Should the DeFi Option Vaults Worth $700 Million Charge Fees to Investors? Defi options vaults (DOVs), a type of DeFi structured product based on options trading, have become a sensation from the second quarter of 2021, attracting the attention of retail Defi investors and various institutional institutions. From the beginning, DOVs have developed dramatically to become a significant portion of the $700 million Defi option TVL, having a trading volume of billions of dollars per month. The largest DOVs include , , , Katana, and . ThetaNuts Ribbon Finance StakeDAO Friktion PsyFinance Investors place their money in the vaults, and the vaults invest the money in various options. Before DOVs, option strategies were only available to qualified investors through OTC internet trading or self-execution on options exchanges like Deribit. Distinctive base yields, typically 15% to 50% have been achieved via vanilla covered call and cash-covered put techniques. In addition, tokens are given out, resulting in an even higher return for users. Hedge funds that are actively managed often carry a “2/20” fee. This entails a 2% management charge on assets under management (AUM) and a 20% profit performance fee. Several hedge funds have abandoned the 2/20 paradigm these days. The 2/20 strategy is regarded as exceedingly costly and is only used by elite hedge funds that routinely beat by a significant margin. On the other hand, index funds have been pushed towards a zero-fee approach. Passive funds are expected to have no expenses, yet renowned index fund managers like Vanguard can still charge a 0.06 percent management fee. Why the large gap in fee structures? Hedge fund managers are paid a premium for originating and executing special strategies. These could be discretionary active-trading strategies, or algo-based systematic strategies, or even high-frequency trading strategies. The premium is paid for ‘alpha’ or active strategies that are able to outperform the general market. On the other hand, index funds do not get this premium because they deliver passive strategies that do not require any special input from the fund manager. These strategies could be anything from buying a basket of stocks or bonds to structured derivatives strategies. Index funds could get strong returns, but that would still not warrant high fees as the returns are generated from passive strategies working well in a favourable market and not because of any special effort from the fund manager. Similarly, Crypto DOVs such as Ribbon and Friktion are charging exorbitant management and service fees to crypto investors. Due to this, it does not make sense for DOVs like Ribbon and Friktion to charge fees to crypto investor’s users. What role do DOVs play? DOVs belong to the same category as index funds because of the passive nature of the strategies that are being executed. DOVs currently execute covered option strategies for their users, typically 10-15 delta strikes on 1-week expiries. There is no active trading or special algorithmic system. The beauty of DOVs is that these simple strategies perform very well due to the structurally high implied volatility of the underlying asset. Covered option strategies are very common and can be easily executed on exchanges like Deribit or OTC desks. The DOV protocol is primarily an infrastructure provider. They provide access and make it easy for the Defi user to execute these strategies in a trustless manner. A nominal management fee is perhaps acceptable for Ribbon Finance and other DOV protocols for this service. However, zero fees protocols such as ThetaNuts provide more value to investors considering the nature of the strategy implemented. The DOV protocols do not deliver anything extraordinary strategy-wise as a platform provider. For the facilitation of passive strategies, DOVs, in our opinion, have no reason to charge any performance fees. To any TradFi investor, charging performance fees on weekly covered option strategies would be shocking and seen as extreme profiteering. This should not be tolerated just because it is DeFi. For the DOV space to grow sustainably, the industry players need to put users first. Is it fair for DOVs to charge performance fees? Hedge funds that charge performance fees always have a clawback mechanism (or high watermark). This protects investors by allowing the investor to take back performance fees from previous years if there are losses in the most recent year. This way, the fund manager cannot take performance fees in one good year then leave the investor to bear all the losses in subsequent years. Zero Fees products such as Thetanuts are the future for decentralized DOVs. Without these clawback features, DOVs that charge performance fees expose investors to asymmetrical risk-reward, haircuts on profits and full impact on losses. These fee-charging DOVs effectively benefit from all the upside without taking any of the downside risks. Not quite fair to users. Impact of fees on DOV returns The main concern for any DOV user should be the negative impact on profits. While it might not be obvious to the investors weekly, levying fees on vaults severely impact DOV returns over time. To illustrate the effect of charging fees, the data shows a backtested performance of cash-secured puts strategies on BTC in 2021*, comparing four scenarios. BTC Strategy Total Return and the impact of fees (%) Percentage Difference from Best Performance (%) Thetanuts (zero fees) 22.2791 Vaults with a 2% AUM fee and 10% Performance fee 15.3913 -30.92 Vaults with only 10% Performance fee 17.5197 -21.36 Vaults with only a 2% AUM fee 20.0662 -9.93 Looking at the graph above, one can see how differing charge structures have a significant negative influence on the return created for consumers over the course of the year 2021. Investors choosing a DOV that charges both a 2% AUM and a 10% performance fee will lose the most money. Project Fees Ribbon 2% annualised management**10% performance if ITM Friktion 10% performance, 0.1% withdrawal StakeDAO 0.5% withdrawal Thetanuts 0 Fees Katana 0 Fees PsyFinance 0 Fees DeFi Products and Decentralized Asset Management - Whats in the Future There are various use cases and appropriate justifications for charging different sorts of fees to investors when employing structured products. However, there is no need to collect any fees in the case of individual option vaults that are executing an automated option strategy. The rise of protocols such as ThetaNuts that offer zero fees against the fee-based structure of Ribbion is going to be the next paradigm shift in the crypto ecosystem as the fees structures become completely decentralized and more focused on the community itself. Catch all the breaking news, and Don’t forget to like the story! Image credits: @QCP Capital and . Dane Deaner The content of this story DO NOT represent the views of HackerNoon and are meant as information only from the lens of the independent contributor. Please DYOR before investing.

