Monthly Archives: March 2024

Jasmine Paolini did not play a hard-court tournament until she was a teenager.

Which, when you think about it, is pretty late to the game, especially when you consider hard courts account for the majority of the events on tour.

That was tough to accept for Paolini, who was born to an Italian father and a Ghanaian-Polish mother and grew up playing on the clay courts in Tuscany.

"I think the first time I played in I played a tournament on hard court was maybe when I was 14 years old," Paolini said on the WTA Insider Podcast. "Before, maybe I practiced a few times at the National Tennis Center on hard court. But in Italy now it's a little bit better.

"But before in our region in Tuscany, there are few of them. So it's not easy to practice and to adapt for young players."

Listen to Paolini's full interview on the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

"At the beginning, it was difficult because when I went to a tournament on hard courts, I was like, 'No, I hope clay is coming soon.'"

So yes, Paolini, 28, is as surprised as anyone her two WTA titles have come on hard courts. Her biggest win came just two weeks ago in Dubai, where she captured her first WTA 1000 title to surge up the rankings to a career-high No.14. The win continued a banner season for Italian tennis, with Paolini's win coming a month after Jannik Sinner took home the men's title at the Australian Open.

Maybe it's time to put to rest the idea that Italian tennis is at its best on the dirt. After all, who can forget the 2015 US Open final, which saw Flavia Pennetta best Roberta Vinci to become the first Italian to win a hard-court Grand Slam title.

"At the beginning, I remember I was thinking that on clay court it's kind of a completely different tennis, which is true, but not too much," Paolini said. "It's still tennis -- on clay or hard court it's still the same. [But] I was thinking that on clay court I can use topspin, I can move better, and on hard courts I have to play on the baseline and cannot move backwards. So I was changing my game with no sense."

The key to Paolini's success? Acceptance.

"When I won my first WTA title on hard courts I was really surprised," Paolini said. "I didn't never think that my first WTA title is going to is going to be on hard court. So from that point, I think I realized that I can play well on this surface. Everybody was telling me, but I wasn't believing.

"Now there's no reason even to complain because I know that a week can go bad. I cannot like maybe the balls or the court, I know. But I know that I have the weapons to play a good performance, you know?"

With Iga Swiatek winning Doha and Paolini taking Dubai, fans on social media were quick to joke about a Polish sweep in the Middle East. When a Polish reporter stuck around after her press conference to congratulate Paolini in Polish, Paolini laughed and thanked her in kind.

"When I was young [my mother] was speaking to me in Polish," Paolini said. "Now I can speak Polish, but I also forgot some words.

"For example, Magdalena Frech is speaking to me and I am always like, 'Please speak slow because sometimes I would like to say something in Polish and I say one word in English.' My brain is mixed a lot."

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Insider Podcast: Paolini dishes on her Polish roots and hard-court evolution - WTA Tennis

The show, based on Gruens novel, runs on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre.

Just join the circus like you wanted to, P.T. Barnum implores in the 1980 Broadway musical Barnum. A young man named Jacob Jankowski, a veterinary student who has just suffered a tragedy, does just that in Sara Gruens best-selling 2006 novel Water for Elephants.

Now, almost two decades after the novels publication, it has been adapted into a Broadway musical, directed by Jessica Stone and featuring a score by PigPen Theatre Co. Grant Gustin, Isabella McCalla, Gregg Edelman, and a host of real-life circus performers star at the Imperial Theatre.

TheaterMania recently spoke with Gruen and the shows librettist, three-time Tony Award nominee Rick Elice, about the challenges of musicalizing the novel, what they learned from their pre-Broadway tryout in Atlanta, and what message audiences might take away from the show.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

What made you each want to run away to the circus, as it were?

Sara Gruen: The book came to me in bits and pieces. I came across this vintage circus photo by Edward J. Kelty, and I realized I had a setting where anything could happen. I just dove in and never looked back. In the end, I realized I could pull 100 stories out of that photo.

