Best Buy sale knocks $100 off two Nest Hub Max smart displays – Engadget

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Best Buy sale knocks $100 off two Nest Hub Max smart displays – Engadget

The Nest Hub Max is one of our favorite smart displays and it earned a score of 86 when we reviewed it. It’s more versatile than Google’s smaller smart displays as its 10-inch screen is great for watching videos and viewing photos, and it also comes with a video camera.

That extra hardware feature lets you video chat with friends and family, and it also lets the Hub Max act as a security camera for your home. Instead of using a separate Nest Cam, the video camera on the Hub Max can watch over your home when you’re away and you can use the companion mobile app to watch the video feed whenever you want. While there’s no physical camera shutter, you can electronically disable the camera and microphone with a swipe on the screen.

The camera also keeps an eye out for gestures you can do to control the Nest Hub Max, like holding your palm up in front of it to pause a song it’s playing. Since the hub Max is the biggest Google smart display, it’s a lot more powerful in terms of audio than its smaller siblings. It has two front-facing tweeters and one rear-facing woofer, and those help it sound much better than the regular Nest Hub. All of these features make it a great smart display that’s worthy of a spot on your kitchen counter or in your living room — and with this deal, you could have one in both spots or spread the abilities of the Google Assistant throughout your home.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

The Last of Us 2 details make heights scarier than its monsters – Polygon

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The Last of Us 2 details make heights scarier than its monsters – Polygon

When I see an infected in The Last of Us Part 2, I keep my cool. Even when it’s a jump scare, or an unexpected enemy, I generally know how to deal with most of the things the game makes me kill. Heights, though? Now those make me pause.

It’s funny, because I’ve never been particularly scared of heights in video games — most of them make you climb things, tall things. Naughty Dog has an entire franchise predicated on scaling exciting and exotic locations. But when I play as Abby in The Last of Us 2, I’m keenly aware of how high up we go.

It’s intentional. Early on, we are informed that Abby, one of the protagonists during the second half of the game, is scared of heights. As Naughty Dog sound designer Beau Anthony Jimenez recently shared on Twitter, the game has an elaborate breathing system that takes into account what the player’s heart rate is relative to what they are doing. “Breath can be an excellent conveyor of emotion!” Jimenez said in the thread.

As a part of that system, Abby is programmed to experience vertigo when you look over a tall ledge. In these moments, Abby breathes heavily, and the camera loses focus. It’s an effective detail, too. During a level where Abby is tasked with climbing some makeshift bridges connecting incredibly high buildings, I straight up had to stop playing for a second to compose myself. It is probably the closest thing a video game has come to approximating a panic attack. I felt the sound design in my chest, and strangely, my own breathing changed alongside Abby’s. Mind you, I’m not particularly scared of heights in real life, but there I was, trying to calm myself down!

As Jimenez goes on to explain in a different Tweet thread, Abby’s animations are also rigged to put her terror on display. You can see, hear, and feel her vulnerability in a surprisingly palpable way, which might explain why heights are now scarier to me in this game than, say, a Clicker.

The level, it should be said, is one of the best ones in the entire game. Through it, Abby — a veritable badass — confronts her biggest fears with the help of Lev, a teen who turns out to be deceptively wise. Lev gently walks Abby through all the obstacles, checking in on her as they go, and hyping her up when she doubts she can keep going. It’s a great moment of bonding between the two characters, one that made me care about them both, especially as Lev also shares his own phobias. It also helps that Naughty Dog has some great comedic timing.

Overcooked! All You Can Eat combines two games into one definitive edition – Polygon

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Overcooked! All You Can Eat combines two games into one definitive edition – Polygon

Overcooked! and Overcooked! 2 are getting re-released in a combined version: Overcooked! All You Can Eat.

All You Can Eat will also include cross-platform online multiplayer and all the levels from the original games remastered in 60 FPS and 4K. In addition to all that, there’ll be new levels, chefs, and cosmetics, as well as new achievements to unlock.

