In recent weeks, gamers diving into the latest Delta Force release, “Hawk Ops,” have encountered surprising challenges, sparking lively discussions across forums. While the game is lauded for its cutting-edge graphics and immersive storytelling, a new issue has emerged, leading players to question the reliability of certain in-game mechanisms. Innovation Meets Frustration As developers integrate emerging technologies, the game’s AI decision-making has become notably complex. Enthusiasts have observed the AI behaving unpredictably, with characters making questionable tactical decisions during critical missions. This has introduced a real-world problem where an AI’s capacity for adaptation might be overstretching current technological boundaries. The Implications of Advanced AI Delta Force’s “Hawk Ops” serves as a poignant case study in understanding the balance between innovation and practicality. By utilizing advanced AI, the aim was to enhance realism, offering players a richer experience. However, the unpredictable behavior suggests a need for a redesign or recalibration. Industry specialists propose that a hybrid approach might be required, merging AI ingenuity with human oversight to remedy current issues. The Developer Response Acknowledging player concerns, the development team is actively working on patches to address these challenges. They have expressed openness to player feedback, noting that collective insights will inform future updates. As Delta Force navigates these technological seas, the gaming world watches on, eager to see how developers will harmonize next-gen tech with player experience. Delta Force: Hawk Ops – The AI Revolution in Gaming and Its Challenges Unpacking the AI Complexity in Delta Force: Hawk Ops The latest title from the Delta Force franchise, “Hawk Ops,” has both wowed and frustrated players with its cutting-edge technology and complex AI. While the game is praised for its stunning graphics and gripping narratives, the AI’s unpredictable decision-making has left players perplexed. This issue underscores the ongoing struggle in gaming to balance advanced technology with user expectations. Pros and Cons of Advanced AI in Gaming The integration of sophisticated AI in games like “Hawk Ops” aims to enrich the virtual environment by making it more responsive and challenging. However, there are both benefits and downsides to this innovation: Pros: – Enhanced Realism: AI that adapts in real-time offers an unparalleled realism, mimicking human-like behavior. – Dynamic Gameplay: Unpredictable AI can lead to varied gaming experiences, enhancing replayability. Cons: – Unpredictable Outcomes: Players often feel frustrated by AI making nonsensical choices in critical game scenarios. – Increased Complexity: Handling highly sophisticated AI can be daunting, both for developers and players. The Future of AI in Gaming Industry experts predict that future advancements in AI will continue to shape the gaming landscape. Hybrid models, which fuse AI management with human oversight, are seen as a potential solution to current issues. This approach could strike a better balance between innovation and playability, allowing developers to harness AI’s full potential while maintaining control over the user experience. Developer’s Commitment to Improvement The development team behind “Hawk Ops” is keenly aware of the feedback from the gaming community. They are actively working on updates to refine AI behavior, emphasizing community feedback as a pivotal part of the improvement process. This open-dialog approach suggests that future titles will likely benefit from lessons learned with “Hawk Ops.” Looking Ahead: Predictions and Insights In the coming years, gaming is expected to see more seamless AI integration, where game and player interactions will be more fluid and intuitive. Developers are likely to continue exploring new ways to marry AI innovation with engaging game design, ensuring that technology enhances rather than hinders the player experience. For more information on the Delta Force series and its latest innovations, visit NovaLogic .Putin Says Oreshnik Missile System Will Be Deployed In Belarus
