or warlocks) have been one of the most detailed life states.

RELATED: The Sims 4: Pro Spellcaster Tips You Need To Know

They appeared in every game – under different names – and continued to grow more complex over time. From spells and curses to alignments and familiars, here’s everything you need to know about spellcasters, witches, and wizards throughout the series.

9 Magic has arrived in The Sims

The first game in The Sims series introduced magic as a concept, but occults didn’t quite exist like in other games. Instead, regular Sims could use wands from Mystery Man (or buy mode) in The Sims: Making Magic.

Casting the Beauty of Beast Charm would temporarily turn an unsuspecting Sim into one of many occults, including Witches (for female Sims) or Wizards (for male Sims). Once a Sim changed clothes or took a shower, they would come back to themselves, but the spell could be cast again at any time.

8 But witches and wizards came to The Sims 2

Witch and Wizard Life States have come to the end of The Sims 2 lifespan, with the Apartment Life expansion pack. And witches being a definite state of life, only witches can do magic; more wands and charms for regular Sims.

To become a witch, Sims had to befriend a high witch or high wizard – an NPC who spawns on community lots – and request to learn “the ways” of light or darkness. New witches and wizards receive new clothes, as well as their own cauldrons and spell books. You’ll have a few spells unlocked immediately, but studying magic and buying reagents will open up more possibilities.

seven They return in The Sims 3: Supernatural

The Sims 3 ditched gender-specific names and called all Sims witches. These witches can cast charms, spells, and curses, which have varying effects on subjects. Now, however, magic can also affect the caster, and if certain curses fail, they can even cause immediate death.RELATED: The Sims 3: Supernatural Things We Want In The Sims 4

Becoming a witch is simple: buy a bottled witch’s brew from an alchemy shop and drink it (or throw it at another Sim to craft it instead). Or create witches directly from CAS. The state of life is also genetic; if one of the parents is a wizard, there is a 50% chance that their offspring will also be a witch, and the probability is 100% with two wizard parents.

6 The Sims 3 gave us alchemy

Alchemy also came with The Sims 3: Supernatural, and while it’s not witch-exclusive, it’s pack-exclusive. Witches also gain the skill faster. The first step to developing the Alchemy skill is to purchase the Alchemy Station from Aleister in the buy mode menu, after which your Sim can research Alchemy. Research also gives you the ability to find elixirs for alchemy recipes, but the best way to discover new elixirs is to read recipe books directly.

Elixirs can be hits or misses, and successful elixirs can be ingested, thrown at other Sims, displayed in an elixir display case, or sold at the consignment store.

5 And a hidden spellcasting skill

Unlike alchemy, spellcasting is a hidden skill exclusive to witches. The first spell a witch can cast is Conjure Apple, but as she progresses in spellcasting, more spells, charms, and curses become available.

RELATED: Best Spells in Sims 4 Realm of Magic: Ranked

From upgrading devices to haunting their enemies, spellcasters can do it all. They can even change the weather, or even the needs of themselves or other Sims. Expert spellcasters can even revive dead Sims as zombies. Dueling with other witches is a great way to increase spell casting skill, but so is playing with magic, which also increases the fun.

4 The Sims 4 Spawn Spellcasters

Finally, spellcasters are introduced in The Sims 4 and serve similar functions to witches. Any Sim can become a spellcaster by completing the Rite of Ascension, which involves completing a quest for one of Glimmerbrook’s sages. Spellcasters can fail magic like witches, but the curses they suffer are akin to the quirks experienced by celebrities or vampires.

A spellcaster can have up to three curses active at a time out of a total of ten. Curses can be lifted with the Curse Cleansing Potion or the Decursify spell, and the Hexproof perk prevents them altogether. There are a total of 24 spells to learn in three schools of magic and six caster ranks to achieve.

3 Magic bloodlines have changed

Spellcaster genetics work the same way in The Sims 4 as it does for witches in The Sims 3, but spellcasters also have magical bloodlines. Children born to spellcasters are born with the magical lineage trait, making them stronger spellcasters as teenagers. Normal Sims who turn into spellcasters develop the Weak Bloodline trait, but can pass the Magical Bloodline trait to their children.

RELATED: New Things Realm Of Magic Adds To The Sims 4

If the caster’s life state is maintained over subsequent generations, the magical lineage becomes Strong and eventually Ancient. Bloodlines can also degrade, so if the lineage is not maintained (i.e. casters marry normal Sims or other non-spellcaster occults) it will degrade to whether it is ultimately reproduced or revived.