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As if taking a picture wasn’t a challenging enough technological prowess, we are now doing the opposite: modeling the world from pictures. I’ve covered amazing AI-based models that could take images and turn them into high-quality scenes. A challenging task that consists of taking a few images in the 2-dimensional picture world to create how the object or person would look in the real world. Take a few pictures and instantly have a realistic model to insert into your product. How cool is that?! The results have dramatically improved upon I covered in 2020, called NeRF. And this improvement isn’t only about the quality of the results. NVIDIA made it even better. the first model Not only that the quality is comparable, if not better, but it is more than 1'000 times faster with less than two years of research. Watch the video References ►Read the full article: ►NVIDIA's blog post (credit to video): ►NVIDIA's video: ►Paper: Thomas Muller, Alex Evans, Christoph Schied and Alexander Keller, 2022, "Instant Neural Graphics Primitives with a Multiresolution Hash Encoding", ►Project link: ►Code: ►My Newsletter (A new AI application explained weekly to your emails!): https://www.louisbouchard.ai/nvidia-photos-into-3d-scenes/ https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2022/03/25/instant-nerf-research-3d-ai/ https://nvlabs.github.io/instant-ngp/assets/mueller2022instant.mp4 https://nvlabs.github.io/instant-ngp/assets/mueller2022instant.pdf https://nvlabs.github.io/instant-ngp/ https://github.com/NVlabs/instant-ngp https://www.louisbouchard.ai/newsletter/ Video Transcript 0:00 as if taking a picture wasn't a 0:02 challenging enough technological prowess 0:05 we are now doing the opposite modeling 0:07 the world from pictures i've covered 0:09 amazing ai based models that could take 0:12 images and turn them into high quality 0:14 scenes a challenging task that consists 0:16 of taking a few images in the 0:18 two-dimensional picture world to create 0:20 how the object or person will look like 0:23 in the real world you can easily see how 0:25 useful this technology is for many 0:27 industries like video games animation 0:29 movies or advertising take a few 0:31 pictures and instantly have a realistic 0:34 model to insert into your product the 0:36 results have dramatically improved upon 0:38 the first model i covered in 2020 called 0:41 nerf and this improvement isn't only 0:43 about the quality of the results nvidia 0:46 made it even better not only that the 0:48 quality is comparable if not better but 0:51 it's more than one thousand times faster 0:53 with less than two years of research 0:56 this is the pace of ai research 0:58 exponential gains in quality and 1:01 efficiency a big factor that makes this 1:03 field so incredible you will be lost 1:06 with the new techniques and quality of 1:07 the results if you miss just a couple of 1:10 days which is why i first created this 1:12 channel and why you should also 1:14 subscribe just look at those 3d models 1:17 these cool models only needed a dozen 1:19 pictures and the ai guessed the missing 1:22 spot and created this beauty in seconds 1:24 something like this took hours to 1:26 produce with nerf let's dive into how 1:29 they made this much progress on so many 1:31 fronts in so little time but first i'd 1:34 like to take a few seconds to talk about 1:36 active loop an amazing company i 1:38 recently stumbled on and they are now 1:40 sponsoring this video active loop is 1:43 becoming popular with its open source 1:45 dataset format for ai hub one of the top 1:48 10 python packages in 2021 with active 1:52 loop hub you can treat your data sets as 1:54 numpy like arrays as a result you have a 1:57 simple dataset api for creating storing 2:00 version controlling and querying ai data 2:02 sets of any size it's perfect to 2:05 collaborate with your team and iterate 2:07 on your data sets the feature i like the 2:09 most is being able to stream my data 2:11 sets while training models in pytorch or 2:14 tensorflow this means anyone can access 2:16 any slice of the data and start training 2:19 models in seconds no matter how big is 2:21 the data set just like that how cool is 2:24 that with all these neat features hub 2:27 definitely frees me from building data 2:29 pipelines so i can train my models 2:31 faster active loop has just released 2:34 more than 100 image video and audio data 2:37 sets available almost instantly with a 2:39 single line of code try them out in your 2:41 workflows and let me know in the 2:43 comments below how it works i'd love to 2:45 know what you build with them 2:49 instant nerf attacks the task of inverse 2:51 rendering which consists of rendering a 2:54 3d representation from pictures a dozen 2:57 in this case approximating the real 2:59 shape of the object and how light will 3:01 behave on it so that it looks realistic 3:04 in any new scene here nerf stands for 3:07 neural radiance fields i will only do a 3:10 quick overview of how nerfs work as i 3:12 already covered this kind of network in 3:14 multiple videos which i invite you to 3:16 watch for more detail and a better 3:18 understanding quickly nerfs is a type of 3:21 neural network they take images and 3:23 camera settings as inputs and learn how 3:26 to produce an initial 3d representation 3:28 of the objects or scenes in the picture 3:31 fine tune this representation using 3:33 learn parameters from a supervised 3:35 learning settings this means that we 3:37 need a 3d object and a few images of it 3:40 at different known angles to train it 3:42 and the network will learn to recreate 3:44 the object to make the results as best 3:46 as possible we need a picture from 3:48 multiple viewpoints like this to be sure 3:51 we capture all or most sides of the 3:54 objects and we train this network to 3:56 understand general objects shapes and 3:58 light radiance we are asking it to learn 4:01 how to fill the missing parts based on 4:04 what it has seen before and how light 4:06 reacts to them in the 3d world basically 4:09 it will be like asking you to draw a 4:11 human without giving any details on the 4:13 hands you'd automatically assume the 4:15 person has five fingers based on your 4:18 knowledge this is easy for us as we have 4:20 many years of experience behind the belt 4:23 and one essential thing current ais are 4:25 lacking our intelligence we can create 4:28 links where there are none and do many 4:30 unbelievable things on the opposite side 4:33 ai needs specific rules or at least 4:36 examples to follow which is why we need 4:38 to give it what an object looks like in 4:40 the real world during its training phase 4:42 to improve then after such a training 4:45 process you only feed the images with 4:47 the camera angles at inference time and 4:50 it produces the final model in a few 4:52 hours did i see a few hours i'm sorry i 4:56 was still in 2021. it now does that in a 4:59 few seconds this new version by nvidia 5:02 called instant nerf is indeed 1000 times 5:05 faster than its nerf predecessor from a 5:08 year ago why because of multi-resolution 5:11 hash grid encoding multi-what 5:13 multi-resolution hash grid encoding they 5:16 explained it very clearly with this 5:18 sentence 5:19 we reduce the cost with a versatile new 5:23 input encoding that permits the use of a 5:25 smaller network without sacrificing 5:28 quality thus significantly reducing the 5:31 number of floating point and memory 5:33 access operations 5:35 in short they change how the nerf 5:37 network will see the inputs so our 5:40 initial 3d model prediction makes it 5:42 more digestible and information 5:45 efficient to use a smaller network while 5:47 keeping the quality of the outputs the 5:50 same keeping such a high quality using a 5:53 smaller network is possible because we 5:55 are not only learning the weights of the 5:57 nerf network during training but also 5:59 the way we are transforming those inputs 6:02 beforehand so the input is transformed 6:04 using trained functions here step one to 6:08 four compressed in a hash table to focus 6:10 on valuable information extremely 6:12 quickly and then sent to a much smaller 6:15 network in step 5 as the inputs are 6:18 similarly much smaller now they are 6:20 storing the values of any type in the 6:23 table with keys indicating where they 6:25 are stored for super efficient parallel 6:27 modifications and removing the lookup 6:30 time for big arrays during training and 6:32 inference this transformation and a much 6:35 smaller network is why instant nerf is 6:37 so much faster and why it made it into 6:40 this video and voila this is how nvidia 6:44 is now able to generate 3d models like 6:46 these in seconds 6:49 if this wasn't cool enough i said that 6:51 it can store values of any type which 6:54 means that this technique can not only 6:56 be used with nerfs but also with other 6:58 super cool applications like gigapixel 7:01 images that become just as incredibly 7:03 efficient of course this was just an 7:06 overview of this new paper attacking 7:08 this super interesting task in a novel 7:10 way i invite you to read their excellent 7:12 paper for more technical detail about 7:14 the multi-resolution hash grid encoding 7:17 approach and their implementation a link 7:19 to the paper and their code is in the 7:21 description below thank you for watching 7:23 the whole video please take a second to 7:26 let me know what you think of the 7:27 overall quality of the videos and new 7:29 editing i will see you next week with another amazing paper

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THE BEST Photo to 3D AI Model !

While the launch of the IBM i in 1988 seems like a lifetime ago, it is still responsible for powering mission-critical business applications for many organizations today. In fact, according to , 72% of executives say their customer-facing applications are entirely reliant on IBM i processing. It is a testament to its robust architecture, +99.9% uptime, integrated database, among its numerous benefits, that many organizations consider the IBM i platform the best fit for their business operations, especially those running data-heavy applications. Forrester Consulting However, as the demand for continuous innovation and progressive digital transformation initiatives grow, IBM I modernization is a must. But there are often parties within organizations that would move to replace existing IBM i systems without truly understanding its capabilities and potential for maximizing ROI and innovation. What usually follows for businesses that take this route is a downward spiral of regret, like buyers’ remorse. No wonder Gartner warns against replacing existing platforms without a thorough assessment of the alternatives. Moreover, the effect of the pandemic has changed the way businesses approach digital transformation initiatives. IT budgets are now re-evaluated as enterprises can no longer afford large-scale re-engineering projects. Hence, the focus is now on minimizing risks and leveraging existing resources through . IBM i modernization This isn’t to say that modernizing IBM i systems isn’t without hassles. In fact, there are three main challenges plaguing the IBM i world. What are the IBM i Modernization Challenges? Is there a dwindling pool of developer talent? Building increasingly complex and multi-functional modern-day enterprise web applications traditionally require several developers with expertise in a handful of programming languages. JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS are the most common requirements for front-end development. The backend might require Python, Java, PHP, or Ruby. At the same time, companies also need database technology experts (MySQL) and other niche specialists. However, the number of willing IBM i developers continues to decline with each passing year. According to , the worldwide shortage of full-time developers will increase from 1.4 million in 2021 to 4.0 million in 2025. In other words, we’re looking at nearly 20% shortage in 4 years. Therefore, even though hiring more developers was feasible, finding quality developer talent would be difficult. IDC Is there Technical Debt? As you may know, technical debt is the term used to describe challenges that stem from development teams taking actions to speed up the delivery of needed functionality. As technology continues to advance and customer expectations with it, IT teams are under increasing pressure to deliver applications faster. More often than not, teams running on legacy systems take the shortest approach to keep up with the required development pace. Think of it as borrowing money; till you pay your debt, you’ll keep accumulating interests. It's ok to take shortcuts to deliver projects faster until new needs arise, and you’d have to repay that loan by refactoring that project. The problem comes when you need to innovate and integrate your legacy applications. It is time-consuming, expensive, and practically tedious. In a world where speed is the name of the game, we can’t afford all that. What about not having an IBM i modernization strategy in place? The third challenge is not having an innovation or modernization strategy in place. Going back to the IDC research, they also found that 41% of their respondents (companies) have no innovation programs in place. An IBM i modernization strategy serves as the foundation for building a flexible infrastructure capable of adapting to constantly changing market conditions. The right strategy helps you empower your developers with the right tools to maximize their productivity and ultimately boost your ROI. So, being an organization aiming to be digitally innovative, you must have an innovation strategy in place. Today, the role of IT significantly impacts an organization’s bottom line. However, the four challenges discussed above lead to frustrated IT departments. And a frustrated team cannot positively impact your bottom line. But empowered developers can be a match made in heaven, especially in these challenging times. A modernization strategy can be as simple as identifying problem areas in your existing infrastructure and business processes and using the right resources to deliver long-term solutions. In this article, we’ll show you six resources to better empower your developers for success. But before we dive right in, let’s look at how empowered developers in innovative software companies impact the business end. By “innovative software companies,” we mean companies that have transformed in today’s digital world to provide everything in place for developers to go on doing what they love - building solutions that deliver business outcomes. What are the Trends at Innovative Software Companies? Do they have a well-developed Software Sourcing Strategy? One of the trends we’ve seen with innovative software companies, or high innovators, is the presence of a well-developed software sourcing strategy. This involves taking a holistic view of your infrastructure and developing a long-term growth strategy. However, It doesn’t involve siloed solutions: i.e., using a vendor’s solution to solve one problem. While they may prove useful in the short term, innovative companies are looking to incorporate modern technologies like AI and ML into new applications that can be integrated with existing IBM i applications to deliver more value to their customers. A software sourcing strategy must be created from a holistic viewpoint and must be able to leverage existing IBM i resources. It is on this pedestal that high innovators are able to deliver integrations and business solutions quickly and securely. Thereby maximizing ROI and dominating markets. At this point, there’s only one question left for you to answer. Which side do you want to be on  - the innovative or the uninventive? To join the innovators, you must develop an that involves a consistent software sourcing approach by enabling your developers with the right tools to continuously improve and ultimately drive business outcomes. IBM i modernization strategy Here are six resources that’ll make you better at IBM i modernization. How can I modernize 5250 Screens? aXes is a modernization solution that allows users to transform IBM i’s 5250 green screen applications into browser-based applications. Today, digital channels are penetrating every aspect of human lives, and end-users expect a high level of digital experience whenever they interact with any digital interface. This puts IBM i applications under increasing pressure. aXes provides an avenue for users to keep up with this high customer expectation with easy-to-use features that allow you to quickly web-enable your IBM i applications. You can even take your modernization to the next level by leveraging aXes’ in-built functionalities to further customize your, now, web UI. But it doesn’t stop there! aXes offers other solutions that’ll inform your IBM i modernization strategy, beyond web-enabling and UI enhancement; this includes: Application mobilization solution for IBM i IBM i spooled files management from a browser DB2 query tool to gain insight from your data Host integration to automate exchanging data What is Visual LANSA? Visual LANSA is another powerful resource that’ll make you better at IBM i modernization. Here’s how. As implied earlier, digital transformation initiatives and constantly changing market conditions mean that businesses must develop and deploy both employee and customer-facing applications faster to remain competitive in any market. Visual LANSA empowers not just your IT department but employees (citizen developers) to develop bespoke business solutions. Therefore, freeing up IT to focus on more demanding business operations. Visual LANSA is a low code integrated development environment that allows users to develop mobile, cloud-native, web, desktop, or on-premise applications ten times faster than traditional app development. This tool runs a unique single language system that allows you to leverage existing IBM i skills and resources to develop client-side code, server-side code, and everything in between. Additionally, this tool reduces support effort and ensures security using its integrated meta-data repository and business rules engine. What is the Rapid Application Modernization Process? RAMP (Rapid Application Modernization Process) is an IBM i modernization resource that combines the best of both worlds. This tool allows users to create new applications and also modernize existing applications. By consolidating existing functionality with new capabilities inside RAMP’s application framework, you get an avenue to tactical enhancements and a smooth path to long-term IBM i modernization. Here, modernization is performed in stages, you can introduce new functionality incrementally without serious impact to business operations, and the user interface becomes consistent across all applications. This solution is an application framework deployable as a Windows desktop or web browser application. The framework allows you to assemble applications from components built with RPG, Visual LANSA, Visual C#, .NET, HTML pages, and many more into a single application. You can even add in your aXes applications. This flexibility makes RAMP the perfect tool for combining applications created for short-term needs with applications created or being created for long-term goals. RAMP allows users to sign into a single application and access all the apps they need to work remotely successfully. But this is not just a solution for our current situation. Combining commonly used applications into one framework is a great way to increase employee efficiency and productivity. What are Integrator and Composer? Both tools are built to satisfy the integration needs in IBM i systems. You can leverage both to access IBM i data and ultimately facilitate integrations with modern technologies. Integrator is a strategic middleware that simplifies data exchange between applications and businesses. It comprises services for data transformation, communications, email, messaging, and web services, complemented by interface tools and utilities. It supports multiple data formats, including XML, EDI, text, video, SMS, email, Microsoft Excel workbooks, PDF files, and relational databases. Developers can use these services in their integration applications to transform data from one format to another. It supports multiple data transport methods, including HTTP, FTP, SFTP, web services, and message queue software. Any application can call Integrator’s services using simple APIs. In the same vein, Composer is a design and execution platform for integrating business activities involving transport, data transformation, and custom business processing. It offers a practical and affordable Business Process Integration solution to help organizations streamline procedures, reduce human effort and minimize errors. LANSA Composer's visual environment allows system designers and business analysts, rather than developers, to automate and integrate business processes rapidly. It offers a cost-effective and straightforward way to get a wide variety of business transactions in and out of your ERP system with less human effort. What is Open for .NET? The last resource on our list is the Open for .NET. To access IBM i data from the graphical user interface of .NET applications, you need an IBM i middleware. Open for .NET is powerful middleware built as a Visual Studio plugin that allows Windows developers to access IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) resources (including data and programs) directly from their .NET applications. Therefore, enabling easy integration between IBM i and .NET. This tool enables IT departments to open up their IBM i data and applications to internal and external .NET applications without risking security or data integrity. This is because Open for .NET uses Business Rules Engines to enforce validation logic and ensure that unacceptable data never hits the database. Are you ready to begin your IBM i modernization journey? A big part of IBM i modernization is long-term planning and investment in people. By empowering your developers with these tools, not only do you set them up for success, you also improve your bottom line. Remember, developers are in short supply, so leveraging your existing skills can become a great competitive edge in the long run. What’s great about these tools is that they can fit together. For example, but and combine them into one framework, using RAMP. Integrator, Composer, and Open for .NET covers all possible integration or access to IBM i data needs. you can create new applications using Visual LANSA modernize your existing applications using aXes

