Recently discussed on the Godot website, several new features have been added to the Godot 4 GPU accelerated particle systems. New features include:

• support for sub-emitters
• new collision systems
  
  • box and sphere colliders
  • height map colliders for outdoor maps
  • SDF colliders for internal meshes
• new particle attractors

While we are going to have to wait until Godot 4 to get our hands-on the new Godot 4 in a production environment, we can check out the new GPUParticles3D node in action by building from the nightly source. That is exactly what we did in the video below, check it out for a preview and a mini tutorial on using particles in Godot 4.

Daniel

.NET 5 Release Candidate 2 (RC2) is now available and is ready for evaluation. .NET 5 RC2 is a “go live” release, meaning it’s supported in production. This prerelease of .NET 5 is very close to what we expect to ship for the .NET 5 release.

Here’s what’s new in this RC2 release:

• CSS isolation improvements
• Blazor WebAssembly debugging improvements
• Browser platform compatibility tooling

ASP.NET Core in .NET 5 contains lots of great new functionality and improvements! The list below summarizes the many improvements we’ve made in ASP.NET Core for .NET 5 that you can try out in this release:

See the .NET 5 release notes for additional details and known issues.

Get started

To get started with ASP.NET Core in .NET 5 RC2, install the .NET 5 SDK. .NET RC2 also is included with Visual Studio 2019 16.8 Preview 4.

Visual Studio 2019 16.8 Preview 4 or later is required to use .NET 5 RC2 from Visual Studio. .NET 5 RC2 is also supported with the latest preview of Visual Studio for Mac. To use .NET 5 with Visual Studio Code, install the latest version of the C# extension.

Upgrade an existing project

To upgrade an existing ASP.NET Core app from .NET 5 RC1 to .NET 5 RC2:

• Update all Microsoft.AspNetCore.* package references to 5.0.0-rc.2.*.
• Update all Microsoft.Extensions.* package references to 5.0.0-rc.2.*.
• Update System.Net.Http.Json package references to 5.0.0-rc.2.*.
• Update Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Web.Extensions package references to 5.0.0-preview9.20513.1.
• Remove any package references to Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.ProtectedBrowserStorage
• Update Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.ProtectedBrowserStorage namespace to Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Server.ProtectedBrowserStorage.
• Remove unnecessary service registrations for ProtectedLocalStorage and ProtectedSessionStorage.
• Rename JSObjectReference to IJSObjectReference.
• In Blazor apps, replace CSS references to _framework/scoped.styles.css and _content/{project_name}/_framework/scoped.styles.css with {project_name}.styles.css.

That’s it! You should be all ready to go.

See also the full list of breaking changes in ASP.NET Core for .NET 5.

What’s new?

Blazor CSS isolation improvements

In .NET 5 Preview 8 we introduced support for CSS isolation for Blazor components. Based on user feedback, we’ve made a number of improvements to CSS isolation in this release.

Previously, all component scoped CSS files including files from referenced projects or packages were compiled into a single bundle, scoped.styles.css. We now produce one bundle per referenced project or package and include those bundles into the app bundle through CSS @import statements.

The bundle names are now based on the project names: {project_name}.styles.css. Each bundle can be referenced from the root path of the app by default. This makes the path of the app bundle the same for both Blazor Server and Blazor WebAssembly projects:

<link href="BlazorApp1.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" />

Component specific styles can also now use normal wwwroot-relative paths to refer to related assets, like images. We’ve updated Razor Class Library template to make use of component specific styles following this pattern.

Component1.razor.css

.my-component { border: 2px dashed red; padding: 1em; margin: 1em 0; background-image: url('background.png');

}

We also fixed some issues with how scoped CSS styles get built so that changes are correctly picked up with each build in Visual Studio instead of requiring a full rebuild.

Blazor WebAssembly debugging improvements

.NET 5 includes a variety of improvements to Blazor WebAssembly debugging:

• Various reliability improvements, including fixing the port conflict issue from RC1
• Improved support for stepping over and out of async methods
• Inspect locals or object properties in many previously unsupported situations:
  
  • For inherited members
  • For multicast delegates
  • For boxed values
  • For Nullable<T> values
  • Within reflection based calls
• Support for debugging lazy loaded assemblies

Browser platform compatibility tooling

The core framework libraries in .NET 5 have now been annotated to indicate which APIs are supported in browser scenarios. The platform compatibility analyzer uses this data to give appropriate warnings when using APIs from a Blazor WebAssembly app that are not supported when running in a browser on WebAssembly.