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to “vigorously pursue” capital punishment after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of most people on federal death row partly to stop Trump from pushing forward their executions. Trump criticized Biden’s decision on Monday to change the sentences of 37 of the 40 condemned people to life in prison without parole, arguing that it was senseless and insulted the families of their victims. Biden said converting their punishments to life imprisonment was consistent with the moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder. “Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country,” he wrote on his social media site. “When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!” Presidents historically have no involvement in dictating or recommending the punishments that federal prosecutors seek for defendants in criminal cases, though Trump has long sought more direct control over the Justice Department's operations. The president-elect wrote that he would direct the department to pursue the death penalty “as soon as I am inaugurated,” but was vague on what specific actions he may take and said they would be in cases of “violent rapists, murderers, and monsters.” He highlighted the cases of two men who were on federal death row for slaying a woman and a girl, had admitted to killing more and had their sentences commuted by Biden. On the campaign trail, Trump often called for expanding the federal death penalty — including for those who kill police officers, those convicted of drug and human trafficking, and migrants who kill U.S. citizens. “Trump has been fairly consistent in wanting to sort of say that he thinks the death penalty is an important tool and he wants to use it,” said Douglas Berman, an expert on sentencing at Ohio State University’s law school. “But whether practically any of that can happen, either under existing law or other laws, is a heavy lift.” Berman said Trump’s statement at this point seems to be just a response to Biden’s commutation. “I’m inclined to think it’s still in sort of more the rhetoric phase. Just, ‘don’t worry. The new sheriff is coming. I like the death penalty,’” he said. Most Americans have historically supported the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to decades of annual polling by Gallup, but support has declined over the past few decades. About half of Americans were in favor in an October poll, while roughly 7 in 10 Americans backed capital punishment for murderers in 2007. Before Biden's commutation, there were 40 federal death row inmates compared with more than 2,000 who have been sentenced to death by states. “The reality is all of these crimes are typically handled by the states,” Berman said. A question is whether the Trump administration would try to take over some state murder cases, such as those related to drug trafficking or smuggling. He could also attempt to take cases from states that have abolished the death penalty. Berman said Trump's statement, along with some recent actions by states, may present an effort to get the Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that considers the death penalty disproportionate punishment for rape. “That would literally take decades to unfold. It’s not something that is going to happen overnight,” Berman said. Before one of Trump's rallies on Aug. 20, his prepared remarks released to the media said he would announce he would ask for the death penalty for child rapists and child traffickers. But Trump never delivered the line. One of the men Trump highlighted on Tuesday was ex-Marine Jorge Avila Torrez, who was sentenced to death for killing a sailor in Virginia and later pleaded guilty to the fatal stabbing of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old girl in a suburban Chicago park several years before. The other man, Thomas Steven Sanders, was sentenced to death for the kidnapping and slaying of a 12-year-old girl in Louisiana, days after shooting the girl's mother in a wildlife park in Arizona. Court records show he admitted to both killings. Some families of victims expressed anger with Biden's decision, but the president had faced pressure from advocacy groups urging him to make it more difficult for Trump to increase the use of capital punishment for federal inmates. The ACLU and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were some of the groups that applauded the decision. Biden left three federal inmates to face execution. They are Dylann Roof, who carried out the 2015 racist slayings of nine Black members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ; and Robert Bowers, who fatally shot 11 congregants at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018 , the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S history. _______ Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Michelle L. Price and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.While the rest of the Notre