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Hey Hackers, I'm excited to announce that HackerNoon has signed on as a media partner for this year's Non-Fungible Conference which is an in-person event in Portugal! HackerNoon will have staff onsite to interview some awesome companies in the Web3 space and report on what is shaking up to be an incredible event. What is the Non-Fungible Conference? Premiering on the European scene, (NFC) is set to take place in April 2022 in the bustling city of Lisbon, Portugal and promises to kick off with a bang! Non-Fungible Conference Here is the plot: A jam-packed 2-day event filled with talks, panels, workshops, parties and momentous experiences that bring together artists, projects, platforms, collectors and investors from the global NFT community. On April 4th & 5th, the conference will take place at the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes - an iconic venue in the heart of the city. The event will host over 100 speakers & 100 artists who will share their knowledge and views to an audience of 1500 attendees ready to learn and get more insight into the NFT Revolution. Gaming, Art, Collectibles, and Metaverse are the main tracks, exploring the core foundations, the current situation, and what the future holds for this juggernaut in the artistic world. The speaker line-up includes the OGs and most famous players in the NFT world with exclusive talks by Sebastien Borget from the Sandbox, Brian o’Hagan from Sorare or YEN from the iconic collection World of Women, to name a few. Mario Klingemann a.k.a. Quasimondo, the legendary Kevin Abosch, the decentralized The Guild, and Magician Nahiko are already planning their stay in sunny Lisbon. A central piece of NFC features the 3 Art Galleries, where visitors will have the chance to meet the artists. Except not less than 100 international artists showcased on screens in 3 areas. “Bring the metaverse into real-life” is NFC's motto, so expect Cosplayers, a Shopping District to mint and collect NFT pieces and join some awesome parties all along this journey. Links to the event : website: https://www.nonfungibleconference.com twitter: https://twitter.com/nfcsummit linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nfcsummit WHERE Lisbon, Portugal at the Pavilhão Carlos Lopes - an iconic venue in the heart of the city. WHAT TO EXPECT More than 100 speakers, 100 international artists and 1500 attendees from the global NFT community are expected for this 1st edition which will focus on 4 main themes: Gaming, Collectibles, Art and Metaverse. More than a conference, NFC is a pure experiential event, with an NFT art gallery, a shopping district and of course, colorful parties and cosplayers joining the fun! #NFCsummit in numbers: 1500+ Attendees 100+ Speakers International artists 4 Content Tracks 5 rooms Curated NFT Art Exhibition NFT Shopping District Cosplayers warmly welcome Parties, Side Events, Cultural Experiences and more SNEAK PEEKS - ACTIVATIONS & EXPERIENCES MINT/COLLECT YOUR NFT TICKET FOR THE @nfcsummit Unique ArtWork made for NFC in collaboration with the OGs artists & , thanks to lead by . @neurocolor @XCOPYART @CultCryptoArt @EclecticMethod From Guernica to Kyiv Because of the Emergency of the Situation, 40 artists decided to follow Picasso’s path and create 	a massive collaboration within 3-weeks. Inspired by Guernica, « From Guernica to Kyiv'' will be displayed during the Non-Fungible Conference on a giant screen wall. This art installation will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 4-5, 2022 and will be created under the supervision  of . Everyone can bid to buy a layer of ArtWork. All proceeds and royalties will go to the UkraineDAO Wallet. The Guild Cosplay Contest Cosplayers, the time to reveal your inner self as your favorite avatar is here! The NFC welcomes you to attend the conference and participate in the Cosplay dress-up competition. Taking place on the main stage on 4 & 5 April, ensure your Cosplay tickets are purchased and stand a chance to win amazing prizes! Nansen Cocktail Bar x Neil Beloufa What about an AI-algorithm-generated bar? The process: Every participant will be airdropped a unique NFT cocktail in their ETH wallet. When they go to the Bar, they can display their QR Code ETH Address (from their mobile). An automated machine next to the bar will scan the QR Code. The Automate is a Giant Pikachu Designed by Neil Beloufa. Neil is a contemporary artist, mostly known for his video installations and monographic exhibitions. He has received several awards in Contemporary Art (Georges Pompidou National Museum of Modern Art and MoMA). After scanning the code, the machine will play an animation and display the Cocktail Artwork. Participants can redeem the NFT at the bar, and the Barman will mix their cocktail. Each cocktail can be “used” only once. One out of the 2000 NFTs will be an open bar NFT. https://www.nansen.ai/ Samot Club Live Paint Before ever grabbing a brush, the Argentinian rebel Samot expressed himself with oil and wrenches. He honors these roots by painting cars everywhere he goes, and we are bringing two exotic sport cars for him to work on during both days of the NFC. You will then spot these masterpieces driving around Lisbon, so make sure you don’t miss out on the process. Sandbox Jungle Party x Party Degenerates The official closing party of the NFC on Tuesday April 5th. This epic event will take place in the tropical jungle of Estufa Fria, the greenhouse in the middle of Park Eduard VII (minutes away from NFC Headquarters). Expect art and music, a proper sandbox, experiences and amazing acts curated by the co-organiser and rebellious artists from Party Degenerates. Guest and the first  confirmed act is massive but we keep it secret. Just a hint for now: Day Zero. https://www.sandbox.game/en/ https://partydegenerates.com/ Music is the answer Already creating bonding and collab between superstar guests: the renowned Dj and Producer Eclectic Method has created a bunch of remixes involving legendary artists invited to the conference such as Quasimondo or Conlan from Async Art, just watch! https://twitter.com/i/status/1496131220849242122 https://twitter.com/EclecticMethod/status/1501943484466413581 We hope to see you there. If you're attending the event, and wanna say hi, look out for someone wearing a . That'll be us ;) HackerNoon shirt