Most notably, there’ll be more accessibility options and an “assist mode” to help out chefs who are getting overwhelmed by Overcooked!’s chaos. The assist mode will allow players to slow down the recipe timeout, increase how long rounds last, and include the option to skip levels. Since Overcooked! is a game that notoriously makes you sweaty and filled with panic, these options should help you turn down the heat a bit. There will also be functions to add dyslexic-friendly text and color blindness options.

Overcooked! All You Can Eat will be available for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X later this year.

The Blessing – Arab World Version

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The Blessing – Arab World Version

The Blessing Arab World– The Blessing movement was first started in the United Kingdom called The Blessing UK. Gospel artist in various countries are also coming together to do The Blessing version of their respective countries. Artist in Arab World also came together to do The Blessing – Arab World version

The BLESSING by other Countries : UK | NIGERIA | SOUTH AFRICA | GHANA | AUSTRALIA | ZIMBABWE | SOUTH KOREA | CANADA | SPAIN | ARAB WORLD |

In two weeks, 67 people from 16 Arab nations came together to record this blessing.
Many other versions of this blessing are being recorded around the Arab world.
May all who hear this song truly receive a blessing. Amen

لقد اجتمع ٦٧ فرد من ١٦ بلد عربية، خلال اسبوعين، ليقوموا بتسجيلات هذه البركة.
والآن يتم عمل تسجيلات أخرى بلهجات عربية في أنحاء العالم العربي.
نصلي أن يستقبل بركة الرب بصورة حقيقية كل من يستمع لهذه الترنيمة. آمين

People from the following places took part in this video
Egypt (Suez, Cairo, Alexandria, New Cairo, Minya, Sohag, Aswan) and South Sudan (Juba).

Middle East
Lebanon (Beirut, Byblos, Zalka), Jordan (Amman), Palestinians in Israel and the State of Palestine (Kfar Yasif, Jerusalem, Bethlehem), Syria (Damascus) and Iraq (Duhok, Erbil, Baghdad).

Arabian Peninsula
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Yemen.

North Africa
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Arabic Lyrics
الرب يباركك
و يحرسك
يضئ بوجهه عليك
و يرحمك
الرب يرفعُ وجهَهُ عليك
ويمنحك سلام

آمين آمين آمين
آمين آمين آمين

يحسن الربُ إليك
ولألفِ من نسلك
لبيتك وبنيك
من جيل الي جيل

ليسر حضوره معك
من خلفك وقدامك
يحاصرك و بداخلك
الرب معك الرب معك

في الصباح والمساء
في دخولك و خروجك
وقت حزنك وفي فرحك
الرب لك الرب لك ….
آمين

Music by John Zaki
Audio produced by Maher El Mallakh, Blu Productions

Original Song “The Blessing”
Written by Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes ©2020 Music by Elevation Worship Publishing, Capitol CMG Paragon / Writers Roof Publishing, Worship Together Music / Kari Jobe Carnes Music CCLI #: 7147007

Photo Sources
Sinai desert https://tinyurl.com/ych5rm94

Wadi Rum, Jordan https://unsplash.com/photos/IDYdmpjQXZQ

Duhok, Iraq https://unsplash.com/photos/hXQe82aHFq0

Dubai, UAE https://unsplash.com/photos/au1s8PEBAtE

Yemen https://tinyurl.com/y9o2x3rv

Morocco https://unsplash.com/photos/9-5-WYEBDz0

Influential Theologian J.I. Packer, Author of Knowing God, Dies at 93 –

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Influential Theologian J.I. Packer, Author of Knowing God, Dies at 93 –


Influential Theologian J.I. Packer, Author of Knowing God, Dies at 93

J.I. Packer, one of the most influential theologians of the past century and the author of Knowing God and more than 40 other books, died July 17. He was 93.