Dame community figures out whether it's worth paying four figures for a ticket to the College Football Playoff first-round home game against Indiana, the men's basketball team continues to figure out how to survive without Markus Burton. Notre Dame (5-5) hosts its next-to-last nonconference game Wednesday night against Dartmouth (4-4), which plays its sixth contest of a seven-game road trip. The Fighting Irish took a promising step -- and snapped a five-game losing streak -- on Saturday by edging Syracuse 69-64 in their ACC opener. "We needed to be in a close game and we needed to win a close game so our guys can build some belief back," head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "We can't take any steps back on Wednesday." Without Burton -- the stat sheet-stuffing sophomore point guard who injured the medial collateral ligament in his knee Nov. 26 against Rutgers -- the Irish are struggling to find someone to run the offense, as evidenced by their seven assists versus 15 turnovers against Syracuse. At the same time, players are filling the scoring void. Braeden Shrewsberry poured in a career-high-tying 25 points versus the Orange while hitting 6 of 11 3-point attempts. Tae Davis averaged 12.4 points and 7.2 shots per game when Burton was healthy, but he has upped his mean production to 16.6 points and 12.2 shots in the past five games. Micah Shrewsberry, though, prefers to measure progress on a possession-by-possession basis. "Just the toughness," he said. "There have been times when we haven't gotten the key stop. We haven't gotten the bucket when we quite need it. It gets deflating sometimes." Dartmouth knows that feeling. On Sunday, the Big Green took a one-point lead with 4:03 left in overtime at UIC -- and then failed to score on their final six possessions to suffer a 69-68 loss. The Big Green, who haven't posted a winning season since 1998-99, believe whole-heartedly in launching 3-pointers as they take 48 percent of their shots from behind the arc. Senior Cade Haskins (13.6 ppg) has hit a team-high 28 of 68 3-pointers this season, though fellow senior Ryan Cornish stacks up as the team's top scorer (14.3 ppg), passer (3.0 assists per game) and defender (2.3 steals per game). In its only previous game against a power-conference opponent, Dartmouth upset Boston College 88-83 on Nov. 29. --Field Level Media
When people think of Hawaii, they tend to conjure Kauai’s jungles or Maui’s white sand beaches. But it’s Honolulu on the island of Oahu where most locals live and work, yielding a dynamic and complicated scene where Indigenous culture converges with Asian influences and mid-century Americana, and energetic food and arts scenes unfold against a backdrop of warm beaches and lush forests. New reservation systems to hike Diamond Head State Monument and snorkel Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve have helped lessen crowds and restore some of the flora and fauna, while new boutique hotels in Waikiki reclaim overlooked architectural gems. Advance planners should look for the Hawaii Triennial (Feb 15 to May 4), spread across landmark sites including the 135-year-old Bishop Museum, dedicated to Hawaiian culture, as well as Le‘ahi, or Diamond Head, a volcanic tuff cone. FRIDAY 4.30pm | See a volcanic crater Start your weekend by heading toward Diamond Head, the Oahu landmark that was formed by a volcanic eruption some 300,000 years ago on the eastern edge of Waikiki. On the way, stop by Fort Ruger Market. Previously a general store serving the neighbourhood since 1937, it now turns out Filipino and Hawaiian food classics. Pick up lechon (crispy-skinned roast pork, US$19.95 [S$26.80] a pound) and poke (seasoned raw cubed fish, US$29.95 a pound), and take your snacks to one of the lookouts on the crater’s southern flank. During the winter months, you might glimpse migrating humpback whales. Closer below you’ll see surfers catching their last waves of the day, and sometimes, during Friday night sailing races, sailboats rounding the Diamond Head buoy as the golden hour descends. 6pm | Explore art after dark Every Friday, the Honolulu Museum of Art keeps its doors open until 9pm, and its courtyard cafe is a lovely spot to grab a glass of wine and listen to live music in between gallery-hopping. New exhibitions include Kenyatta Kelechi’s collection (through Jan 12), which depicts contemporary Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners through wet plate photography, a technique from the 19th century, and a retrospective of Satoru Abe (through Jul 20), arguably Hawaii’s most influential artist and still creating at age 98. His work spans seven decades of works, from sculptures to recent abstract multidirectional paintings (adults US$25). 