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So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests. Hi! My name is Abbey Perini. I started studying web development in March 2020 and am currently working as a web developer. I love writing about things like web accessibility, CSS animations, and stupid Discord bots. I volunteer with Virtual Coffee, a community for supporting developers of any level. I have so many hobbies and am a certified yoga teacher outside of code. I love dog training and my Shiba Inu - Wesley, provides plenty of training challenges! Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about? - some general tips I learned working in a large, undocumented AngularJS(2010) codebase in my first professional development role. 8 Things I’ve Learned Working in a Legacy Codebase Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about? I write about whatever I find fun or interesting about programming/web development. I usually write a blog or more a month, and they will often be about a silly thing I’m building or a tutorial/guide for beginners. I’m always open to requests. Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?) If only there was a routine… usually I am inspired to write something, and then it’s all down in the editor within 24 hours. Then I come back and edit after a day or so. If not, it’s a blog written alongside a thing I’m building, so they’ll take as long as it takes me to finish that. Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing? Sticking to any sort of schedule - I’ve written two blogs I didn’t anticipate writing instead of part 4 of a series this month. T.T What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career? I just achieved my last career goal by starting a new role in February! Right now I’m working towards speaking more - I just submitted my first CFP! Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice? Kdramas Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it? I am a serial hobbyist. I am a big crafter - knitting, crochet, embroidery, cosplay, party and holiday decorations, etc. I recently started dabbling in ceramics. I love to play video games (currently Horizon Forbidden West), board games and run TTRPG games. There are also plants, bullet journalling, fantasy, sci-fi, and you get the idea… What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next? I don’t know - the editors have quite the backlog to publish. xD Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words? Thanks for having me! Looking forward to getting to know the HackerNoon community.

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Email marketing may sound very outdated. Especially when compared to ads and marketing done on social media platforms and others, but it actually isn’t. Email marketing, put in simplest terms, is the process of sending promotional emails and newsletters to a selected number of readers (however big or small the number may be). In Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific (APAC), email marketing is the most widely used technology for customer engagement. Here, I give you some of the reasons why you should be doing email marketing in 2022: Access to the largest audience Email marketing is the oldest means of communication since the introduction of the internet and has the largest number of users. You can pick up any social media platform and note that the number of Email users exceeds the platform’s user database. This gives you the largest audience possible in the world. According to the number of email users worldwide is forecast at 4.2 billion in 2022. This figure is set to grow to 4.6 billion in 2025, making up more than half of the expected world population. Statista Availability of management tools The key is to be relevant to the readers. You have tools to manage your audience, which can be a mix of people with different interests and you can cater to the different types by keeping different mailing lists for each type and providing them with the content that is most relevant to them. The preciseness of marketing is much higher in Email marketing than on any other social media platform. Personalization increases the scope of engagement of an email. As researched by__ __ in 2019, the average email open rate is 20.81%. Although, emails with personalized subject lines generate 50% higher open rates. Yes Lifecycle Marketing Low investments The cost of marketing is something that cannot be avoided if you are planning on building your own brand or promoting an existing one. The only other free substitute that you have is social media and they also have algorithms to push paid content to more users. So, your post ends up reaching only a small percentage of the users of the platform. Email marketing will provide you with tools that will charge you very less, if not nothing, to let you manage your different mailing lists and keep a track of everything. Most of them are free or at least have a trial version that allows you to go about your business easily. To give you an idea, according to__ __, for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return of $42. DMA, 2019 Better engagement ratio Marketing your business using email is based on the consent of your audience. Unlike pushing your content to an audience, without having any idea of their interests, email marketing gives the power in the hands of the audience, allowing them to choose the content they want to receive. This highly affects the engagement ratio of your content and you just receive a better reaction from your audience, most likely because they have chosen to receive emails from you rather than your content being an uninvited guest on their social media feeds homepage. The__ __of it all is that emails are 40% better at converting (in comparison to Facebook and Twitter) and 49% of consumers would like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands directly in their inbox. This also builds brand loyalty. result Direct access to your audience Direct access to your audience is something that you just do not get elsewhere. The very model of Email marketing allows your content to reach your audience more effectively by delivering it directly to an individual’s inbox as compared to the model of the social media platforms that is basically a digital version of putting your post out there for passersby to see as they are strolling. For perspective, if you have email subscribers, Facebook fans, and followers on Twitter which are each 2000 in number, based on the : 435 people will open your email, 120 Facebook fans will see your message and 40 Twitter followers will see your message. statistics Ease of scalability The scalability of Email marketing campaigns is a breeze. You can cater to a huge audience without compromising on quality or putting a strain on your resources. The size of the audience hardly makes a difference here. It wouldn’t really change the way you manage things if you have 1000 subscribers as compared to 200. The tools available for the management of different mailing lists make it very easy to have everything in one place. The scope of growth dramatically increases when you have the tools available for your growth. Reliability of the medium It is safe to say that the use of Emails is not going away anytime soon; which cannot be called true for other means of marketing like social media platforms where the trends change, causing well-established and popular platforms to shut down and be forgotten over time. Platforms like Orkut and Hi5 were most popular in older times and yet today’s generation would not even have heard of it. The shutting down of these platforms will lead to loss of leads, however, you own your email list which can never be taken away. You are the owner of all that data. The scope of use of this data cannot be undermined. It can be used in the planning of the success of future campaigns too. Better returns Quality of audience is something that is very important to a business. It is better to have an audience of 20 out of which 18 would engage with your content or find it useful rather than having an audience of 100 who wouldn’t find your content relevant to them at all. Emails are used as the standard means of communication by employers, companies, and banks and are one of the very few apps or tools that are used by people even during their work hours. This gives your content the highest accessibility rate to your audience as compared to any other means of marketing. Interactivity within emails There was a time when an email used to be a blank page with black words typed in them. It has evolved over time, such that today’s emails not only have pictures, videos, and gifs embedded in them but also allow the users to interact with them directly. These are highly engaging as users can interact with different elements like forms, shopping carts, or calendars within their emails. The ability to have your audience answer a simple question or to have them take a survey all without having to leave their inbox dramatically increases engagement and email conversions. interactive emails These are only a few of the very important arguments in favor of email marketing over other means of marketing. The use of emails is huge, even in the B2B world, and is used as the main means of communication for most businesses if not all. Creating a strong email marketing strategy will help you reach and connect with your target audience in a more personalized way and increase sales at an affordable cost. Just as other platforms and media have changed, email marketing tools give your business the ability to reach customers easier than ever.

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In this article, we will develop an Arduino Starship game which will be displayed on LCD display 16x2. The game will be controlled by a joystick and by a computer through the Serial Monitor. In addition, we will store a high score in EEPROM and update them when the record is broken. The project code is published on my GitHub . In the article, we will deal with each element separately and how it will all work together. ‘Arduino_Starship_Game’ project page The project is interesting and opens up opportunities to learn new: How does an LCD display work How to make and display a custom character on the LCD display How to read data from the Serial Monitor How does a joystick work How to read and write data to EEPROM (non-volatile memory) In the game, the player controls the starship. In front of the flying starship will be some enemies. As there will be a collision of the starship with one of the enemies, the game will be over. Starship has a bullet to fire but with a limit. The limit for the bullet is only one bullet at a time. It means, that while we can see the bullet on the screen, no more bullets can be fired, we should wait until it collides with one of the enemies or disappears from the screen. Video of the gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW6j_PRgFx4 First, we will go through each element individually. Then we will figure out how all this will interact to make the game run. If you know how an element works, you can skip to the next section. LCD display Let's start with the LCD display. In the project, I have been using the popular LCD Display 16x2 which can be found almost in every Arduino kit. In my case the display comes with an I2C LCD Adapter and the connection will be GND-GND, VCC-5V, SDA-A4, and SCL-A5. Code As always, first of all, we need to include libraries: #include <Wire.h> 
#include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h>
LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x3F, 16, 2); In the LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x3F, 16, 2) function we define the address of our I2C LCD Adapter. And Yes, it means, we can connect many I2C elements to Arduino. The address by default is 0x3F or 0x27. The next two elements are the size of our display. Here is how we initiate and display text: void setup()
{
  lcd.begin();
  lcd.backlight();
  lcd.clear();
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  lcd.print("Hello World!");
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print("Chingiz");  
} lcd.begin() - initiates the lcd.
lcd.backlight() - turns on LCD backlight.
lcd.clear() -  clears the display
lcd.setCursor(0,0) - sets cursor to the written position. Please note that the first digit is X axis and the second digit is Y axis.
lcd.print("Hello World!") - prints the written text to the LCD. Custom characters Each display digit consists of 5x8 pixels. To create a custom character as a spaceship, we need to define and initiate it: byte c1[8]={B00000,B01010,B00000,B00000,B10001,B01110,B00000,B00000}; //Smile-1
byte c2[8]={B10000,B10100,B01110,B10101,B01110,B10100,B10000,B00000}; //Starship-2