Born in England, Packer served as a professor at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia from 1979 until 2016, when he ended his public ministry due to failing eyesight (macular degeneration).

Although Anglican, Packer had a huge influence on evangelicals; his books were widely assigned and read in Christian colleges and seminaries around the world.

He signed the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy in 1979.

Among his most popular books were Knowing God (1973), A Quest for Godliness (1990), Fundamentalism and the Word of God (1958) and Concise Theology (1993).

He often told his students, “Theology, friends, is doxology.”

Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Calif., said Packer was “a man who had an enormous impact on my life.” Mohler was an 18-year-old young man in the late 1970s who was “trying to figure out what it meant to be a Christian” when he discovered Packer.

“It was reading J.I. Packer’s book, Knowing God …. [that] made a decisive difference in my life,” Mohler said. “For the first time, I had someone talk to me about what it meant to know God – to recast the Christian devotional life … as not only knowing about God but knowing God.”

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Rev. C.T. Vivian, Longtime Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 95

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Rev. C.T. Vivian, Longtime Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 95


Rev. C.T. Vivian, Longtime Civil Rights Activist, Dies at 95

(RNS) — The Rev. C.T. Vivian, a minister and advocate for civil rights who worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died Friday (July 17) in Atlanta.

Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian was 95. His daughter, Denise Morse, confirmed his death, describing him to Atlanta TV station 11Alive as “one of the most wonderful men who ever walked the earth.”

He died of natural causes, business partner and friend Don Rivers told the Associated Press.

Vivian’s social justice work preceded King’s, as the Missouri native nonviolently and successfully protested segregated lunch counters in Peoria, Illinois, in 1947. He later became part of King’s executive staff at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta. 

Late in life, Vivian continued to contribute to the civil rights cause, serving in his late 80s as the president of the SCLC. 

In between his times at that civil rights organization, Vivian was active on issues of equality for decades, on the ground in marches and in lecture halls teaching about democracy and racial justice.

Vivian was honored in 2013 at age 89 with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, alongside media mogul Oprah Winfrey and former President Bill Clinton.

“The Rev. C.T. Vivian was a stalwart activist on the march toward racial equality,’’ says the White House citation read before President Barack Obama bestowed the medal on Vivian. “Whether at a lunch counter, on a…

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Faith Leaders Decry Trump Administration’s Renewed Use of Death Penalty

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Faith Leaders Decry Trump Administration’s Renewed Use of Death Penalty


Faith Leaders Decry Trump Administration’s Renewed Use of Death Penalty

WASHINGTON (RNS) — Faith leaders are speaking out against the federal government’s decision to begin executing federal prisoners, decrying the Trump administration’s decision to end a nearly two-decade-long moratorium on the federal death penalty.

The outcry comes as the U.S. Department of Justice carried out its second execution on Thursday morning (July 16), killing 68-year-old Wesley Purkey by lethal injection after he was convicted in 2003 of raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl as well as killing an 80-year-old woman.

Purkey’s death followed the Tuesday execution of Daniel Lewis Lee, who was convicted for his involvement in the killing of a family of three. A third execution was scheduled for Friday. These constitute the first uses of capital punishment by the federal government since 2003.

Faith leaders say the federal government’s use of the death penalty, which resumed after a 2019 push by the Justice Department, is out of step with their faith.

“So much for the ‘pro-life’ administration,” the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author, wrote in a Facebook post. “The taking (of) a life is always immoral. So is the taking (of) a life to punish the taking of another life. This is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the death penalty is ‘inadmissible.’ It is an assault on the dignity of the human person and on human life.”

More than…

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On this day in 1969, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon: Why your call matters to eternity

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On this day in 1969, Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon: Why your call matters to eternity

In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Buzz Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin and fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong were the first men to walk on the lunar surface with temperatures ranging from 243 degrees above to 279 degrees below zero. Astronaut Michael Collins flew the command module. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP)

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” With these immortal words, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon on this day in 1969.

