About 200 shops set to begin operations tomorrow; all vehicles to be sanitised

Zombies have been part of popular culture for decades. The living dead rising and taking over the world is a terrifying concept, worthy of Hollywood […]

The post It’s science: zombies already walk among us appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A newly discovered Hawaiian tree recently had the distinction of being added to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Critically […]

The post Newly named, Hawaiian tree species already critically endangered appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

A Nintendo Entertainment System.; Credit: Mark Ramsay/Flickr Creative Commons

There have been plenty of video game movies over the years, but there have been far fewer actually good ones. "Ready Player One," based on the 2011 video game-inspired novel, has the chance to be a great one thanks to the announcement that Steven Spielberg has signed on to direct.

That book was inspired by classic video games, and was written using classic video game cheats to play parts of classic games and write them into his book, author Ernest Cline said in a recent talk. That got us thinking about the classic video game cheats and secrets that stuck with us from our younger days playing classic video games — here's our top 11.

1. The Konami Code

Up up down down left right left right B A start! This code became such a part of video game culture that it got its own name. It was popularized in various games made by Konami, particularly Contra, leading to it also being known as the "Contra Code" for its ability to give you 30 lives in the game. Before the Internet, it was spread through gaming magazines and word of mouth — it was so influential that there are still developers who put it in their games. (There's even an entire Wikipedia page of games, both from Konami and others, that use the Konami Code. It's even been used on some websites.)

What is the Konami Code

2. Street Figher II Turbo's turbo

The game that I actually used a code for the most as a kid, the Super Nintendo code down, R, up, L, Y, B on the second controller didn't give you any advantages — it just kicked the speed up. By default, you had a few selections for how fast the game would be, but you could multiple that several-fold with this code, letting you and your friends battle at what at the time felt unbelievably fast.

3. Super Mario Bros.'s Minus World

This one doesn't involve a code, but players managed to discover what was deemed a glitch in the game that put you into a messed up version of another level, dubbed by fans the Minus World due to just "-1" instead of a full level number appearing at the top of the screen. There was no way to escape the glitched level, no matter how hard you might try, sending you to play it over and over again until your time ran out or you were killed by enemies. Still, modern players have found that you can go on thanks to various computer emulators and the like; see some of the worlds beyond below:

Minus World video

4. Metroid and Justin Bailey

Fans early on discovered that the password JUSTIN BAILEY allowed you to start with all of the available weapons along with plenty of life and ammo. Fans didn't know whether Justin Bailey was a reference to an actual person, just a code coincidence or something else, but that didn't stop them from eagerly playing through with this code. It also removed lead character Samus Aran from her armor, allowing players to discover that the game's star was an early female lead character, even if her armor didn't clue players in before the end of the game without the code.

Justin Bailey video

5. Doom's God mode

By typing the letters iddqd in PC game Doom, players could enable God mode, making them essentially invincible and letting them power through the early first-person shooter. The code had been available in developer id's earlier game Wolfenstein, but hadn't been quite as easily accessible. So, if you ever need a power boost when you're fighting on Mars, Doom has the answer. (Unfortunately, we don't believe this provides any extra protection for NASA's Mars rovers.)

6. Mortal Kombat's Reptile

The developers of Mortal Kombat made a battle against Reptile unbelievably hard for Mortal Kombat fans, including putting some randomness into whether doing what you were supposed to do to unlock the character would even work. Still, players happily pumped in extra quarters for the chance to face off against Reptile, a character with a look that mirrored that of characters Sub-Zero and Scorpion, just with a different color. Players had to achieve a Double Flawless victory on the Pit level, finish the match using their fatality move, and there also had to be a silhouette flying past the moon in the background — which only happened every sixth game.

Mortal Kombat: Reptile

7. The Legend of Zelda's Second Quest

The Legend of Zelda was a pretty challenging early adventure game, one of the first releases for the Nintendo home video game console. When you beat the game, you were given the option to go on a "Second Quest," which was a tweaked version of the game you just played except waaaaay harder. However, if you thought you were the coolest kid on the block and were so awesome you didn't need a warmup, you could name your character "ZELDA" (in one of the more obvious cheats in video game history) and skip ahead to that Second Quest from the start. You would then likely cry from how hard it was and start another new game with a different name.

8. NBA Jam's celebrity secret characters

A variety of celebrities from sports, music, and even politics were available by putting in various initials combined with buttons on the controller. These included then-President Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Warren Moon and more. That tradition has been continued in more recent NBA Jam games, with President Obama and others available for your video gaming pleasure.