Rick Elice: In 2015, I was approached by producer Peter Schneider, who came to me with the novel, which I had read as part of a book club and had talked about a lot in get-togethers. I had just been through a very difficult personal experience [the death of husband Roger Rees], and I was thinking about how to keep going. And because the novel deals with this main character who is going through loss both as an old man and a young man I thought this was the perfect show for someone at my stage of life.

Did either of you have any misgivings about musicalizing the novel?

Rick: Not really. I thought the theatrical collective PigPen was well suited to be our collaborators, even if its unusual to have seven composer-lyricists. So, we went to Sara and told her how we wanted to do the show, what could be included from the book, what couldnt be included, and what had to be conflated. Luckily, she was so enthusiastic about how we were going to do it and so game to our theatrical ideas. Then we took it to Jessica Stone, who we wanted to direct, and she had some early ideas on how to develop the piece. And there has been no looking back since.

How much has the musical changed between Atlanta and NYC?

Rick: When we were told that we were coming to Broadway and that we got the one theater, the Imperial, where we could physically do the show, we knew how much work we had to do. Mostly, it was about sharpening the story and making it more muscular. We also changed some numbers and did some recasting. People from Atlanta will probably think its better here, but they may not know why.

Sara, what message do you want audiences to take home from the show?

Sara: I never want to tell people want to think; but this is a story about love and compassion and caring for other people. Thats my takeaway.

See original here:

Interview: Sara Gruen and Rick Elice Talk About the Inspiration and Evolution of the New Musical Water for Elephants - TheaterMania.com

The release of Laravel 11 and Laravel Reverb will happen on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Along with major updates to Laravel, we'll get a new welcome page when creating a new Laravel application with laravel new or composer.

I thought it would be fun to see how the welcome page has evolved over previous versions of Laravel. Whether you are new to the framework or have been around a while, there's something special about creating a new Laravel project and seeing that welcome screen!

Laravel 11 will feature a light and dark theme, which looks gorgeous and inviting. It has a vibrant background, clean icons, and a welcoming feel that inspires creativity:

It's hard to believe that Laravel 10 was released a year ago on February 14, 2023. Over the last year, we've received countless amazing new features and quality-of-life updates. Here's what the welcome page looks like with a fresh Laravel 10 installation:

Notably, the Laravel logo is centered and is only the logo mark. Laravel 9 and 8 had a left-aligned logo + Laravel text mark:

The welcome page featured in Laravel 8 was the first time we saw a significant change since Laravel 5.x. Laravel 8 was released on September 8, 2020, during the period of time Laravel released a major version every six months:

Laravel's branding was technically updated around the Laravel 6 release. However, Laravel 8 was the first time the new logo was introduced on the welcome page. It featured four main areas/links: documentation, Laravel News, Laracasts, and prominent ecosystem links.

Between Laravel 6 and 7, we didn't see any significant changes to the welcome page, but at some point in the 5.x releases, the welcome page included links to documentation, Laracasts, Laravel News, Forge, and GitHub:

Laravel 5.0's landing page had the words "Laravel 5" and rendered a random inspiring quote using the Inspiring facade:

Laravel 4.2 had a minimal welcome page featuring a nostalgic logo (base64 image) and folder structure, which included this hello.php file, with the text, "You have arrived."

Read the rest here:

The Evolution of the Laravel Welcome Page - Laravel News

The cat-eyed snake slithers in the Peruvian Amazon. Dan Rabosky, University of Michigan

Not long after the origin of snakeswhen certain lizards began to lose their legs more than 150 million years agoa burst of evolutionary innovation paved the way for the variety of serpentine shapes, sizes and behaviors we see today.

From 30-foot green anacondas in South America to four-inch Barbados threadsnakes you could mistake for a noodle, the roughly 4,000 snake species in oceans, freshwater, forests and deserts exemplify the many unique forms and functions the reptiles have achieved over millions of years of evolution.

Researchers have now helped shed light on this diversity, identifying an evolutionary explosion early in snakes history that helped them evolve at a rate about three times faster than contemporary lizards, according to a paper published last week in the journal Science.

