After being pushed back from its original 2021 release date, Drinkbox Studios’ playful shape-shifting RPG is available at last on Xbox and PC.
From the makers of Guacamelee and Severed, Nobody Saves the World is crammed with Drinkbox’s signature self-aware humor and vivid art style while paying homage to classic RPGs from the 90s. Inspired by Final Fantasy Tactic’s Job system, the game’s titular hero Nobody can shapeshift into 18 different off-kilter forms including an egg, slug, and even a bodybuilder to complete quests and clear out dungeons.
The game’s overworld and top-down aesthetic will be immediately familiar to fans of other classics like Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Drinkbox also tacks new-school twists on the genre with clever level design and quirky combat that includes moves like the magician’s confetti bomb. But the fun really amps up once you get the ability to mix-and-match attacks between forms, which unlocks more than a hundred combos to help dispatch foes.
If the game’s gorgeous 2D sprites weren’t enough to catch your attention, Nobody Saves the World also features a soundtrack from composer Jim Guthrie, whose music has been featured in titles such as Superbother: Sword & Sworcery, Indie Game: The Movie, and others.
Nobody Saves the World is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X and PC (Steam) for $25, or via subscription as part of Xbox Games Pass on Xbox consoles, Windows PCs, and Xbox Cloud streaming.
Giving a computer to a kid is basically putting it through a torture test. So HP is launching its new line of rugged Fortis laptops made to stand up to the abuse of students.
Comprised of a range of laptops and 2-in-1s that start as low as $349, every Fortis notebook comes with an extra level of durability compared to typical notebooks including spill-resistance (up to 11.8 ounces of liquid), reinforced ports and rubber trim to protect against drops and bumps. HP even added a textured surface to make the laptops easier to grip to prevent drops from happening in the first place, while a new metal shield helps protect the laptop’s battery in case the device does take a fall.
To guard against kids who are constantly fidgeting, HP installed a new full-skirted anchored keyboard with keys that are harder to remove. And because schools are a breeding ground for bacteria, HP designed its Fortis laptops to be wiped down using standard household cleaning products.
HP
As for the devices themselves, the HP Fortis 14-inch G10 Chromebook is the cheapest of the bunch starting at just $349 (available now). It comes with either a 1366 x 768 or full HD 1920 x 1080 display (touch is optional), a range of Intel Celeron and Pentium processors, up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage, Wi-Fi 6, and one of Google’s Titan C security chips built-in. Connectivity includes one USB-C port for charging and data, two USB-A ports, one HDMI, a combo headphone/microphone jack, and a microSD card reader.
If you want a slightly smaller Chromebook for education there’s also the HP Fortis 11-inch G9 Q Chromebook, though it won’t be out until June. Instead of a chip from Intel, it features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c along with a slightly slower Wi-Fi 5 modem, 4GB/8GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of eMMC storage. And regardless of which one you choose, both the Fortis 14 G10 and Fortis 11 G9 Q can be configured with an optional 4G LTE connection.
HP
Meanwhile, when it comes to Windows-based systems, there’s the clamshell HP ProBook Fortis 14-inch G9 and HP Probook Fortis 14-inch G10, which feature nearly identical specs aside from their processors. The ProBook Fortis 14 G9 comes with a selection of Intel Celeron and Pentium chips running on Windows 11 SE, while the ProBook Fortis 14 G10 features newer Intel 12th-gen Core i3 and Core i5 CPUs running on standard Windows 11. Both systems support up to 8GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard eMMC storage in addition to either a 128GB or 256B M.2 SSD.
The HP ProBook Fortis 14 G9 is available now starting at $369, while the ProBook Fortis 14 G10 won’t ship until later in April (price still TBA).
HP
And if that’s not enough, HP created some rugged 2-in-1s for education in the HP Pro x360 Fortis 11-inch G9 and the HP Pro x360 Fortis 11-inch G10. Similar to their clamshell siblings, the Pro x360 Fortis 11 G9 is powered by a range of Intel Celeron and Pentium processors and comes with Windows 11 SE pre-installed, while the Pro x360 Fortis 11 G10 gets more powerful 12th-gen Core i3 and i5 chips and full Windows 11. Notably, both of HP’s Fortis 2-in-1s come with stylus support (though HP’s rechargeable pen is an optional extra) and support for an optional rear-facing 5-MP camera.
The Pro x360 11 G9 is available now starting at $399, with the Pro x360 Fortis 11 G10 expected to arrive sometime in April (price still TBA).
Companion Mode is a second screen experience designed to support the shift towards hybrid working environments by providing easier access to various Google Meet controls and features for people calling in from a shared office.
