Culture | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Tue, 22 Jan 2019 15:28:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Culture | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 The UK government asks the public whether loot boxes should be regulated https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/damien-cox/the-uk-government-asks-the-public-whether-loot-boxes-should-be-regulated/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/damien-cox/the-uk-government-asks-the-public-whether-loot-boxes-should-be-regulated/#respond Tue, 22 Jan 2019 15:28:33 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=401794 Despite multiple countries scrutinising loot boxes for their supposed link to gambling, the United Kingdom has taken a rather reserved approach by dismissing the connection on numerous occasions. Fortunately, further investigations from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee into “addictive technologies” is allowing the public to have their say in the matter. Over the …

The post The UK government asks the public whether loot boxes should be regulated first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Despite multiple countries scrutinising loot boxes for their supposed link to gambling, the United Kingdom has taken a rather reserved approach by dismissing the connection on numerous occasions. Fortunately, further investigations from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee into “addictive technologies” is allowing the public to have their say in the matter.

Over the past few years, publishers and developers have been exploring new ways of monetising. This has caused controversy, from microtransactions in the single-player Middle-earth: Shadow of War, to EA’s progression-based loot box system in Star Wars: Battlefront II. Both decisions were ultimately reversed, but the damage had been done as loot boxes and their connection to gambling had become the forefront of conversation throughout last year.

Many countries began exploring the link between loot boxes and gambling, with Belgium and the Netherlands quickly dubbing the in-game practice illegal. Other boards from Ireland, the United States and the United Kingdom came to the conclusion that loot boxes could not be defined as gambling by its current definition, while the latter two continued their investigations.

The UK’s effort has surfaced once again in 2019, as the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee looks towards public opinion regarding the “addictive nature of some technologies can affect users' engagement with gaming and social media, particularly amongst younger people.” Although the game isn’t mentioned, this has likely been fast-tracked thanks to the sheer popularity of Fortnite sweeping the world.

Following the terms of reference, contributors can submit a document up to 3,000 words filled with evidence towards their point. Each paragraph must be numbered at pertain to at least one of the six broad umbrella headings that the regulator is enquiring about:

  • The immersive media industry
  • The future of eSports in the UK
  • The wider uses of “gamification” and VR/AR
  • Tackling digital and gaming addiction
  • The links between gaming and gambling
  • Data security and infrastructure

The immersive media industry could include dangerous social media trends, such as the Bird Box challenge, while the “gamification” of VR/AR is likely to discuss “deep-fake” films, which use augmented reality to superimpose the face of someone onto something else without their consent. Data security could include Facebook’s overwhelmingly negative press pertaining to the selling of user data, and finally, tackling digital and gaming addiction could look into reworking the outdated laws of the country by bringing them into the digital era.

KitGuru Says: All of these are brilliant topics, desperately in need of discussion and it’s great to see the UK finally motivated in modernising itself. Do keep in mind that submissions are in an advisory capacity and could have varying influences on the final outcome, but almost every opinion is worth voicing.

The post The UK government asks the public whether loot boxes should be regulated first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/damien-cox/the-uk-government-asks-the-public-whether-loot-boxes-should-be-regulated/feed/ 0
Would you eat lab-grown meat to avoid killing animals? https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/would-you-eat-lab-grown-meat-to-avoid-killing-animals/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/would-you-eat-lab-grown-meat-to-avoid-killing-animals/#comments Mon, 07 Sep 2015 09:23:35 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=266524 Unless you yourself are a hunter who regularly kills, cleans and cooks their own meat, chances are – like most of us – you are pretty removed from the process of readying your meat for consumption. You may cook it, but few of us are actively slaughtering the animals we eat, mostly because it's more …

The post Would you eat lab-grown meat to avoid killing animals? first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Unless you yourself are a hunter who regularly kills, cleans and cooks their own meat, chances are – like most of us – you are pretty removed from the process of readying your meat for consumption. You may cook it, but few of us are actively slaughtering the animals we eat, mostly because it's more efficient, partially because we'd rather not think about it. But what about meat that was grown in a lab, rather than cut away from something living?

What about animal accessories like leather? One company, Borklyn based Modern Meadow claims it will be able to create that and more in the future. With poaching crisis like those taking place in Africa too, if animal flesh, bone and potentially horns and tusks could be grown in a petri dish, that would indeed avoid a lot of animal suffering.

However, while the idea of slaughter-less meat may appeal to some, the techniques used in its creation may not. Several years ago the company claimed it would use 3D printing to create the food, but lately it's said to be taking donor cells from unborn calves and growing them in sheets, which when combined together should create consumable meat.

growingmeat
Growing meat would certainly be easier for sustenance in space travel

It's this process that has some questioning the system which is often touted as having the potential to end inhumane animal treatment as part of the food production system. The problem lies with he fact that the bovine cells harvested have to be drawn from a slaughtered pregnant cow's foetus, which as the Guardian points out, often means taking blood from its heart.

When that blood is spun up in a centrifuge, you get some near perfect source cells for growing meat, but morals always get a little hazy when you're talking about unborn foetuses being used for anything. It's also very expensive; almost five times the cost of normal meat pound for pound.

It's hoped by those excited by these developments though, that the serum can soon be phased out and replaced with something more akin to a fungal serum, though whether consumers would still consider it meat remains to be seen.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The other thing to consider with a program like this, is that the animals involved in the food industry are only alive because of their place in it. If we replace cows entirely with lab-grown food and products, what need would we have for the giant animals that consume ungodly amounts of water and plant life?

Growing meat might save one generation, but it has the potential to doom a species in the same way that horses became far less useful with the invention of the combustion engine.

Image source: Modern Meadow, Wikimedia

The post Would you eat lab-grown meat to avoid killing animals? first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/jon-martindale/would-you-eat-lab-grown-meat-to-avoid-killing-animals/feed/ 14