8pm | Dine in a car dealership An easy walk from the museum, but difficult to find, MW Restaurant is tucked into the second floor of a luxury car showroom. Out of sight of the Maseratis and Bentleys, MW’s dining room offers more subtle luxuries in the form of pork hash dumplings bathed in truffle-bacon broth (US$18), Kona kampachi (amberjack) coated in dried mochi shavings and pan-fried until crisp (US$48), and a recent special of a lobster lasagne (US$65). Don’t skip dessert, in particular the shave ice (US$16), a granita of seasonal and local fruit — which has recently included mango and persimmon — over panna cotta and coconut tapioca (US$16). Regulars are known to pull up to the bar just for this upscale take on a local favourite SATURDAY 8am | Taste tropical flavours Spread over two parking lots, the Kaka‘ako farmers market by Kewalo Basin Harbor, toward the western end of town, is big enough that you need a strategy. Start at Wallflour Bake Shop before it sells out of its pastries. You might find a liliko‘i (passionfruit) sticky bun (US$6.50) or an Okinawan brown-sugar, twice-baked croissant stuffed with kinako (roasted soybean flour) paste (US$6.50). Then beeline to MA‘O Organic Farms and Kahumana , two social enterprise farms supporting communities on the west side of Oahu, for local produce like tart-sweet apple bananas and longan. Marvel at Sugah Papi’s Farms’ quick knife skills as you dig into a rainbow fruit bowl (US$17) that might include dragonfruit, liliko‘i and starfruit. 10am | Pick up comfort food A post shared by @ethelsgrill_kalihi Save room in your stomach and drive about 10 minutes west to Ethel’s Grill, open since 1979, and a mainstay for its local Japanese and Okinawan classics. It’s run by the husband-and-wife team Robert and Minaka Urquidi, who took it over from her parents in recent years. They’ve kept most recipes largely the same, including hamburger steak topped with grated daikon and ponzu sauce (US$14.95); goya champuru, an Okinawan stir fry of bitter melon and pork (US$14.95); and taco rice (US$16.95), a mashup born of Japanese and American military influences in Okinawa (parallels abound between Hawaii and Okinawa). During the pandemic, the tiny spot permanently transitioned to takeout only, so take your haul to the next stop. 11am | Picnic among old trees Foster Botanical Garden ( US$5 admission), an oasis wedged between the freeway and Chinatown, is home to an orchid conservatory and some of Oahu’s oldest trees, including a bodhi tree and endemic loulu palm. Watch out for falling cannonballs, the woody, heavy fruit of the cannonball tree. The grounds once belonged to Mary Mikahala Elizabeth Robinson Foster, known as the first Native Hawaiian Buddhist (the bodhi tree given to her is said to be a descendant of the one under which the Buddha attained enlightenment). She was one of only two people allowed to visit Queen Lili‘uokalani, Hawaii’s last monarch, in her imprisonment during the US military-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. They shared a love of plants, so it’s fitting that the Lili‘uokalani Botanical Garden lies just across the freeway. Noon | Browse Chinatown As you leave the garden, admire the adjacent Kuan Yin Temple, a Chinese Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva of compassion, and peer into the 1922 Shinto shrine Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii, across the street. Both are active places of worship, so approach with respect. From there, cross into Chinatown, which, perhaps more than any other Honolulu neighbourhood, has faced cycles of prosperity and poverty. It is one of the largest intact historical districts, where newer boutiques and artists collectives coexist with longtime businesses. Buy a fragrant tuberose or white ginger flower lei (starting at about US$15) at Cindy’s Lei Shoppe and try on modern aloha shirts and dresses at the Roberta Oaks store. Peruse Native Books at Arts & Letters Nu‘uanu , which carries an extensive selection of Hawaiian and Pacific Island books within an art gallery and community space. 