Previously, workers who called in from a meeting room often had to jockey for control if they wanted to do simple things like raise their hand (virtually) or drop a comment in chat. The result was that employees who worked remotely and called into meetings using a phone or PC were often more active and visible in meetings than their colleagues at the office who participated using a traditional conference room set up.
However, thanks to the addition of Companion Mode, office workers will soon get access to most of Google Meet’s features via Nest Hub Max or other certified hardware like a Lenovo Tap while still being part of the shared meeting. And while the Nest Hub Max might not be a common sight in conference rooms today, this new mode could help Google push more devices to businesses of all sizes as they adapt to post-pandemic working arrangements. To join a meeting using Companion Mode, you can either activate the setting in Google Meet’s “green room” or by using a dedicated URL: g.co/companion.
Google Meet features available in Companion Mode include chatting, starting and voting on polls, raising your hand (which includes displaying a person’s name and title), using host controls and turning on captions or translations.
Google says the goal is to ensure that regardless of where you’re working from, everyone in a video call will have access to a similar set of tools and features. Companion Mode will be enabled by default, though, for people using the free version of Meet, it’s important to note that anyone using it will count as an additional participant towards the 100-person limit, instead of a room full of people counting as a single attendee.
Companion Mode in Google Meet is rolling out this week, though depending on your domain or user type, it may take another few weeks for it to be available on your device.
It’s one thing to steal from the government, but stealing from children is a whole lot worse. Sadly, that’s precisely what one New Mexico school district employee did. Kristy Stock was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for her role in a scheme to steal and resell more than 3,000 iPods intended for Native American students.
A release issued by the Department of Justice details the charges against Stock of tax fraud and transportation of stolen goods. According to her plea agreement and court documents, the scheme began back in 2013 when she was in charge of a program for the Central Consolidated School District of New Mexico designed to provide devices to Native American students living on tribal reservations.
While overseeing the program, Stock was supposed to use federal grant money to buy iPods to distribute to students. However, thanks to help from other conspirators including her friend James Bender and Saurabh Chawla, the group ended up shipping the stolen iPods to Maryland where they were listed on eBay before being sold at a “substantial” markup.
Due to his own account having previously been suspended due to security concerns, Chawla was forced to use Bender’s eBay account to list the stolen devices for auction, with Bender serving as an intermediary. Later, between 2015 and 2018, Stock communicated directly with Chawla, providing info on the make, model, color and quantity of devices before agreeing on a price and putting them up for auction.
All told, Stock admitted that she made more than $800,000 from selling stolen iPods between 2013 and 2018. To make matters worse, Stock also filed fraudulent tax returns on the income, resulting in tax loss of around $270,000. That said, while Stock faces an 18-month prison sentence, she actually got off lighter than her co-conspirator Chawla, who was sentenced to 66 months after failing to pay more than $700,000 in taxes. Meanwhile, Bender was sentenced to just 366 days in prison.
So while Stock and her crew eventually got caught, the real lesson is that here is that crime doesn’t pay–especially if you’re stealing from children and then lying on your taxes about your ill-gotten income.
After partnering with a number of big chains to help speed up grocery delivery back in 2021, today Instacart is launching Ready Meals so you can now order hot and pre-made meals from local grocers too.
For Instacart, the play is rather straightforward as the company looks to position its Ready Meal Hub as an alternative to more traditional food delivery apps like Seamless, Uber Eats and the like. The only real difference is that instead of ordering food from local restaurants, Instacart is hoping its customers will use Ready Meals to order fresh food like sandwiches, sushi and more from nearby grocery stores, in addition to pre-prepared, ready-to-heat dishes such as take-and-bake casseroles.
Just like regular grocery orders, Instacart says its Ready Meals Hub will be available nationwide, with deliveries arriving at your door in as little as 30 minutes. Instacart is partnering with grocers including Publix, GIANT, Food Lion, Hannaford, Stop & Shop, Martin’s, and Kroger, with plans to add more retailers such as ShopRite in the coming months.
The arrival of the Ready Meals Hub in the Instacart app follows the addition of the Convenience Hub last fall, which added the ability to order a range of pantry staples, snacks, and even alcohol from big-name stores like 7-Eleven and others. Another benefit of the new Ready Meals Hub is that because pre-prepared foods can be ordered alongside regular groceries, Instacart is making it easier to order food for a variety of meals or situations with a single purchase.
The expansion of Instacart's delivery options serves to further reinforce the increasing popularity of home grocery delivery. According to a recent report from the Food Industry Association (FMI), while most meals in the U.S. are still prepared at home, 55% percent of shoppers noted a desire for more hybrid meal options that contain a mix of semi-prepared and fully-prepared dishes.
That said, with Instacart expected to go public later this year, the new Ready Meals Hub is also clearly a way to help maintain strong sales following a record number of orders during the 2021 holiday season.