//In setup:
lcd.createChar(0 , c1);   //Creating custom characters in CG-RAM
lcd.createChar(1 , c2);   //Creating custom characters in CG-RAM As you can see the custom character creation is done by using a byte with a length of five which stands for one line and we have eight of them to have one custom digit. I found a that will be helpful with LCD custom character creation. Here you can draw your custom character and the code will be automatically generated for it: site And here is how we display our custom character(s): lcd.print(char(0));
lcd.print(char(1)); Joystick The joystick has a button, X and Y-axis. The button works as usual. The X and Y axis can be thought of as a potentiometer, which provides data between 0 and 1023. A default value is half of that. We will use only the X-axis to control the starship. I have connected the SW to pin 2 and X-axis to A1. Here is the initiation of the joystick: // Arduino pin numbers
const int SW_pin = 2; // digital pin connected to switch output
const int X_pin = 1; // analog pin connected to X output

//In setup:
  //joystick initiation 
  pinMode(SW_pin, INPUT);
  digitalWrite(SW_pin, HIGH); //default value is 1 Reading the Joystick data and detecting commands: //In loop:
  //Joystick input to commands:
  if(digitalRead(SW_pin)==LOW){
    //Fire bullet detected
  }
  if(analogRead(X_pin)>612){
    //Go up command detected
  }
  if(analogRead(X_pin)<412){
    //Go down command detected
  } Game development Initiation Let’s include all libraries and initiate all required variables for the game: I tried to name each variable so that it was clear what it is for. Three custom characters: starship, enemy, and bullet. Lcd array 2x16, which has been used to easily debug the game. game_score and game_start are used to get the score of the game. and we have some variables related to the bullet and enemies. #include <Wire.h> 
#include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h>
LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x3F, 16, 2);
#include <EEPROM.h>
byte c1[8]={B10000,B10100,B01110,B10101,B01110,B10100,B10000,B00000}; //Starship
byte c2[8]={B00100,B01000,B01010,B10100,B01010,B01000,B00100,B00000}; //Enemy
byte c3[8]={B00000,B00000,B00000,B00110,B00110,B00000,B00000,B00000}; //Bullet

String lcd_array[2][16] = 
  {{"}"," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "},
   {" "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "," "}}; 

/*
} - Starship
> - Bullet
< - Enemy
*/

const unsigned int MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH = 12;
int starship_possiton = 0;
bool game_is_in_progress = false;
unsigned long game_score = 0;
unsigned long game_start = 0;
bool bullet_is_in_progress = false;
int bullet_possiton[2];
unsigned long bullet_last_move = 0;
unsigned long bullet_speed = 100;
bool enemies_array[5] = {false,false,false,false,false};//{false,true,true,true,true};//
long randNumber;
int enemies_possiton[5][2] = {{-1,-1},{-1,-1},{-1,-1},{-1,-1},{-1,-1}};
unsigned long enemies_last_move[5] = {0,0,0,0,0};
unsigned long enemies_overall_last_move = 0;
unsigned long enemies_speed = 200;

char message[MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH] = ""; //w - UP, s - Down, f - Fire

/*
Commands:
Up
Down
Fire
*/

// Arduino pin numbers
const int SW_pin = 2; // digital pin connected to switch output
const int X_pin = 1; // analog pin connected to X output Setup In the setup, we will initiate the Serial monitor, LCD, Joystick and set a starter game screen. Here we have used some of earlier initiated variables. void setup(){
  Serial.begin(9600);
  lcd.begin();
  //Creating custom characters in CG-RAM
  lcd.createChar(1 , c1);
  lcd.createChar(2 , c2);
  lcd.createChar(3 , c3);
  //initiate random
  randomSeed(analogRead(0));
  //joystick initiation 
  pinMode(SW_pin, INPUT);
  digitalWrite(SW_pin, HIGH); //default value is 1
  //Starter screen of the game
  lcd.backlight();
  lcd.clear();
  lcd.setCursor(0,0);
  lcd.print(" Starship game");
  lcd.setCursor(0,1);
  lcd.print(char(1));
  lcd.print(" Press any key to start");
} Loop In the loop we will listen to the serial monitor to get a command to go up (w), down (s), or fire (f): while (Serial.available() > 0){
  static unsigned int message_pos = 0;
  //Read the next available byte in the serial receive buffer
  char inByte = Serial.read();
  //Message coming in (check not terminating character) and guard for over message size
  if ( inByte != '\n' && (message_pos < MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH - 1) ){
    //Add the incoming byte to our message
    message[message_pos] = inByte;
    message_pos++;
  }else{//Full message received...
    //Add null character to string
    message[message_pos] = '\0';
    //Print the message (or do other things)
    Serial.print("[[");
    Serial.print(message);
    Serial.println("]]");
    print_array_to_serial();
    //Reset for the next message
    message_pos = 0;
  }
} As one of the keys will be pressed the game will be started: //Start game
if (game_is_in_progress==false && (message[0] == 'w' || message[0] == 's' || message[0] == 'f')){
  game_is_in_progress = true;
  game_start = millis();
} We need to update the position of the starship as we get the Up or Down command. As we get fire command, we need to make sure if the bullet is not already in progress and after that, it will be initiated with X position 1 and Y position as the current starship position. //Processing input
    if(message[0] == 'w'){ // Up command
      starship_possiton = 0;
    }else if(message[0] == 's'){ // Down command
      starship_possiton = 1;
    }else if(message[0] == 'f' && bullet_is_in_progress == false){ //Fire command
      bullet_possiton[0] = starship_possiton;
      bullet_possiton[1] = 1;
      bullet_is_in_progress = true;
      bullet_last_move = millis();
    } Moving the bullet We will check if the add-up of bullet_last_move and bullet_speed is equal to or less than millis(). Because of that, if you want to make the bullet faster the bullet_speed variable needs to be decreased. We will move the bullet till the end of the screen and as its position will go over the screen size, the bullet will be reset. if(bullet_is_in_progress && bullet_last_move+bullet_speed <= millis()){
      if(bullet_possiton[1] != 15){
        Serial.println("moving bullet");
        bullet_last_move = millis();
        bullet_possiton[1] = bullet_possiton[1]+1;
      }else if(bullet_possiton[1] == 15){
        bullet_possiton[1] = -1;
        bullet_is_in_progress = false;
      }
    } Enemies initiation We will have a maximum of 5 enemies at a time. As earlier, we need to check if we have an inactive enemy to activate it. Also, to have a bit of space between enemies, we will wait for triple of enemies speed from enemies overall last move. We will generate a random value from 0 to 6. If the value is zero or one, the enemy will be initiated with the corresponding Y position and the last cell (15) in the X position. //Enemies initiation
    if((enemies_array[0]==false || enemies_array[1]==false || 
       enemies_array[2]==false || enemies_array[3]==false || enemies_array[4]==false) &&
       enemies_overall_last_move+enemies_speed*3 <= millis() ){
      // print a random number from 0 to 6
      randNumber = random(0, 6);
//      Serial.print("randNumber: "); Serial.println(randNumber);
      if(randNumber==0 || randNumber==1){
//        Serial.print("Enemies initiation: "); Serial.println(randNumber);
        for(int i=0; i<5; i++){
          if(enemies_array[i]==false){
            lcd_array[randNumber][15]="<";
            enemies_array[i]=true;
            enemies_possiton[i][0] = randNumber;
            enemies_possiton[i][1] = 15;
            enemies_last_move[i] = millis();
            enemies_overall_last_move = millis(); 
            break;
          }
        }
      }
    } Moving enemies is pretty similar to moving the bullet but in the reverse direction: //moving enemies
    for(int i=0; i<5; i++){
      if(enemies_array[i]==true && enemies_last_move[i]+enemies_speed <= millis()){
        enemies_possiton[i][1] = enemies_possiton[i][1] - 1;
        enemies_last_move[i] = millis();
      }
      //if enemy passed through starship
      if(enemies_possiton[i][1]==-1){
        enemies_array[i]=false;
      }
    } Update lcd_array and check crushes. We will insert our game elements to the lcd_array. By default, all cells will be blank. Then, we will draw the starship, bullet, and enemies. In the array the elements have the following symbols: } - starship bullet < - enemy for(int i=0;i<2;i++){
      for(int j=0;j<16;j++)
        if(game_is_in_progress){
          lcd_array[i][j] = " ";//by default all cells are blank
          //drawing starship
          if(starship_possiton==i && j==0){
            lcd_array[i][j] = "}";
          }
          //drawing bullet
          if(bullet_is_in_progress == true && bullet_possiton[0] == i && 
          bullet_possiton[1] == j){
            lcd_array[i][j] = ">";
          }
          //drawing enemies
          for(int k=0; k<5; k++){
            if(enemies_array[k]==true && enemies_possiton[k][0] == i 
            && enemies_possiton[k][1] == j){
              lcd_array[i][j]="<";
            }
          }
        }
      }
    } Next one, we will check for crushes: bullet enemy crush starship enemy crush for(int k=0; k<5; k++){
            if(bullet_is_in_progress == true && bullet_possiton[0] == i && 
            bullet_possiton[1] == j &&
            ((enemies_array[k]==true && enemies_possiton[k][0] == i 
            && enemies_possiton[k][1] == j) || 
            (enemies_array[k]==true && enemies_possiton[k][0] == i 
            && enemies_possiton[k][1] == j-1) )
            ){
              Serial.println("bullet enemy crush");
              enemies_array[k] = false;
              enemies_possiton[k][0] = -1; 
              enemies_possiton[k][1] = -1;
              bullet_is_in_progress = false;
              bullet_possiton[0] = -1;
              bullet_possiton[1] = -1;
              lcd_array[i][j]=" ";
            } 
          }
          