Learn more about how you can use the new platform compatibility analyzer to discover cross-platform compatibility issues.

Give feedback

We hope you enjoy this release of ASP.NET Core in .NET 5! We are eager to hear about your experiences with this latest .NET 5 release. Let us know what you think by filing issues on GitHub.

Thanks for trying out ASP.NET Core!

Long-time iPhone Accessory maker Belkin has announced a series of new MagSafe accessories plus a screen protector for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro lineup.

Boos Charge Pro MagSafe 3-in-1 wireless charging dock

MagSafe Car Vent Mount Pro

UltraGlass Screen Protector

Every day we rely on technologies who nobody can fully understand. Since well before the industrial revolution, complex and challenging tasks required an approach that broke out the different parts into smaller scale tasks. Each resulting in specialized knowledge used in some parts of our lives, leaving other parts to trust in skills that others had learned. This shared knowledge approach also applies to software. Even the most avid readers of this magazine, will likely not compile and validate every piece of code they run. This is simply because the world of computers is itself also too big for one person to grasp.

Still, even though it is nearly impossible to understand everything that happens within your PC when you are using it, that does not leave you blind and unprotected. FLOSS software shares trust, giving protection to all users, even if individual users can’t grasp all parts in the system. This multi-part article will discuss how this ‘Web of Trust’ works and how you can get involved.

But first we’ll have to take a step back and discuss the basic concepts, before we can delve into the details and the web. Also, a note before we start, security is not just about viruses and malware. Security also includes your privacy, your economic stability and your technological independence.

One-Way System

By their design, computers can only work and function in the most rudimentary ways of logic: True or false. And or Or. This (boolean logic) is not readily accessible to humans, therefore we must do something special. We write applications in a code that we can (reasonably) comprehend (human readable). Once completed, we turn this human readable code into a code that the computer can comprehend (machine code).

The step of conversion is called compilation and/or building, and it’s a one-way process. Compiled code (machine code) is not really understandable by humans, and it takes special tools to study in detail. You can understand small chunks, but on the whole, an entire application becomes a black box.

This subtle difference shifts power. Power, in this case being the influence of one person over another person. The person who has written the human-readable version of the application and then releases it as compiled code to use by others, knows all about what the code does, while the end user knows a very limited scope. When using (software) in compiled form, it is impossible to know for certain what an application is intended to do, unless the original human readable code can be viewed.

The Nature of Power

Spearheaded by Richard Stallman, this shift of power became a point of concern. This discussion started in the 1980s, for this was the time that computers left the world of academia and research, and entered the world of commerce and consumers. Suddenly, that power became a source of control and exploitation.

One way to combat this imbalance of power, was with the concept of FLOSS software. FLOSS Software is built on 4-Freedoms, which gives you a wide array of other ‘affiliated’ rights and guarantees. In essence, FLOSS software uses copyright-licensing as a form of moral contract, that forces software developers not to leverage the one-way power against their users. The principle way of doing this, is with the the GNU General Public Licenses, which Richard Stallman created and has since been promoting.

One of those guarantees, is that you can see the code that should be running on your device. When you get a device using FLOSS software, then the manufacturer should provide you the code that the device is using, as well as all instructions that you need to compile that code yourself. Then you can replace the code on the device with the version you can compile yourself. Even better, if you compare the version you have with the version on the device, you can see if the device manufacturer tried to cheat you or other customers.

This is where the web of Trust comes back into the picture. The Web of Trust implies that even if the vast majority of people can’t validate the workings of a device, that others can do so on their behalf. Journalists, security analysts and hobbyists, can do the work that others might be unable to do. And if they find something, they have the power to share their findings.

Security by Blind Trust

This is of course, if the application and all components underneath it, are FLOSS. Proprietary software, or even software which is merely Open Source, has compiled versions that nobody can recreate and validate. Thus, you can never truly know if that software is secure. It might have a backdoor, it might sell your personal data, or it might be pushing a closed ecosystem to create a vendor-lock. With closed-source software, your security is as good as the company making the software is trustworthy.