2 good versus evil

In The Sims 2, witches and wizards have alignments ranging from Infallably Good to Atrociously Evil. Their alignment determines the spells they can cast, and in turn, they unlock more spells related to it. Good and evil witches and wizards have robes, hats, and magical tools (like spell books and cauldrons) that match their alignment auras.

Excruciatingly evil witches will also develop a green complexion. Spellcasters in The Sims 4 can practice different styles of magic: Mischief, Practical, Wild, and Alchemy. But, these are not proper alignments, so spellcasters can practice all four styles at the same time.

1 Find Familiars

Witches in The Sims 2 can summon Void Spectral Cats. Familiars here act mostly like regular cats, except they can be summoned and returned to The Void at will. Witches in The Sims 3 get the Pet moodlet when interacting with their pets. With the moodlet, they acquire spellcasting skills faster and their magic power depletes more slowly.

Spellcasters find familiars by purchasing them in Caster’s Alley, as a reward for winning a duel, or by searching for tomes in Magic HQ (or any other library). When a familiar is summoned, it can even shield casters from death. There are 11 types of pets, excluding cats and dogs which can act as both pets and familiars.

NEXT: Sims 4: Best Packs For Unique Occult And Supernatural Gameplay, Ranked

from ESPN”College GameDayhas been football fans’ favorite program to wake up to on Saturdays for over 35 years. Nothing says it’s game day like when Lee Corso finally puts on the mascot’s head and declares his prediction.

Now in its 36th season, GameDay will have a new face on the game’s first pre-game show: Jess Sims. Sims is a 31-year-old fitness instructor who has built the following instructional courses for Peloton, the home exercise bike company that has become popular throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m so excited to join the GameDay team because the show not only celebrates all the on-field action, but also highlights the passionate communities that surround games,” Sims said in a post. ESPN version. “It’s a great opportunity to get back to my roots in college sports and I look forward to meeting amazing athletes and fans and exploring these campuses and cities that eat, sleep and breathe hometown teams. .”

His infectious and bubbly personality will no doubt be a hit with NCAA fans alongside hosts such as Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and David Pollack, and his resume is testament to his love of people.

Jess Sims’ Resume: Teacher, Fitness Instructor and Now GameDay Personality

RELATED: Kirk Herbstreit married his college sweetheart and had 4 sons

The Sims’ foray into sports began on the hard court. The Peabody, Massachusetts native served as a captain for three years at Trinity College. That career foreshadowed one of his many recent gigs: an arena host and sideline reporter for the WNBA’s New York Liberty.

But it was in the classroom that Sims first found his calling. She taught fifth and third grade after college in Houston, Texas. She was then offered a job as a kindergarten teacher in New York. She rose through the ranks to vice principal at a Harlem school before diving into the health and fitness field, officially joining Peloton in 2018.

“After many conversations, I realized that being a fitness instructor still allowed me to be a teacher, but in a different setting. As I made the transition and looked back on my journey, I realized that I wasn’t throwing away any of the work I had done. I always say ‘you live life moving forward, but it only makes sense to look back,'” she said. Forbes in 2021.

Dubbed the “Hype Woman the World Needs Right Now”, The Sims will bring tremendous energy to a show that has perhaps more energy and excitement than any other sports show. She’ll be at the heart of it, capturing the sport’s biggest game every weekend.

But Sims is no stranger to large communities. Her fitness classes have reached millions of Peloton subscribers worldwide. She trained with athletes as Usain Bolt. She has an impressive 437,000 followers on Instagram. I guess it’s all part of becoming America’s Hype Woman.

“It’s so weird and so powerful and truly a privilege. I feel truly honored to have this role in so many people’s lives, especially last year for obvious reasons,” Sims said. Forbes about the pandemic. “It’s humbling that I can be there for people when they need it most to sweat it out, provide comic relief and build community.”

Sims is certainly a rising star in his field, and his career at ESPN is just beginning. Pay attention that she brings the hype every Saturday.

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The graduation ceremony at Sims 4: High School Years takes place as soon as your sim becomes a young adult. To learn how to navigate graduation in The Sims 4 and what to do if your sim does not qualify for graduation, read here.

• Check out our The Sims 4 prom guide, on how to become prom king or jester before graduation.

The Sims 4: How to Start the Graduation Event

The Sims 4 doesn’t tell you how to trigger the graduation event. You may have completed countless semesters until you discovered that graduation unlocks after your sim has aged to a young adult. When this happens, you’ll receive a pop-up that tells you if your Sim graduated, graduated with honors, or became a high school dropout.

The game will give you your high school diploma in the mail, check your household inventory if you still haven’t received it.

Graduation will be at 6:00 p.m. on the nearest Sunday.