          //starship enemy crush
          if(j==0 && starship_possiton==i){
            for(int k=0; k<5; k++){
              if(enemies_array[k]==true && enemies_possiton[k][0] == i 
              && enemies_possiton[k][1] == j){
                Serial.println("starship enemy crush");
                //Game Over. Your score. High Score
                game_score = millis() - game_start;
                
                //need to reset all game values
                starship_possiton = 0;
                game_is_in_progress = false;
                bullet_is_in_progress = false;
                for(int z=0; z<5; z++){
                  enemies_array[z] = false;
                  enemies_possiton[z][0] = -1;
                  enemies_possiton[z][1] = -1;
                }   
                enemies_speed = 200;
                message[MAX_MESSAGE_LENGTH] = ""; //w - UP, s - Down, f - Fire
                break;
              } 
            }
          } In the bullet enemy crush, if we check only if the bullet and enemy are in the same position, we can face an issue when the enemy and bullet change their position at the same time. This will look like the enemy passed through the bullet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5Qm3N1_h5o This will be not every time but quite often. To prevent it, we also need to check if the enemy is located behind the bullet. It does not interfere with the game in any way and perfectly solves our problem. After the starship and the enemy crush, we will get the game score by subtracting the game start millis from the current millis. Also, game variables will be reset. After the lcd array update, we will print the array to the LCD. The enemy, bullet, and enemy symbols will be replaced by our custom characters: //Printing game to lcd
    for(int i=0;i<2;i++){
      lcd.setCursor(0,i);
      for(int j=0;j<16;j++){
        if(lcd_array[i][j] == "}"){
          lcd.print(char(1));
        }else if(lcd_array[i][j] == "<"){
          lcd.print(char(2));
        }else if(lcd_array[i][j] == ">"){
          lcd.print(char(3));
        }else{
          lcd.print(lcd_array[i][j]);
        }   
      }
    } After the crush of the enemy and starship, we will display the high score (record) and the score of the game. If the game score is more than a high score, it will be updated. Next time the new high score will be displayed, even after the Arduino power off: if(game_score!=0){
      EEPROM.get(0, game_start);
      Serial.print("High score: ");
      Serial.println(game_start);
      Serial.print("Score: ");
      Serial.println(game_score);
     
      //Game over screen
      lcd.clear();
      lcd.setCursor(0,0);
      lcd.print("Record: ");
      lcd.print(game_start);
      
      lcd.setCursor(0,1);
      lcd.print("Score:  ");
      lcd.print(game_score);
      if(game_score > game_start){
         EEPROM.put(0, game_score);
      }
      game_score = 0;//reset game score for next game
    } At the end of the loop we will have a short delay and reset command: delay(50);
  message[0] = ' '; //reset command The printing of the lcd_array to the serial monitor has been separated to function and can be displayed by request or constantly: void print_array_to_serial(){
  //Printing game to Serial Monitor:
  Serial.println("lcd_array:");
  for(int i=0;i<2;i++){
    for(int j=0;j<16;j++){
      Serial.print(lcd_array[i][j]);
    }
    Serial.println("");
  }
} And the game control by the joystick is added in this easy way: if(digitalRead(SW_pin)==LOW){
    message[0] = 'f';
  }
  if(analogRead(X_pin)>612){
    message[0] = 'w';
  }
  if(analogRead(X_pin)<412){
    message[0] = 's';
  } Conclusion This game will help you practice creating a game at a basic level and you will further turn on your imagination to create more complex games. For fans of Arduino and game development, this is a good base to polish your skills. The best thing after such a lot of work is to play the game that was developed by you. Hope the project was interesting for you. Through this project, we have learned about and used in practice the LCD display and the joystick. Here are some enhancement ideas for the project, which can be implemented by you: Lives Game difficulty levels A complication of the game as the player progresses Make a Boss enemy which will have the ability to send enemies and fire bullets. Ability to enter name or nick if the high score has been broken. Which will also be entered into the EEPROM.

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How to Build an Arduino Starship Game Controlled by Joystick and Computer

Let’s discuss the easiest way of setting up the Redis Docker server using the Docker container. If you are planning to install the service, this gives me an indication that you are already aware of it and what are the use cases of it. Redis I am not sure about you guys, but I am a really big fan of Docker. It makes things faster and easier. We are going to install the Redis server image using the docker container. It’s much simpler and easier than installing it in Windows or Linux. We need a few Prerequisites to setup the Redis Docker Image Registered Account with Docker Hub. Docker Engine running on any of the OS(Linux, Windows, Mac). Credentials already configured with Docker Engine to download the image from the Docker hub. Install Docker Container as One-time Activity The following link will help you to set up the docker in your machine. https://docs.docker.com/engine/install Connect to Host Machine I have a docker container up and running in my CentOs 7 virtual machine. So, let’s start by accessing the VM using the ssh client. Once connected to the Linux machine. I have already installed the docker engine on my machine. Search Redis Docker Image in Docker Hub If you are not sure about the Redis server image, not a problem. Just open the Docker hub and search for the image which you want to install. https://hub.docker.com/ You should also see a similar search result. Just click on the first result is. It will redirect you to the detailed page of Redis As you can see on the detailed page. the command is already listed which can be used to install the Redis server. Pull Redis Docker Image By Issuing the Command docker run --name myredis -d redis Once you are done with the installation. Issue docker ps command to see the running instance of Redis. docker ps -a As we can see our Redis container image is up and running. so, lets try to connect to the Redis server our Redis-CLI tool. Redis-Cli tool in Docker As we have seen earlier installation guides, Redis-CLI can be run directly to the machine where the Redis server is running. But, in this case, it’s a bit different. sudo docker exec -it myredis redis-cli ping if the executed command is successful then you would see the response message “PONG” from the Redis server. That’s it! You are done with the installation of the Redis server on the docker container. You can start consuming the Redis server using varieties of languages like C#, Python, and Node Js. Also published here: https://beetechnical.com/tech-tutorial/how-to-install-redis-using-docker/

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3 Simple Steps to Run Redis Docker in CentOS or Linux Machine

Today, we have some talking robots as chatbots, virtual assistants, and more in our homes, car systems, portable devices, home automation solutions, etc. These devices precisely listen to what we say and how we say and retrieve results or execute specific tasks. And if you’ve been using an assistant like , you would also realize that they are becoming quirkier by the day. Their responses are witty, they talk back, they snub, give back compliments and behave more human-like than some of the colleagues you may know. We’re not joking. , 27% of the users who interacted with their recent customer service associate did not know if they were talking to a human or a chatbot. Siri or Alexa According to PwC Developing such intricate conversational systems and devices is highly complex and daunting. It’s a different ball game altogether with distinct development approaches. That’s why we thought we should break it down for you for easier understanding. So, if you’re looking to develop a conversational AI engine or a virtual assistant, this guide will help you get clarity. Significance Of Conversational AI As technology becomes a more integral aspect of our lives in the form of newer devices and systems, there arises a need to push barriers, break conventions and come up with new ways to interact with them. From simply using connected peripherals like mouse and keyboard, we switched to mouse pads that offered more convenience. We then migrated to touchscreens that offered further convenience in feeding inputs and executing tasks. With devices becoming extensions of ourselves, we are now unlocking a new medium of commanding through voice. We don’t even need to be near a device to operate it. All we have to do is use our voice to unlock it and command our inputs. From a nearby room, when driving, while using another device simultaneously, conversational AI performs our intended tasks seamlessly. So where do we begin – it all starts with high-quality speech data to train ML models. The Basics Of Collecting Speech Training Data . There are tons of intricacies involved in human commands and diverse measures have to be implemented to ensure every aspect is accommodated for impactful results. Let’s look at what some of the fundamentals of speech data are. Collecting and annotating AI training data for conversational AI is very different Natural Language Understanding (NLU) For chatbots and virtual assistants to understand and respond to what we text or command, a process called is implemented. It stands for and involves three tech concepts to interpret and process diverse input types. NLU Natural Language Understanding Intent It all starts with intent. What is a particular user trying to convey, communicate or achieve through a command? Is the user looking for information? Are they waiting for updates for an action? Are they commanding an instruction for the system to execute? How are they commanding it? Is it through a question or a request? All these aspects help machines understand and classify intents and purposes to come up with airtight responses respectively. Utterance Collection There’s a difference between the command,” Where’s the nearest ATM?” and the command,” Find me a nearby ATM.” Now humans would acknowledge that both mean the same thing but machines have to be explained with this difference. They are the same in terms of intent but how the intent has been shaped is completely different. Utterance collection is all about defining and mapping different utterances and phrases towards specific goals for the precise execution of tasks and responses. Technically, data annotation specialists work on speech data or text data to help machines differentiate this. Entity Extraction Every sentence has specific words or phrases that carry weightage emphasized and it is this emphasis that leads to an interpretation of context and purpose. Machines, like the rigid systems they are, need to be spoon-fed such entities. For example,” Where can I find strings from my guitar near 6th Avenue?” If you refine the sentence, find is entity one, strings are two, the guitar is three and the 6th avenue is 4. These entities are clubbed together by machines to retrieve appropriate results and for this to happen, experts work at the backend. Designing Dialogues For Conversational AI The goal of AI has predominantly been replicating human behavior through gestures, actions, and responses. The conscious human mind has the innate ability to understand context, intent, tone, emotions, and other factors and respond accordingly. But how can machines differentiate these aspects? Designing dialogues for is very complex and more importantly, quite impossible to roll out a universal model. Each individual has a different way of thinking, talking, and responding. Even in responses, we all articulate our thoughts uniquely. So, machines have to listen and respond accordingly. conversational AI However, this is not smooth as well. . A particular word can be understood by machines in a myriad of ways when dictated by an Indian, a British, an American, and a Mexican. There are tons of language barriers that come into play and the most practical way to come up with a response system is through visual programming that is flowchart-based. When humans talk, factors like accents, pronunciation, ethnicity, language, and more come in and it is not easy for machines to misunderstand and misinterpret words and respond back Through dedicated blocks for . This is more like an algorithm machine can use to come up with the right responses. When an input is fed, the information flows through corresponding factors, leading to the right response for machines to deliver. gestures, responses, and triggers, authors and experts can help machines develop a character Dial D For Diversity Like we mentioned, human interactions are very unique. People around the world come from different walks of life, backgrounds, nationalities, demographics, ethnicities, accents, diction, pronunciation, and more. For a conversational bot or a system to be universally operable, it has to be trained with as diverse training data as possible. If, for instance, a model has been trained only with the speech data of one particular language or ethnicity, a new accent would confuse the system and compel it to deliver wrong results. This is not just embarrassing for business owners but insulting for users as well. That’s why the development phase should involve AI training data from a rich pool of diverse datasets composed of people from all possible backgrounds. The more accents and ethnicities your system understands, the more universal it would be. Besides, what would annoy users more is not incorrect retrieval of information but failure to understand their inputs in the first place. Eliminating bias should be a key priority and one way companies could do this is by opting for crowdsourced data. When you crowdsource your speech data or text data, you allow people from around the world to contribute to your requirements, making your data pool only wholesome (Read our to understand the benefits and the pitfalls of outsourcing data to crowdsource workers). Now, your model will understand different accents and pronunciations and respond accordingly. blog The Way Forward Developing conversational AI is as difficult as raising an infant. The only difference is that the infant would eventually grow to understand things and get better at communicating autonomously. It’s the machines that need to be consistently pushed. There are several challenges in this space currently and we should acknowledge the fact that we have some of the most revolutionary conversational AI systems stemming out despite these challenges. Let’s wait and see what the future holds for our friendly neighborhood chatbots and virtual assistants. Meanwhile, if you intend to get conversational AI like Google Home developed for your business, . reach out to us for your AI training data and annotation needs Previously published here.