For companies and developers, this actually creates another snare. While you might still care about your users and their security, you’re a liability: If a criminal can get to your official builds or supply-chain, then there is no way for anybody to discover that afterwards. An increasing number of attacks do not target users directly, but instead try to get in, by exploiting the trust the companies/developers have carefully grown.

You should also not underestimate pressure from outside: Governments can ask you to ignore a vulnerability, or they might even demand cooperation. Investment firms or shareholders, may also insist that you create a vendor-lock for future use. The blind trust that you demand of your users, can be used against you.

Security by a Web of Trust

If you are a user, FLOSS software is good because others can warn you when they find suspicious elements. You can use any FLOSS device with minimal economic risk, and there are many FLOSS developers who care for your privacy. Even if the details are beyond you, there are rules in place to facilitate trust.

If you are a tinkerer, FLOSS is good because with a little extra work, you can check the promises of others. You can warn people when something goes wrong, and you can validate the warnings of others. You’re also able to check individual parts in a larger picture. The libraries used by FLOSS applications, are also open for review: It’s “Trust all the way down”.

For companies and developers, FLOSS is also a great reassurance that your trust can’t be easily subverted. If malicious actors wish to attack your users, then any irregularity can quickly be spotted. Last but not least, since you also stand to defend your customers economic well-being and privacy, you can use that as an important selling point to customers who care about their own security.

Fedora’s case

Fedora embraces the concept of FLOSS and it stands strong to defend it. There are comprehensive legal guidelines, and Fedora’s principles are directly referencing the 4-Freedoms: Freedom, Friends, Features, and First

To this end, entire systems have been set up to facilitate this kind of security. Fedora works completely in the open, and any user can check the official servers. Koji is the name of the Fedora Buildsystem, and you can see every application and it’s build logs there. For added security, there is also Bohdi, which orchestrates the deployment of an application. Multiple people must approve it, before the application can become available.

This creates the Web of Trust on which you can rely. Every package in the repository goes through the same process, and at every point somebody can intervene. There are also escalation systems in place to report issues, so that issues can quickly be tackled when they occur. Individual contributors also know that they can be reviewed at every time, which itself is already enough of a precaution to dissuade mischievous thoughts.

You don’t have to trust Fedora (implicitly), you can get something better; trust in users like you.

For only the second time since the app’s launch back in 2016, Pokémon GO has received a new type of egg that can be used for hatching specific types of Pokémon. Introducing ‘Strange Eggs’.

These new eggs join the already-existing 2km, 5km, 7km, and 10km varieties, topping them all with a walking distance requirement of 12km to hatch. Ironically, these long-distance eggs have been introduced just weeks after developer Niantic decided to strip away features which were in place to help players stuck indoors because of the current pandemic – including the half hatch distance modifier for eggs.

The 12km eggs can be used to hatch Poison-type Pokémon, Dark-type Pokémon, and Pokémon that acquire one of those types via evolution, and currently serve as the only way to obtain some of the app’s newest arrivals such as Pawniard.

A welcome quarter hatch distance modifier is currently in place to celebrate the arrival of the new eggs, although this benefit will disappear starting from 19th October. The modifier is one of several things currently happening inside the game as part of a week-long Strange Eggs event:

– Strange Eggs have appeared in Pokémon GO! According to Spark’s early research, the following Poison-type Pokémon, Dark-type Pokémon, and Pokémon that acquire one of those types via Evolution can hatch from these Eggs: Larvitar, Scraggy, Trubbish, and Vullaby—though there may be even more!

– Defeat a Team GO Rocket Leader to receive a Strange Egg, and walk 12 km to hatch it. You’ll need to have space in your Egg inventory before your battle with Sierra, Cliff, or Arlo in order to receive a Strange Egg. Strange Eggs will continue to be available in Pokémon GO after the event ends.

– Eggs placed in Incubators during the event will require one-quarter the normal walking distance to hatch.

– For the first time since March, new Team GO Rocket Special Research will be available! Join Professor Willow as he and the team leaders investigate Team GO Rocket’s involvement with Strange Eggs, culminating in a battle with Giovanni himself! This is the last Team GO Rocket Special Research in 2020. If you currently have the The Shadowy Threat Grows Special Research from earlier this year, you’ll need to complete it first before you can obtain this new Special Research.