The Sims 4 Degree Types

The grade your sim ages with will determine how your sim grades and what jobs will be available to them as a young adult. The following will happen depending on your rating:

• A – graduate with honors (you will start some careers in more advanced positions, usually at level three, with an improvement in professional performance, such as obtaining a university degree in The Sims 4: Explore College pack).
• B – – standard scale
• C – standard scale
• D – standard scale
• F – You become a high school dropout as you get older. This means that some careers will be inaccessible unless you complete your degree online first. You can prepare for your high school diploma online by selecting the “Career” tab on a PC and paying 250 Simoleons.

You must have a high school diploma to apply for jobs in the following industries: detective, doctor, scientist, tech guru, astronaut, and business.

The Sims 4 Graduation Ceremony

The graduation ceremony for high school years has no goals or challenges. You should automatically arrive in your graduation gown and cap at the Auditorium, with the opportunity to sit down and listen to the speakers. The event itself is not so interactive and is like listening to a speech and then collecting your diploma. You can throw your graduation cap in the air at the end by clicking on your sim, selecting “High School Graduation” and then “Throw Cap”. In this menu you can also change the color of the dresses you wear.

The Sims 4 Graduation: Bugs

Many players in The Sims 4 community have reported a bug where graduation is not triggering for them. They receive the pop-up window, but their calendar does not update with the graduation ceremony event. This is a fairly common problem, which in reality is not a bug. It should take a few in-game days for your calendar to update and the graduation ceremony to be added to it. Although The Sims 4 doesn’t communicate it correctly, your sims must first live a few days as a young adult, before graduation is added to their calendar.

If you still don’t see the graduation icon on the calendar, check the listing details as the event may be obscured by others taking place on the same day.

The graduation ceremony will be added to the nearest Sunday at 6 p.m. once your teens have reached adulthood and lived a few days. You will receive another pop-up on graduation day asking you to attend graduation.

blue meridian dinosaur park simulation, prehistoric kingdom, certainly takes its time to complete. Although the game had a brief semi-open early test a while back, it’s actually been in development for years and has only now reached early access status on Steam and the Epic Game Store.

We have to strongly emphasize the “early” part, as that $30 price is more like a pre-purchase with a limited, instantly playable dino sandbox to give players a taste of what’s to come.

Timed remarkably well with the release of the (hopefully) finale jurassic world film, prehistoric kingdom has many obvious similarities with Jurassic world evolution Games. Both are dinosaur-obsessed park creation and management sims. Yet each is designed with a somewhat different audience. This particular Kingdom seems much more geared towards those who enjoy both ancient beasts and micro-management simulations.

Prehistoric Kingdom Early Access Review: Exploring Dino Park Sims Alpha

Sure, it’s early, but prehistoric kingdom maze of functions, options, buttons and menus is already as imposing as it is confusing for newcomers. Luckily, there’s a tutorial that gives you the gist of how things work, complete with voice-over instructions from Nigel Marvin. If that doesn’t sell you on the game, we’re sorry.

Nigel who? Marvin! The impending time-traveling, dinosaur-fighting BBC biologist, of course. For anyone who’s had dinosaur-obsessed kids over the past two decades, Marvin’s BBC shows Pursued by dinosaurs and prehistoric park were to be viewed. He’s a jolly guy here, lending his soothing, cheerful tones to help ease the stress of dealing with a massive, overly complicated biohazard of a park.

Aside from Mr. Marvin, the game already has a lot to offer. It’s beautiful, for one thing. The park itself is a mix of common environments, mostly green and brown, but the animals are fantastic. These are not the scientifically questionable critters of jurassic park and while full scientific accuracy in paleontology games is a sketchy endeavor at best, it’s clear that Blue Meridian has put a lot of thought, time and research into depicting extinct animals according to modern science.

As the JW Evolution games, there’s genetic research, egg hatching, subspecies variations, and even paleontological digs to invest money. The difference is that everything here feels more in-depth, complicated, and layered. The current build has over 20 prehistoric creatures (including ice age mammoths) and understanding their needs is essential.

Each attraction must be carefully planned, maintained and monitored to ensure animals are cared for. As this progresses, you will theoretically be able to hire staff to cover certain tasks, but at the moment the AI ​​for all computer-controlled creatures (whether human or animal) is very light. Or maybe just not included yet.

Humans wander around randomly, without much interaction or purpose. The dinosaurs behave well independently in a very preset and pre-scripted way, but they don’t actually interact with each other or even their environment yet. It’s all just surface so far.

The labyrinthine user interface is another issue, and the current state of the help system isn’t particularly helpful. During the tutorial, for example, I spent five frustrating minutes trying to clean dung from a pen by mindlessly clicking on it and everything around it before realizing that to access this option you actually have to click on the tiny, sometimes difficult -see enclosure fence parameter.