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An Essential Guide to Data Collection for Conversational AI

Witek Radomski is Co-Founder & CTO of Enjin, an NFT industry pioneer, where he oversees the company’s technical engineering, product vision, and development. Witek wrote the code for one of the first-ever NFTs in 2017 and is the author of ERC-1155, an advanced Ethereum token standard that enables developers to deploy both fungible and non-fungible items in a single smart contract. In this AMA, we asked Witek about: The Metaverse How NFTs can benefit businesses Blockchain Gaming NFT utility This Slogging thread by Abeer, Witek Radomski, Drone Warfare, Jack Boreham, Sara Pinto, Igor Sokolov and Pamela Liang occurred in slogging's official #amas channel, and has been edited for readability. Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 4:02 PM Hey all 🙂 Great to be here to discuss Enjin, Efinity and NFTs. 💚 1 Abeer Mar 21, 2022, 4:03 PM Hey Witek Radomski! It’s great to have you here! Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself, your background and how you’ve come to co-found Enjin? Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 4:07 PM I'm the co-founder and CTO of Enjin since 2008, (our team has actually been working together in the web/gaming space even longer than that, around 18 years now). I've been playing (and modding) video games since I was a kid, and started Enjin as a social/web platform that allowed gamers to build social networks for their guilds & servers. We started offering tools like in-game integration and payments, and noticed that this really fueled communities to offer perks to their members inside games. Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 4:08 PM We were one of the earliest companies to accept BTC, and eventually realized that we could create a powerful platform for to use blockchain in their games. I started working on one of the first smart contracts for NFTs in early 2017, and that turned into ERC-1155 which is now supported by every major NFT marketplace. game developers 🔥 1 Abeer Mar 21, 2022, 4:15 PM Thanks for the great intro. That’s quite an impressive background. So for our less tech savvy folks, can you explain how Enjin utilizes blockchain and NFTs? Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 4:36 PM Our platform allows you to mint collections of tokens, both NFTs and fungibles (like points, for example) and integrate them into your game or website using our API or SDK tools. Jackidf Your treasury wallet exists on your own server (or mobile device) and you have full custody of all your tokens. Users can link their mobile wallet and your software will be able to see what NFTs that user has. You can also trigger actions like token transfers, burns, or mints, using the Enjin API. Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 4:37 PM The existing platform was designed for Ethereum, but our new blockchain was just launched on Polkadot. This is a next-gen blockchain that will allow for even simpler onboarding of mainstream users. They won't even need to own a wallet to start receiving NFTs, reducing their barrier to entry. Efinity 😮 1 Drone Warfare Mar 21, 2022, 5:43 PM Hi Witek Radomski! I'm not too familiar with NFTs. It just seems like images that people buy for a lot of money. Are there any other uses for NFTs besides owning digital artwork? Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 6:01 PM Hey Jackie, NFTs are significant because they give you un-censorable ownership of a digital asset. While a lot of early NFTs have been artwork or profile pictures, innovative companies are using NFTs for utility - to unlock access to experiences, to give you control over digital land/items in a virtual world, and to allow users to trade and collaborate outside of a walled garden. Think about the digital world we live in now. NFTs can solve a few important problems. Your wallet and the assets it owns are impossible to "dupe" by bots or hostile organizations. It can represent your true digital unique identity, and the NFTs you hold are similar. Here's a simple example: Companies like Microsoft (Azure) are using our stack to give the Open Source developer community recognition badges and certifications for attending events, being mentors, creating code, and this proves and verifies that they are a real member of the Azure community. The entire blockchain can be fed into a global online map that shows off what countries/users own which badges. Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 6:03 PM In the gaming world, this can really be highlighted properly. A player could have an NFT pet that levels up and progresses through the game with them. They can own, craft, or upgrade weapons and items, equip them onto their game character, and later trade items with other players, all within the game world. Witek Radomski Mar 21, 2022, 6:05 PM I hope to see game developers building even more interesting experiences, like cooperative NFT gameplay, AR cross-over experiences where you can collect and use NFTs around the physical world, and new immersive game worlds that harness economy and rarity for things like crafting. Player-made NFTs could also be interesting in games that allow player-created items/skins/hats, in sandbox style games. Drone Warfare Mar 22, 2022, 8:27 PM Wow! Thank you for the in-depth explanation. I really underestimated NFTs! Why aren't more businesses and game studios using NFTs? Because they're still new to the scene? Witek Radomski Mar 22, 2022, 8:42 PM It's because NFTs only entered into general mainstream awareness a year ago, and it takes time to process & build. We have more interest than ever from large (and small) companies, artists, game developers who want to use NFTs in some way. And most of them now - they want to build something that will live on and properly represent their brands and value their users. These aren't just quick ways to monetize but full roadmaps and transformations of entire games, sports leagues, and product suites. It's interesting and refreshing to hear a large organization say that they open interoperability and don't actually want a walled garden. Give it a few more months/quarters/years and we will actually see rollout of blockchain and NFTs in both large and small enterprises, games, etc. actually "get it" need Jack Boreham Mar 22, 2022, 8:45 AM Hi Witek Radomski, great to have you with us. Can you tell us how you believe Enjin fits in the Metaverse? What does the future hold for Enjin as we approach web3? Witek Radomski Mar 22, 2022, 8:09 PM Hey Jack, we want Enjin to help creators around the world become a part of the metaverse. We see the metaverse as a single 3d VR game world but instead many different websites, devices, apps, and games that can harness your digital identity and where you can use your assets. By building on Enjin, your app can recognize any blockchain NFTs and fungible tokens your users have and tap into the growing metaverse network. We want to encourage interoperability and support existing NFTs and formats. Inspire new standards like interoperable NFT token standards on Efinity, and better metadata formats - more than just centralized JPEGs. We need to work on open protocols that allow projects to be interoperable without necessarily needing to know about the details of particular projects. Enjin is working on many front-end and backend aspects of the metaverse (blockchain, wallet, marketplace, dev platform, explorer) which gives us insights into the worlds of both developers and end-users. We see ourselves both as a platform/highway and an ecosystem partner to many companies that will want to become metaverse-enabled. not Sara Pinto Mar 22, 2022, 4:39 PM Hey Witek Radomski, glad to have you here! I'm a newbie to these subjects, so can NFTs improve the Metaverse? How? Witek Radomski Mar 22, 2022, 8:34 PM Hey Sara Pinto - Yes, I think NFTs are essential to the Metaverse working smoothly 🙂 Think about our - everything is constrained by finite limits: Land / real estate, energy, financial resources, unique art, historic artifacts -- and most importantly, everyone's finite time and attention. While the metaverse is connected through digital networks, we must delineate ownership, identity, and scarcity of resources to structure & make sense of the digital world as humans. Otherwise, all you'll have is and which ends up not being very compelling or sticky. We as humans need to see growth, progress, identity - our society and world is built around it. NFTs give you the tools to create digital items that can be owned, modified, extended, and recognized across the metaverse. There are so many interesting use-cases of NFTs and user identity - and it should be more and more apparent these days, as we're all waking up and realizing that there are frightening challenges around information-warfare - online propaganda, disinfo trolling, bots, etc. The online space will only become more chaotic as machine-learning, AI, deepfake tech keeps improving. NFTs and blockchain in general can bring clarity and certainty into an online world of infinite chaos and replication. physical / analog world noise chaos Igor Sokolov Mar 22, 2022, 8:39 PM Hi Witek Radomski. I see that Enjin allows Music NFTs. As an aspiring music producer, how do Music NFTs on Enjin differ from putting my music up on SoundCloud or Spotify? Witek Radomski Mar 22, 2022, 8:54 PM Igor Sokolov this is an early area of experimentation, which we'd like to explore more. I've spoken with a number of musicians that already have large audiences who want to use NFTs to enhance their fan engagement - like selling limited editions of new songs or their unreleased back-catalog/demos which give the holder access to the artist over time. Things like front-row seats at shows, fan zoom calls for NFT holders, etc. As an aspiring music producer though, you're probably interested in growing an audience - and the way to do that these days is through collaboration with other producers & musicians. Remixes of existing songs, featuring others on your productions, etc. I think there's potential in the space to experiment - like granting different rights to song stems to NFT holders beyond just Creative Commons licenses offer. Broadcast/streaming rights. I'd love to explore this further, perhaps we should exchange some emails and brainstorm. 💪 1 Pamela Liang Mar 22, 2022, 11:45 PM Hi Witek Radomski. I'm fuzzy on a lot of this. What exactly is the Metaverse? How do you see it affecting our lives in the future? Witek Radomski Mar 23, 2022, 4:59 PM Hey  - we see the metaverse as an interoperable identity + asset network between many different websites, games, apps, connected devices, social networks, VR worlds. The key idea is for many different universes/worlds will recognize and utilize your blockchain address and the NFTs (and possibly cryptocurrencies) that you own. For example, think about buying some Adidas Originals sneakers, and you'll get the physical copy of them sent to you as well as owning the NFT. You'd be able to " / display those on your virtual user avatar across supported social networks and games. Maybe they'll appear on your profile page in Slack or virtual workplaces. You could gain the ability to jump higher in some games on the Xbox. Perhaps a celebrity working with Adidas will hold a Twitter Spaces event and "virtually sign" the metaverse items of people who attended. Once thousands of apps, marketplaces, and games are part of the network, you'll be able to trade and utilize a large variety of items and assets across the digital world. wear" Abeer Mar 23, 2022, 5:10 PM Witek Radomski Thank you so much for the enlightening answers! It was fantastic having you here. Before we wrap up this AMA, do you have any final thoughts, closing remarks, or anything you’d like to promote to our readers? Witek Radomski Mar 24, 2022, 12:08 AM Thank you Abeer, I really enjoyed being part of this AMA! Closing remarks: We will all see NFTs being used in games, business and creative fields over the next few years. If you're a creator, think about how you could use this technology to empower your audience. Give your users & fans special access, ownership, and artwork they can share & trade. Go beyond simple JPEGs / collectibles and put thought into how your NFTs can become an interactive part of your brand and user experience. See how some of the game developers on our platform are innovating with NFTs and building their section of the metaverse: And please check out what we're releasing with Efinity on the Poladot network: - we think it's going to be a great platform to build your NFT & metaverse network on. Finally, we're going to be releasing Enjin Wallet 2.0 pretty soon, and here's our new teaser video 🙂 https://enjin.io/ecosystem https://efinity.io/ 🔥 1