9. GoldenEye's extra modes

There were a wide variety of cheat codes for GoldenEye, widely considered one of the all-time great first-person shooters. Sure, you could use codes to unlock different levels, but the reason these codes are remembered is because it gave you all sorts of new ways to play against your friends. The game also had an actual cheat menu that would appear if you accomplished one of a variety of goals, and from that menu you could cheat extra hard by using your controller to unlock things like a paintball mode, turbo mode, modes with both giant heads and teeny-tiny James Bonds and more.

10. Sonic The Hedgehog 2's Debug Mode

The Sonic debug mode is the perfect example of why so many games included cheats back in the day: They were often for the developers to be able to more easily play the games while looking for bugs and doing other testing. Sonic 2 let you get to an actual debug mode by playing various sounds from the level select screen (1, 9, 9, 2, 1, 1, 2, 4, for your reference), then pressing start and holding the A button. Developers later put them in for fun and intended them for the players to discover, but some of the early cheat codes were just meant for developers — but players proved more intrepid than they may have anticipated.

Sonic debug mode

11. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out: Go straight to Mike Tyson

There was actually a password mode in this game — before games had the option to save, plenty of games gave you codes that let you get back to where you were before. This is one of the examples from that darker time, where whether you played through opponents like Glass Joe and Bald Bull or not, you could try your changes against Lightning Mike (at least until the video game's license ran out and he was replaced in future editions with the way less exciting "Mr. Dream"). You better have had a pen and paper ready when your friend started yelling at you 007 373 5963 for you to use on your own copy of the game — no sharing. The game is hard enough that even Mike Tyson had some trouble fighting himself:

Mike Tyson vs. Mike Tyson

Let us know in the comments the classic video games — and the classic cheat codes and secrets — that inspired you.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

There is no substitute for dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change, a National Research Council committee concluded in a two-volume evaluation of proposed climate-intervention techniques.

The emerging science of gene drives has the potential to address environmental and public health challenges, but gene-drive modified organisms are not ready to be released into the environment and require more research in laboratories and highly controlled field trials, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A little girl licking a spoon after stirring the cake mixture in 1935. ; Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images

“How in the world am I going to come up with something to make dinner tonight?”

If you’ve found yourself asking this question repeatedly during the pandemic, you’re not alone. Grocery shopping complicated by COVID-19 and shortages of certain staples has meant that many who might not usually consider themselves home chefs have had no choice but to throw an apron on and do some culinary experimentation with whatever they already have in their kitchen and pantry. 

Last month on AirTalk, we tackled this issue by calling up pro chef Noelle Carter and food writer Russ Parson, both of whom are former members of the L.A. Times’ Food team, to answer your questions about how to cook with what you already have, recycle  certain foods, and even make staples that you might not be able to find in abundance right now. If you tuned in last time, you learned how to make your own pasta, how to regrow vegetables like green onions and romaine lettuce, and even what you can use as a substitute for all-purpose flour if you can’t find any at the store.

Today on AirTalk, we’re bringing Noelle and Russ back to help you out in the kitchen! If you’ve got questions about things like making or substituting ingredients, or need some ideas for what to make out of random ingredients in your fridge, join our live conversation by calling 866-893-5722.

Guests:

Noelle Carter, chef, food writer and culinary consultant for Noelle Carter Food, a website sharing recipes, cooking techniques and helpful kitchen tips for the home cook; she is the former director of the Los Angeles Times Test Kitchen; she tweets @noellecarter

Russ Parsons, former food editor and columnist for The Los Angeles Times for more than 20 years; he is the author of two cookbooks: “How To Pick A Peach” and “How To Read A French Fry”; he tweets @Russ_Parsons1

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

The first inkling of the potential of the industry came with the appearance of smartphones like Nokia 9000, which found ready acceptance among professionals, entrepreneurs and even enterprises.

CIOs should focus their energy on the resolution of issues that arise as almost 100% of their workforce work remotely and building resistance towards the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

SUFFOLK – While landfall of Hurricane Florence is imminent along the North Carolina coast, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Hampton...

I'd love to be excited about bringing you this week's update on my Weight Watchers journey, but I'm sorry to say the news isn't exciting. I gained a pound.

Climate change has already taken a serious toll on human well-being and world economies.

Stung by high gas prices, 68% of drivers say they'll consider an electric car within three years.