I remember watching the telecast along with half a billion people around the globe. My parents were especially emotional. They were born in the 1920s, an era when travel to the moon was the stuff of science fiction novels. To watch an American actually step onto the lunar surface was nearly overwhelming for them.

Armstrong and astronaut Buzz Aldrin explored the moon for two and a half hours, collecting samples and taking photos. They left behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on one of the landing module’s legs.

It reads: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”

Neil Armstrong will always be known as the “first man” on the moon, but he knew that the credit was not his alone. In an interview, he praised the “hundreds of thousands” of people behind the Apollo 11 project. “Every guy that’s setting up the tests, cranking the torque wrench, and so on, is saying, man or woman, ‘If anything goes wrong here, it’s not going to be my fault,’” he said.

Why your call matters to eternity

Armstrong’s statements are true of every significant endeavor. Our celebrity-obsessed culture glamorizes movie and television stars, but it’s the hundreds of names on the credits at the end of the show that make their work possible. When a…

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Liberty University Files $10 Million Lawsuit against the New York Times

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Liberty University Files $10 Million Lawsuit against the New York Times


Liberty University Files $10 Million Lawsuit against the New York Times

Liberty University is suing the New York Times for the newspaper’s handling of the university’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Christian Headlines previously reported, the New York Times published an article in March decrying the school’s decision not to fully shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic. In the article, the Times claimed that nearly a dozen LU students were sick with coronavirus like symptoms. 

LU responded to those claims noting that it was untrue and requested a retraction be printed or legal action would be taken.

According to Fox News, during a broadcast of Hannity on Wednesday, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. confirmed that the school had indeed filed a lawsuit against the newspaper.

“Not only are they a bigoted bunch of liars, and also [a] BuzzFeed type clickbait publication now,” Falwell told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “But they’re also stupid because they came on campus. We had 25, at least, ‘No Trespassing’ signs everywhere, and they were dumb enough to take pictures of the signs and publish them.

“So, we got warrants out for their arrest and they had to cut a deal with a local prosecutor to keep from going to jail,” Falwell added. “That’s how dumb they are.”

The Times piece, entitled “Liberty University Brings Back Its Students, and Coronavirus Fears, Too,” reported that the man in charge of LU’s student health service, Dr. Thomas…

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The death of John Lewis and the power of ‘redemptive suffering’

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The death of John Lewis and the power of ‘redemptive suffering’

Congressman John Lewis speaks during his art exhibit tribute in the atrium of the domestic terminal at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Monday, April 8, 2019. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Rep. John Lewis died Friday after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. The civil rights icon was eighty years old.

He was elected to Congress in November 1986 and served as US Representative from Georgia’s Fifth District for seventeen terms. He was awarded more than fifty honorary degrees and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2011. 

The son of sharecroppers, he spent Sundays growing up with a great-grandfather who was born into slavery. When Lewis was a few months old, the manager of a chicken farm named Jesse Thornton was lynched about twenty miles down the road. His offense: he referred to a police officer by his first name rather than as “Mister.” A mob pursued Thornton, stoned and shot him, then dumped his body in a swamp. 

As a boy, Lewis decided that he wanted to be a preacher. He earned a BA in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University and graduated from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville. 

However, when he was fifteen years old, he heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preach on the radio and felt that God was calling him to join the civil rights movement. 

Beaten, spat upon, and burned with cigarettes 

According to the New York Times, Lewis “led demonstrations against racially segregated restrooms, hotels, restaurants, public parks, and swimming pools, and he rose up against other indignities of second-class citizenship. At nearly every turn, he was beaten, spat upon, or burned with cigarettes. He was tormented by white mobs and absorbed body blows from law enforcement.” 

During the Freedom Rides of 1961, the Times reports that Lewis “was left unconscious in a pool of his own blood outside the Greyhound Bus Terminal in…

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