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Pioneering NFTs with the Co-Founder of Enjin Witek Radomski 

The Fallout series depicts the future as a wasteland marred by nuclear war. In each game, players take control of a survivor exploring this wasteland in hopes of figuring out how to make a better life for themselves - and, optionally, other residents of the world. Much like , Fallout has built a vast world throughout its many titles. For anyone looking to catch up on the franchise’s lore, it would be useful to learn about the Fallout games in Chronological Order. The Elder Scrolls games All Fallout Games in Chronological Order Fallout 76 Fallout Fallout Tactics Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Fallout 2 Fallout 3 Fallout: New Vegas Fallout 4 1. Fallout 76 - Early 2100s Fallout 76 is a first for the franchise in numerous aspects. It’s the first Fallout game to feature multiplayer, and it’s also the first Fallout to occur chronologically. Due to updates and alterations to Fallout 76, the game currently takes place from the year 2102 to 2104. Ironically, 76 is the latest major release for the series. As one might expect, this game is filled with references to the other titles. Characters and locations are given mentions, either through voicework or additional in-game text. These references are minor, pretty much serving only to bring a bit of fanservice to people that played those games. Fallout 76 might be the first game in the series’ timeline, but it’s hardly essential for anyone getting into the franchise’s lore. 2. Fallout - 2161 The true first game in the series, Fallout, is a top-down role-playing game set in the year 2161. With humanity having hidden within sheltered Vaults to avoid the world-shattering nuclear war, new problems begin to arise. In Fallout, the player - living in post-apocalyptic California - is tasked with finding a device to purify their Vault’s water system before their stockpile runs out. Due to its simplistic gameplay, one of the best-known traits of Fallout is its writing. There are many options a player will be forced to take and many actions the player can choose on their own. Some enemies can only be stopped through killing while others can be talked out of their ambitions. The series has changed quite a lot since this first game, but Fallout set the stage for what future games would become. 3. Fallout Tactics - 2197 As the name implies, Fallout Tactics moves away from any other game in the series by focusing on Real-Time Strategy gameplay. There are very few interactions with characters in the game, and the only objectives involve battling armies and leading squads. Even the canonicity of this game is debatable, but for considering that possibility. there is some precedent While not technically a main series game, Tactics gives some great insight into factions within the world of Fallout. In particular, the Brotherhood of Steel is featured heavily; that faction is the one that the player joins, after all. Interestingly enough, this wouldn’t be the last game to feature the Brotherhood in such a large capacity. 4. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel - 2208 Taking place in the year 2208, Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel is the first Fallout game to feature combat closer to what the series is known for today. Instead of creating their own identity within the world, players choose from one of three characters to control as they travel through the wastes and fight against sadistic foes. This happens to be the last Fallout game made before the series was sold to Bethesda Softworks. There are numerous elements in Brotherhood of Steel that reference previous Fallout games. However, Brotherhood of Steel itself is not referenced by new titles in much capacity at all. This makes it another non-essential title for anyone looking to fully immerse themselves in Fallout’s lore…unless a new game is released that builds upon this one. 5. Fallout 2 - 2241 Fallout 2 is a direct sequel to the first Fallout game, taking place in the year 2241 and allowing the player to fill the shoes of the original protagonist’s descendant. The descendant is tasked with finding a special device that can create thriving communities, even in the tainted lands Fallout is known for. This game built off of the first, putting more emphasis on gameplay and giving players a much larger toolset to complete their goals. Fallout 2 is the last mainline title to follow the top-down RPG aesthetic of the first game. The original creators of Fallout, Interplay Entertainment, would go on to create the Tactics and Brotherhood of Steel spinoffs before selling the series to Bethesda. Both of the original mainline titles can still be considered canon, but the new games would move away from the old California setting. 6. Fallout 3 - 2277 As the first-ever First-Person Shooter of the series, Fallout 3 broke new ground for the franchise. It introduces more intricate characters and storylines on top of action-oriented gameplay. Players take control of The Wanderer, a Vault inhabitant on a search for their father. Numerous important plot elements make a return from Fallout and Fallout 2, culminating in an act of sacrifice that changes the wastelands forever. The drastic change in gameplay style made for some changes in how the story is presented, as well. Many characters can be spoken with or killed, exploration is even more vast than ever before, and a greater amount of voicework brings more personality to NPCs. This is when the new era of Fallout began, with nearly every major game taking cues from Fallout 3 as they created new locales and improved gameplay even further. 7. Fallout: New Vegas - 2281 Set in 2281, Fallout: New Vegas is the closest a spinoff has gotten to being considered a full mainline title. In New Vegas, the player - a courier on the verge of death - is thrust into a war between murderous factions trying to take control of the Mojave Desert. The apocalyptic wastelands of Fallout feel more lived-in than ever, with Vaults barely even showing up and numerous story elements of previous titles failing to make a return. New Vegas is somewhat of a standalone game due to its status as a spinoff. Knowledge of the Fallout series might be useful in getting used to this title’s world and story, but it’s also not required for anyone wanting to delve deeper into the franchise’s lore. Characters and locations are referenced in the more recent Fallout entries, however, so New Vegas might be worth a closer look for any story-obsessed fans. 8. Fallout 4 - 2287 The final game in the series’ timeline, Fallout 4, takes place in the year 2287. For the first time, players are able to interact with the world before it gets turned into a nuclear pile of dirt. Afterwards, they’re thrust into an unfamiliar land with the sole task of finding their missing son. This game features hundreds of callbacks to previous entries, and even gives players the chance to relive some familiar scenarios as they travel the wasteland. Fallout 4 continued to make improvements on the series’ gameplay, but many story elements were cut down as a result. It’s hard to say what endings in games post-Fallout 2 are truly canon, but there sadly isn’t much variety in how the player can truly personalize their experience in Fallout 4. If a new mainline entry to the series arrives, hopefully players can truly interact with the world in whatever ways they wish. Final Thoughts Fallout is an RPG, so it makes sense for players wishing to get into the series to play the games in chronological order. But with how much each game changes its mechanics, it might be better for a potential fan to simply start with whichever title best suits their playstyle. With how interconnected yet self-contained the stories can get, starting with a more recent entry can be just as easy for one person as starting with an older one can be for another. Also, check out, 1. 2. 3. The Wolfenstein Games in Chronological Order and Ranked by Sales | HackerNoon All GTA Games in Chronological Order: From Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 to GTA Online | HackerNoon The Ace Attorney Timeline: All Phoenix Wright Games in Chronological Order | HackerNoon

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