Garrison Architects creates a series of green modular structures to grace NYC's Sandy-ravaged beaches by Memorial Day.

Blu Homes tackles the suburbs with Balance Metro, a new take on a 3-bedroom design that's geared for infill lots.

Make sure your knives are sharpened and spice rack is stocked so time in the kitchen this holiday season goes more smoothly.

A Chicago restaurant is serving crystal-clear pumpkin pie. Do you think it's fun or freaky?

The surface of Mercury is shrinking faster than previously thought, photos from a NASA spacecraft orbiting the tiny planet reveal.

Sweden is to thank (go figure) for a hot new lifestyle trend known as plogging that encourages participants to beautify cities while burning calories.

Getting past the ick factor isn't the only obstacle for a beer made from treated wastewater to be sold on the market.

Virtualization makes cloud computing possible, productive and profitable. Many businesses large and small think it can do the same thing for work by creating a

Life-affirming data from 1976 was dismissed as a 'false positive,' but former NASA scientist Gilbert V. Levin is speaking up.

It's the season for global warming meetings. Will this year be any different?

In an effort to wean America off landfill-clogging synthetic dryer sheets, Method introduces a curious new laundry product that's essentially 100 heat-activated

Extinctions are a wake-up call to protect the dwindling species that still exist.

The newly discovered species have been isolated from other toads for 650,000 years.

Scientists have unveiled new evidence suggesting the 'God particle' really exists, a revelation that could change how we think about the universe.

Aug. 1 will be a day of live online canning demonstrations. We have a sneak preview of a recipe from Food in Jars' Marisa McLellan.

High-voltage utilities are experimenting with generating energy from renewable feedstocks available locally.

Efficiency isn't sexy, but it gives you a lot more bang for the buck.

30 of the world's largest cities have reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Here's how to get your home and family ready for the possibility of a coronavirus outbreak.

Efforts to replace Columbus Day gain momentum across the nation.

Singapore's Changi Airport outdoes itself once again.

The 2020 Great Backyard Bird Count is a 4-day event when "citizen scientists" can enjoy nature while keeping tabs on local bird populations.

WeeTect a global leader in designing and manufacturing photochromic lenses, has started OEM manufacturing with its different base photochromic lenses.

Businesses, schools and governments are under siege from an increasing number of natural and man-made disruptive events. One crisis can destroy your organization and impact the lives of all involved. A new book can help you.

Mezator combined technology solutions they had already implemented and the IoT approach, added a dedicated, intuitive app and created a #selfieready device.

Provide full support such as operation, personnel salary, material purchase, traffic accident, accounting and education for bus company work

Book Becomes International Best Seller

These are times of great social and political upheaval and unrest. Divisiveness runs rampant and harmful rhetoric is the order of the day. One determined, modern character wants to make changes where they're needed most.

The partnership will provide easier access to high quality video-based training, curricula, lesson plans, and projects for students, teachers, and schools.

Get the best eyewear deals in the transition of September.

Salon & Spa Galleria Has Paused Rents for All 275 of Its Beauty Pros and is Offering an Additional Free Week of Rent for Each Week Salons Remain Closed

With seasons changing as well we need to change our fashion. Don't forget to add key pieces such as: ankle boots, jacket, scarf and transition glasses.

Check out this repository of more than 100 freely-accessible NLP notebooks, curated from around the internet, and ready to launch in Colab with a single click.

Dr. Robert Blendon, professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT Sloan School professor, explains how rapid advances in machine learning are presenting new opportunities for businesses. He breaks down how the technology works and what it can and can’t do (yet). He also discusses the potential impact of AI on the economy, how workforces will interact with it in the future, and suggests managers start experimenting now. Brynjolfsson is the co-author, with Andrew McAfee, of the HBR Big Idea article, “The Business of Artificial Intelligence.” They’re also the co-authors of the new book, “Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future.

Joseph Fuller, professor at Harvard Business School, says that the story we hear about workers being afraid for the future of their jobs might not be right. In surveying 11,000 people in lower-income and middle-skills jobs and 6,500 managers across 11 countries, Fuller discovered that, contrary to what bosses believe, many employees are excited about new technologies and willing to be trained in new skills. But they don't always know what they need to learn or how to access and pay for it. Organizations can do a better job of identifying the skills gaps they have or will soon face and using their existing workforces to fill them. Fuller's project is a joint venture between the HBS Project on Managing the Future of Work and the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute. He's a co-author of the HBR article “Your Workforce is More Adaptable Than You Think."