There are a lot of nagging little problems like this, where intuition seems to have taken over and you just have to memorize where each option is. Some single player missions are included, mainly to understand the terrain, but they are buggy and limited. This early access is mainly about the sandbox mode.

In sandbox mode, the building powers of the prehistoric kingdom begins to shine. You can create really cool and picturesque animal structures and enclosures. For people who really enjoy building a park, there are plenty of options. There’s also a surprisingly robust online community sharing their creations, which is a great sign for the future of gaming.

Blue Meridian said it expects the game to remain in Early Access for the next 18-24 months, which seems like a long time. There’s a lot missing so far, but the bones of the game are solid, even if sometimes hidden a little too deep in the menu systems. The presentation is already outstanding, with an excellent soundtrack and score to complement the finely rendered zoo attractions.

Prehistoric Kingdom Early Access Review – The Bottom Line

Advantages

• Critters looks fantastic.
• Ability to create elaborate and sprawling parks.
• Nigel Frickin’ Marvin.
• Has a nice tendency to be at least somewhat scientifically accurate.

The inconvenients

• Very incomplete and excessively anticipated access.
• The confusing, maze-like user interface makes things harder.
• Few AI and mostly just a sandbox to get a taste.

For fans of this particular little genre, prehistoric kingdom might well be worth a look, especially if they temper their expectations. The game is far from over and is as likely to frustrate players as it is to amuse them, but the awe-inspiring spectacle of ancient giants is on full display here.

Dinosaurs are awesome and Kingdom does a great job of capturing that sense of wonder, despite the flaws.

[Note: The writer was reimbursed for the copy of Prehistoric Kingdom used for this Early Access review.]

When Kiara Rose Sims, a double major in accounting and finance from Honors College, graduates from UNLV in May, she will leave knowing that she has made campus a better place. She is a leader in building a sense of belonging for traditionally underrepresented students at UNLV.

Her work as a member of the Minority-Serving Institution’s Student Council simultaneously beautifies the campus through art and makes it a more welcoming place.

What are some of the identities you hold?

I’m a mixed-ethnic first-generation college student from Wyoming.

What does it mean for you that the UNLV is an institution at the service of minorities?

I believe that UNLV holding MSI status means it has a duty to serve students with fairness at the bare minimum. To me, all minority-serving institutions should have resources and programs built into day-to-day operations that are specifically designed to help underrepresented students.

Why did you choose to join the MSI Student Council?

I was really excited to have a direct impact on campus. Having our own personal initiatives allowed me to help solve the problems I saw with our campus.

What project did you launch via the MSISC?

Dumpster Art: I started a mural project around the Upperclassman complex to spruce up the dumpster structures. Pwoz, a first-generation local immigrant, painted the seven-piece installation on electrical blocks and concrete blocks around our dumpsters.

I wanted to see more art around the community so it could feel friendlier and create conversations.

Why is this project important for historically underrepresented students?

Art allows for conversation and expression of the kinds of communities in which we see ourselves thriving. We hope this facility will continue to inspire conversations among residents. Also, great to show UNLV fine arts students that a first generation black immigrant can do such great work and make a career out of it!

What are you working on now?

This semester, I’m working with the Academic Success Center (ASC) and a few other campus offices to host an Academic Resource Fair to help students find the resources they need.

Throughout my time at UNLV, students constantly tell me that they wish we had a resource for things that already exist. I wanted to try to ensure that people could find the help that is already available to them.

Why is this project important for historically underrepresented students?

Historically underrepresented students generally have less access to resources. It’s not intentional, but many just don’t know there are resources to be had. If just one student finds the DACA resource, meets with an academic advisor, or discovers The Intersection goldmine, the project will have been a success.

What did you learn about the UNLV while serving on the MSISC?

I learned that there are a few areas on campus dedicated to intentionally supporting all students with equitable outcomes, such as the Intersection. I also learned that there are many areas where UNLV could do better to fully tap into the potential of underrepresented students. Before I was on the board, I was in a bubble and didn’t quite see all the issues other students were facing. The saddest problem for me is that many problems my peers face have intentional solutions on campus, but students don’t know where to find the solution or resource and they don’t know who to ask for help .

How can faculty, staff, and students get more information about your project?

The best way to experience my work would be to walk through the dumpsters near the upper class complex! It would be fun to see if you can find all seven. Soon, Pwoz may partner with other sections of campus to expand the project.

When you’re not working or studying, what do you do for fun?

I really like hiking near Red Rock or Mount Charleston. I work a lot, so I like to disconnect and take a nature break when I can.