The rate at which snakes evolve new features and evolve new kinds of diets has basically been kicked into overdrive, Daniel Rabosky, the senior author of the study and an evolutionary biologist at the University of Michigan, tells Scientific Americans Jack Tamisiea. Lizards are puttering around on a moped, while snakes are on a bullet train.

That accelerating moment, which occurred roughly 125 million years ago, is the type of evolutionary jump that Charles Darwin once called an abominable mystery, and what the research team refers to as a singularity. Essentially, instead of the typical slow crawl of natural selection, snakes experienced many small changes in quick succession. Over the expansive timespan of prehistory, these added up to a sudden shift in the direction of the animals evolution.

To illuminate the details of this time for snakes, the research team analyzed the genomes of more than 1,000 squamates (the order that includes snakes and lizards) and examined partial DNA from about 80 percent of all known snake and lizard species. They combined these findings with statistical models to create the most detailed evolutionary tree of lizards and snakes to date.

From this analysis, the team found that the singularity appeared to have coincided with key changes to snakes anatomy. Their skulls became flexible, better for attacking and swallowing prey; they developed the ability to detect airborne chemicals with their tongues; and they lost their legs, becoming thinner and longer, better for traversing new terrains.

We thought maybe theyd show something exceptional in one area but maybe not in another, Alexander Pyron, a biologist at George Washington University (GWU) and an author of the study, said in a GWU press release. But, no, its every single thingincreased rates of body form evolution, increased rates of diet evolution, increased rates of niche evolution. Snakes stand out as a huge cut above every other group of lizards.

By studying the stomach contents of more than 68,000 dead specimens, mostly from museum collections, the researchers also identified snakes as becoming early dietary specialists, evolving the ability to eat prey that other lizards didnt touchincluding vertebrates and some toxic, hard to digest creatures. Along the way, it surely didnt hurt their hunting prowess that some snakes evolved to see infrared light, and some became venomous.

The paper demonstrates that snakes are an evolutionary singularity that has changed the face of the Earth, Michael Lee, an evolutionary biologist at Flinders University in Australia who wasnt involved in the research, tells Scientific American.

Still, scientists have much to learn. The findings didnt pinpoint which of snakes several unique traits gave them such an advantage, why the sudden singularity occurred, nor exactly how their specialized diets may have contributed to such a rapid evolutionary pace.

Snakes are special and weird, Nick Longrich, an evolutionary biologist and paleontologist at the University of Bath in England who was not involved in the new study, tells Popular Sciences Lauren Leffer. I think that, here, theyve successfully quantified it.

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Excerpt from:

A Serpentine 'Explosion' 125 Million Years Ago Primed Snakes for Rapid, Diverse Evolution - Smithsonian Magazine

In todays fast-paced world, the automotive industry is constantly evolving to meet the demands of consumers seeking safer, more efficient, and technologically advanced vehicles.

From electric cars to autonomous driving systems, modern technologies are revolutionizing the way cars are developed, manufactured, and driven. This article explores the key advancements in car development and highlights the impact of these technologies on the automotive landscape.

Electric Vehicles (EVs)

One of the most significant advancements in recent years is the rise of electric vehicles. EVs offer a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to traditional gasoline-powered cars. With zero tailpipe emissions, they contribute to reducing air pollution and combating climate change. The development of advanced battery technologies has increased the range of EVs, making them a viable option for everyday use. Moreover, the integration of regenerative braking systems and improved charging infrastructure has made EVs more convenient and accessible to the masses.

If youre interested in exploring a wide range of vehicles, including electric cars and other modern technologies, oakwood auto auction is a great place to start. With a diverse inventory and regular auctions, they offer a unique opportunity to find your dream car.

Autonomous Driving

Autonomous driving technology is another groundbreaking innovation that has gained considerable attention in recent years. Self-driving cars, equipped with advanced sensors, cameras, and artificial intelligence, have the potential to revolutionize transportation by enhancing safety, reducing accidents, and improving traffic flow. These vehicles can analyze their surroundings and make real-time decisions, eliminating the need for human intervention. While fully autonomous vehicles are still being tested and perfected, many modern cars already incorporate semi-autonomous features such as adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking.