2pm | Drive into the jungle Ascend winding Tantalus Drive, through a canopy of trees dripping with vines, to reach the Liljestrand House , built by architect Vladimir Ossipoff in 1952. Only accessible by reservation, guided tours (US$50) lead you through one of his finest residential works, designed with California redwood, Yokohama sandstone from west Oahu and polished concrete for seamless transitions between indoors and outdoors. Or if you prefer a full jungle immersion, the Tantalus region is a launching point for a network of hiking trails. Head to Pu‘u ‘Ualaka‘a State Wayside for panoramic views of the entire southern coastline, and for the beginning of the ‘Ualaka‘a Trail, a 1-mile loop through banyans and pine trees. Beware, the path can get muddy and buggy after rains. 5pm | Swim at sunset Head to Kaimana Beach, a small stretch near the base of Diamond Head. Don snorkel goggles and you may spot turtles and fish while dodging outrigger canoe paddlers returning to shore and swimmers making their laps to the windsock, the Dr Seussian flag hanging on a pole about 800 feet from the beach. Enjoy the sunset on the sand or from the bar at Hau Tree, the open-air restaurant at Kaimana Beach Hotel, recently renovated for a boho beach vibe. The restaurant is named for the more than 100-year-old hau trees that provide the dining room’s canopy, and it’s said that Robert Louis Stevenson penned poems under its branches. 7pm | Mix and match for dinner By the commercial fishing harbour, Nami Kaze opened a few years ago and has already become a local, multigenerational favourite. The chef and owner, Jason Peel, focuses on vegetable and seafood small plates. The entire first page of the menu is devoted to Hawaii’s produce, in the form of ‘ulu tots (fluffy, fried breadfruit bites) in barbecue sauce (US$12) and corn beignets (US$10) that are more like puffs of air dusted with Japanese curry powder. Slippery sensations abound in the raw tuna with natto (fermented soybeans) and okra (US$24); if you prefer your seafood cooked, there’s pan-fried kampachi with ponzu butter (US$34). (It’s also worth coming for brunch for creations like honey-walnut shrimp waffles.) SUNDAY 9am | Do an architecture walk Many guides urge you to get out of touristy Waikiki, but it is full of gems if you know where to look. Start with a Japanese breakfast at the traditional Yoshitsune, cloistered in the Park Shore Waikiki hotel. The spread of broiled fish, pickles, housemade tofu and miso soup (from US$35) will fuel your jaunt through Waikiki’s backstreets. Follow the self-guided tour by the Surfjack Hotel and Docomomo, a nonprofit that preserves modern architecture and design. See the apartment building Waikiki Skyliner’s two patterns of breeze blocks, anchored by a black Puna lava rock wall; a three-storey walk-up’s railing depicting breadfruit leaves and fruit; and White Sands Hotel , built around a courtyard pool and waterfall-fringed koi ponds. Noon | Shop and eat in Kaimuki Explore the eclectic shops of Kaimuki, a neighbourhood east of Waikiki. Seek out Pitacus Chop Art on the second floor of a turquoise building, where designer Lisa Weimken reworks vintage Japanese fabrics into one-of-a-kind dresses and unisex separates. Pop into Island-Boy shop, where whimsy and minimalism share space on the shelves stocked with shaka-shaped bottle openers and Lindquist’s handmade leather bags. At the 70-year-old Crack Seed Store , glass apothecary jars display a variety of crack seed (sour-salty-sweet preserved fruit snacks). For something more substantial, grab a slice of quiche or a sandwich at the Local General Store, a bakery and butcher counter. Stick around long enough and you can catch the Curb, a cafe and wine bar, as it transitions from pouring coffee to natural wine at 2pm. WHERE TO STAY The Halekulani, a storied Hawaii hotel that began in 1917 , provides warm hospitality and a sense of calm throughout its elegant oceanfront property in the midst of Waikiki. Rooms start around US$700. All of the rooms at the Prince Waikiki , on the western end of Waikiki by the Ala Wai boat harbour, offer ocean views. The hotel frequently hosts events such as pop-up markets with local makers, and its dining options include the sushi restaurant Katsumidori. Rooms start around US$400. Wayfinder opened a year ago on the quieter side of Waikiki, fronting the Ala Wai canal (but still an easy walk to the beach). Rooms contrast a brutalist exterior with playful interiors. In addition to rooms in the main building, Wayfinder has larger studios with bungalow vibes in a three-storey walk-up adjacent to the pool. Rooms start around US$300. On Oahu, short-term rentals are primarily allowed only in resort-zoned areas, which in Honolulu is generally restricted to Waikiki. Martha Cheng © The New York Times This article originally appeared in The New York Times
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