– Poison-type and Dark-type Pokémon will be appearing more often in the wild! Look forward to encountering Spinarak, Houndour, Poochyena, Gulpin, Stunky, Purrloin and more.

– Team GO Rocket will be more active than usual! Keep an eye out for Team GO Rocket taking over more PokéStops and Team GO Rocket balloons appearing more often.

– Take a snapshot for a surprise!

– Team GO Rocket Leader avatar items are now available in the shop. Perhaps you could use these avatar items to infiltrate and investigate Team GO Rocket! GO forth, Trainer!

To find these new eggs, you’ll need to defeat a Team GO Rocket Leader. Have you already managed to get your hands on some? Let us know in the usual place.

The iPhone 12 rumour mill has finally ground to a halt, as Apple has finally announced the hotly-anticipated new model. Unsurprising to no one, 5G is the big ticket feature this time around. Also making a return is the angular, block-y style of the iPhone 5, albeit with the lovely curved edges made popular with the iPhone 6.

The result is arguably the most attractive iPhone yet. It’s also a slightly smaller device than last year’s iPhone 11, thanks to slightly smaller bezels. It’s still not quite as bezel-less as the latest Samsung devices though, and that massive camera and speaker placement at the top is still present. There’s always next year though, right?

Other new features include a stronger screen, which Apple refers to as a “ceramic shield”, that’s more resistant to scratches and breaking, and the Super Retina XDR display first seen in the iPhone 11 Pro back in 2019 makes an appearance in the base models this year. Apple is still banging on about the 5G support as we write this.

Apple also unveiled the new A14 Bionic chip, which, as is no surprise, is the fastest mobile processor yet. Apple riffed off a bunch of tech-speak about why it was so fast, but we didn’t really understand much of it. All you really need to know is that it’s around 50% faster than the nearest competitors, and supports 50% better graphics performance.

Also announced is the iPhone 12 Mini, which, as the name suggests, shrinks the iPhone down into a just over 5″ format, down from the 6″ iPhone 12. Aside from that, it’s an identical phone to the base model.

And, finally, in a move that surprises absolutely no one, Apple has announced the iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Much like last year’s models, these focus primarily on providing a powerful series of cameras. The Pro model also includes a new telephoto lens, which is a bit of a beast.

You can watch the livestream below:

If you’re as interested in iOS games as we are, be sure to see our list of all the Apple Arcade games that are currently available. We also reviewed Apple Arcade’s newest addition, The Survivalists.

Though, if you’re a little more service agnostic, we also have a list of the best iOS games for you to peruse. We hope you enjoy the event!

Earlier this year, we empowered over 10,000 students from all over the world to learn the basics of machine learning over the course of four months. We are excited to announce the next stage of skilling with the availability of an advanced machine learning nanodegree on Udacity. Starting today, students can enroll for the Machine Learning Engineer for Microsoft Azure Nanodegree Program.

This new nanodegree program offers students the opportunity to develop deeper technical skills in machine learning (ML). Students will strengthen their skills by building and deploying sophisticated ML models using Azure Machine Learning. They will learn how to train ML models, manage ML pipelines, and tune hyperparameters to improve model performance. Once the model is ready, students will learn how to operationalize the model with the right MLOps practices, including automation, CI/CD, and monitoring.

Students will get hands-on exposure with built-in Azure labs that are designed to help students put theory into practice, all within Udacity’s classroom environment. To round it up, students will have the opportunity to show off their talents by completing a capstone project based on a real-life data science scenario. By the end of this program, students will also be well-prepared to earn the Azure Data Scientist Associate certification.

We also want to congratulate the top 300 students of the introductory ML course who are receiving a scholarship for the Nanodegree program. Here are five such scholars sharing their experiences from the introductory course:

“This is an opportunity to master ML in Azure, get coached by industry experts, and build a solid machine learning portfolio for career advancement. I believe that the scholarship opportunity will bring me a step closer to actualizing my dream,” Ijeoma Ndu said.

Like Ijeoma, many of these students are looking to this nanodegree program to either further their careers or make a career switch. Join our scholarship winners in taking the nanodegree program. Sign up today!

Explore Azure courses on Udacity