Connected Car Technology

The advent of connected car technology has transformed the driving experience. By integrating vehicles with the internet and other devices, cars can now offer a range of features and services that enhance convenience, comfort, and safety. This technology enables real-time navigation updates, traffic information, and even remote control functions through smartphone apps. Additionally, connected cars can facilitate vehicle diagnostics, maintenance reminders, and emergency assistance, ensuring a more seamless and efficient ownership experience.

Advanced Safety Systems

Safety has always been a paramount concern in the automotive industry, and modern technologies have significantly improved vehicle safety features. Systems such as lane departure warning, blind-spot detection, and forward collision warning utilize sensors and cameras to monitor the surrounding environment and alert drivers of potential hazards. Moreover, advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) like automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection can intervene to prevent accidents or mitigate their severity. These technologies have the potential to save countless lives and make roads safer for everyone.

Lightweight Materials and Aerodynamics

Car manufacturers are increasingly utilizing lightweight materials such as aluminum, carbon fiber, and high-strength steel to enhance fuel efficiency without compromising safety. These materials reduce the overall weight of the vehicle, resulting in improved performance and reduced emissions. Additionally, advanced aerodynamic designs help to minimize drag and optimize fuel consumption. By utilizing these technologies, automakers can create more eco-friendly cars that offer better fuel efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

Conclusion

The automotive industry is undergoing a technological revolution, with advancements in electric vehicles, autonomous driving, connected car technology, safety systems, and lightweight materials. These innovations are shaping the future of transportation, providing greener, safer, and more efficient vehicles for consumers. As we witness the rapid development of these technologies, it is clear that the automotive landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace.

Remember, embracing modern technologies in car development not only benefits us as individuals but also contributes to a more sustainable and connected future.

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The Evolution of Modern Technologies in Car Development - FinSMEs

A male emerald harvestman (Iporangaia pustulosa) guarding its eggs in the Atlantic rain forest of Brazil. Studying the embryos this species revealed that vestigial eyes may be widespread in harvestmen. Photo: John Uribe

While some people may first associate daddy longlegs with, well, their long legs, researchers Guilherme Gainett and Prashant Sharma have been especially focused on the arachnids eyes. In their paper published last week in the journal Current Biology, the researchers found that a living species of daddy longlegs has two additional sets of underdeveloped eyes as embryos, implying that the species diversified earlier in the evolutionary tree than scientists believed.

The clue to this unexpected discovery lay hidden under the microscope, beside the developing legs of a daddy longlegs.

I couldnt believe my eyes. It was one of those little moments that happens in science when you see something that no one has ever seen and get really excited, recalls Gainett, who is now a post-doctoral researcher at Boston Childrens Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

What Gainett was seeing were opsins, visual proteins that are important for the formation of visual organs and the mechanics of sight. Finding these opsins clustered on the embryos indicated to the researchers that they were likely vestigial eyes, structural remnants that, at another point in evolution, would have developed into two additional sets of lens-bearing, functional eyes.

Under a microscope, the head of a daddy longlegs glows magenta where its modern-day eyes form. Opsins shown in green indicate that two additional sets of vestigial eyes existed in an earlier stage of the animals evolution. Photo: Guilherme Gainett

One set was lateral, located on the side of the head beside the frontmost pair of legs, while the other was a median set, located in front of eyes that appear today on the front of the head. Gainett and Sharma also found evidence that these organs have remained connected to the visual processing part of the brain.

Until now, present-day daddy longlegs were believed to have only one set of median eyes, positioned at the top of the head. While a fossilized specimen of a more ancient version of the arachnid found in 2014 had an additional set of lateral eyes on the side of the head, the new study is the first to show evidence of more than one eye set in a living daddy longlegs species.

Vestigial organs have been of interest to scientists since Charles Darwin began discussing his ideas of evolution.