Since doing this job, have you had an “a-ha!” moment you would like to share?

That it is okay to complain to the administration in the appropriate settings! Sometimes complaining about a problem to a counselor, mentor, or professor gives them the green light to tell you about the resource that can provide a solution. Many colleges have emergency scholarships, access to housing and food resources, and friendly teachers who want to help.

My favorite place to complain is The Intersection as they seem to have the sweetest staff who have memorized almost every resource on campus.

On Monday, April 25, Russian authorities announced that they had stopped an assassination attempt by a group of six Ukrainian neo-Nazis who allegedly planned to kill Vladimir Solovyov, who is essentially the Sean Hannity of Russian news. FSB agents claimed to have recovered evidence from the home of the potential killers, including “an improvised explosive device, eight Molotov cocktail-type improvised incendiary devices, six PM pistols, a sawed-off shotgun, an RGD-5 grenade, more than a thousand cartridges of various calibers, drugs, false Ukrainian passports” and “nationalist literature and paraphernalia”.

The FSB released photographs of this evidence, which contain curious details:

Let’s zoom in:

Is… 3 copies of The Sims? Included among Nazi paraphernalia?

Weird flex, but good. Eliot Higgins, founder of investigative research group Bellingcat, offered another theory: It was a false flag or evidence factory to push the “Ukrainian Nazi” war excuse, but someone one made a mistake.

I sincerely believe this is some stupid FSB officer being told to get 3 sim cards.

— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) April 25, 2022

I want to believe it’s true, because it’s amazing.

Russia appears to be confusing ‘The Sims’ with SIM cards in possible staged assassination attempt [Evan Simko-Bednarski / NY Post]

The Nigerian Federal Government’s decision to order the blocking of more than 72 million SIM cards not linked to holders’ National Identification Numbers (NINs), and their biometrics by extension, has not gone down well with many. Nigerians, including rights advocates who are calling for the movement to be quashed.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), an advocacy group, has dragged President Muhammadu Buhari to a federal high court in Lagos, claiming the decision to block SIM cards violates owners’ human rights, reports The Whistler .

Earlier this month, the federal government asked the country’s telecommunications operators to partially block all unregistered SIM cards when the tenth extension of the SIM-NIN registration deadline expires.

SERAP, in its lawsuit, argues that the SIM cards should not have been blocked in the first place since the federal government, according to the group, did not put in place the necessary logistics to allow disadvantaged categories of people to register for digital ID.

The group says that due to these logistical shortcomings, as well as administrative and bureaucratic red tape, groups of people such as those with physical disabilities, the elderly as well as those living in hard-to-reach communities were unable to have their biometric data captured for the NIN.

SERAP therefore asks the court to seek the unlocking of SIMs to bring justice to the victims, to place a restraining order on any future similar movement, and then to order the federal government to put in place without delay the necessary measures to ensure that all Nigerians can register. and get the NIN without bottlenecks, notes The Whistler.

Fears as South Africa proposes SIM card registration with biometrics

Three thousand kilometers away, in South Africa, there are already fears for the security of personal data as the country considers a policy that will require the identification of SIM cards using the biometric data of citizens.

In an op-ed published by The Star, the writer worries that this proposal by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) to register SIM cards with biometrics is not only life-threatening deprived of citizens, but constitutes a threat to individual freedoms. of South Africans.

The columnist also acknowledges that this practice of registering SIM cards with biometrics is gaining traction on the continent, and that the trend could lead to what he calls the opening of “Pandora’s box, leading to the 21st version century of freedom from physical and emotional curses”. on humanity.

He says if the South African policy materializes, the country will join countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Zambia where identification of a SIM card requires submission of biometric information at some point or time. another.

Mexico’s Supreme Court rules against biometric phone registry

Mexico is bucking the biometric SIM bonding trend. The government has suffered a blow in its plans to set up a national biometric mobile phone registry after the country’s highest court ruled the move unconstitutional. The court held that the registry did not have sufficient safeguards for data confidentiality and that the project would also violate human rights and should therefore be invalidated.

According to Reuters, nine of the 11 members of the tribunal voted against the creation of the register which would have seen phone users register their SIM cards by submitting information such as fingerprints and iris biometrics at the user’s expense.

The register, dubbed Panaut, was passed in parliament in April last year but was suspended a few months later following legal challenges by rights groups.

The government said it wanted to create the register to help tackle the country’s high crime wave, as phone users will not be able to make anonymous calls while committing a crime.

Article topics

Africa | biometric identification | biometrics | digital identification | identity verification | trial | Mexico | national identity card | Nigeria | SIM cards | South Africa

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