They leave these footprints behind in the crime scene of what happened in the transition from one morphology to the other in different groups, Gainett says.

He explains that vestigial organs are important because they can link the ancient and modern traits of species, allowing us to track the evolutionary process as a species gains or as with this case loses features over time. Interestingly, the position of the vestigial eyes found in living daddy longlegs are similar to what was reported in the fossilized specimen.

Different eyes have different functions, Gainett explained. Median eyes usually have better visual acuity, so theyre better at forming crisp images in some arachnids. Lateral eyes are helpful for detecting movement and light in general, not so much for producing clear images, making them helpful in low-light conditions.

But since the lateral eyes Gainett found on the daddy longlegs embryos dont have lenses, they arent processing visual information into images in the same way that fully developed eyes do. Instead, Gainett and Sharma believe these eyes are picking up on more general information to help the arachnid tell the difference between light and dark.

Once they discovered the vestigial opsins, Gainett and Sharma began to wonder why and how the daddy longlegs ancestor lost two pairs of eyes. Its difficult to know what environmental conditions could have played a roll, so instead they looked to the genetic and developmental conditions that give rise to different kinds of eyes.

Gainett and Sharma studied a group of genes that code for the development of arachnid eyes.

Guilherme Gainett

Some of these genes are expressed in both types of eyes, so theyre necessary for all eyes, for median eyes and lateral eyes. But some of these genes are more restricted to one type or another, says Gainett.

By experimenting with knocking down genes expressions, they were able to provide evidence that the vestigial organs were likely eyes. Gainett explains knocking down genes as a temporary way to dim down their expression, rather than permanently switching them off entirely.

To dim the expression of genes responsible for eye development, the researchers used a process called RNA interference. It essentially tricks a cell into thinking its own gene is a threat and, like a virus, should be chopped up so it cant be duplicated. When the expression of these genes was lowered in daddy longlegs embryos, the individuals did not develop eyes.

Each row in the image above illustrates the head of a single embryo at increasing developmental stages of eye formation. Magenta, yellow and green mark the expression of three different genes that code for vision. The first column is a composite to show all three genes at the same time. Photo: Guilherme Gainett

Drawing these genetic and developmental links between the vestigial eyes of a present-day daddy longlegs and the fossilized specimen gives an important look inside how evolution happens.

One of the goals of studying the genetics behind what we see in morphology is really understanding how evolution happens. What do you need to change in the underlying recipe of genes for the diversity of eyes to evolve? Gainett explains.

At Boston Childrens Hospital, Gainett hopes to continue his work on arthropod eye evolution by studying the genetics behind the transition from compound eyes, like those of flies, to camera-like eyes that we see in many spiders.

Funding for this research comes from the National Science Foundation, grant no. IOS-2016141.

More here:

The eyes are a gateway to evolution of daddy longlegs at least. - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Newey instead branded it as a "third evolution" in their F1 lineup.

The RB20 has become a focal point in the early stages of the 2024 season, garnering attention across the F1 paddock for its assertive design, particularly in the sidepod region.

At first glance, similarities can be drawn between the RB20 and Mercedes' 2022 design, as well as their setup from the onset of the previous year, notably with their engine cover.

With the stark deviation from the all-dominating RB19, which clinched victory in 21 out of 22 races in 2023, many have questioned Red Bull's decision to introduce such innovation given their prior success.

Nevertheless, Newey has played down the perceived disparity between their latest model and its predecessor.

"No, not at all," Newey said on the F1 Nation Podcast when asked if the RB20 was a 'step into the unknown'.

"I mean, the underlying architecture of the car is the third generation evolution of what started as RB18.

"Where we carry everything, apart from the radiators, they've changed, but apart from that, the layout of the front suspension, the rear suspension, the gearbox, casing, et cetera, it's a third evolution of RB18.

"The bits that are visible, and they've obviously caused quite a lot of attention, obviously, we're pursuing aerodynamic gains there, but the visual change is actually much, much larger than the performance change you get from that and there are other much more subtle bits, that people haven't noticed, that are probably responsible for a bigger gain."

READ MORE: Max Verstappen to face media amid Red Bull drama ahead of Saudi Arabian GP

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Adrian Newey: RB20 is the next step in Red Bull's design evolution - PlanetSport

In the past several years weve seen a staggering growth of loyalty program launches and iterations from restaurant brands, and that trendcontinues as consumers become more tethered to their mobile devices. In the past year alone, weve seen new or updated loyalty programs from brands like KFC, Just Salad, CAVA, and Dominos Pizza.

As part of loyaltys evolution, programs are shifting away from a discounting-focused model to more of a personalized, surprise-and-delight-rewards-focused model. Were also starting to see that such mobile-based programs arent just for coffee concepts or lunch spots anymore; more full-service concepts are jumping on board, and, like their limited-service peers, they are also reaping the benefits of higher frequency and check from their members. Of course, loyalty isn't a new concept forfull-service brands. Chilis launched MyChilis in 2015, for instance, while Bloomin Brands launched its loyalty programabout a year later and made itavailable for all of its brands. But casual dining category players are starting to evolve their programs capabilities to be more robust and, of course, more digital. One example here is TheCheesecake Factory, which unveiled its new loyalty program last year, includingaccess to reservations, complimentary slices of cheesecake for members birthdays, and even integration into the DoorDash platform to also make offers available there. During Cheesecakes Q4 earnings call last month, CEO David Overton said the program is so far exceeding internal expectations.

Related: 11 notable new loyalty programs, revamps, and upgrades of 2023

We remain encouraged by the level of member activity and engagement we are seeing, he said. We are continuing to test acquisition tactics and activation campaigns to better understand the key elements that are resonating with rewards members and most effectively increasing membership enrollment, engagement and driving frequency.

He added that the company is centrally focused on the rewards program for its marketing approach this year.

Meanwhile, Cracker Barrel launched its rewards program in September and during the companys Q2 call last month, new CEO Julie Masino said there have been strong enrollment levels so far.

We are encouraged by the engagement, feedback, and response rates were seeing, she said, adding that loyalty members accounted for nearly 50% of the chains Thanksgiving heat-and-serve sales, which was partially driven by the programs ability to directly engage with them. Therein lies the impetus behind these loyalty launches.

Today, were spending a lot in mass marketing. We are doing some targeting and digital and so on, but its still a version of mass marketing, CFO Craig Pommells told analysts. As the loyalty program continues to scale, well be able to talk to guests in a much more targeted and one-to-one way.

Cracker Barrel wouldnt share enrollment numbers quite yet, but executives noted its ahead of plan and is driving incremental traffic and strong engagement.

The power of loyalty in digital is realized through the scaled collection of guest data, capitalizing on the behavioral insights through robust test and learn campaigns, and delivering individualized experiences that drive engagement, incremental sales and increased visitation. With our recent success, I believe we can do more to faster realize these goals, Masino said. We continue to believe the program, with its easy-to-use and engaging design and rewarding value, will be a meaningful brand differentiator and traffic driver over the long-term.

This is likely what Red Robin is also going for as it gears up for its loyalty program relaunch this year. The current program has over 13 million members and has historically been discount focused.

We intend to transform our program into a VIP-like experience, delivering relevant messaging to our members and ultimately fostering a new generation of Red Robin ambassadors, CEO G.J. Hart told analysts last month. Were excited to transition to a points-based system that makes it easier for our most loyal guests to earn rewards, giving them incentive to visit us more often.

A full-service case study for successful loyalty program evolution can be found at IHOP, which recently reported its 11th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales and outperformed the category on traffic. The chains International Bank of Pancakes loyalty program was launched in March of 2022 and now counts 8 million people. According to Dine Brands CEO John Peyton, the IHOP loyalty app is being downloaded 8,000 times a day and those members visit on average nearly twice as much as non-members and spend about 5% more.

I believe there is much more upside here, notwithstanding the quick growth of the program loyalty only accounts for approximately 6.5% of total sales for IHOP, up from less than 3% in 2022, he told analysts last month. We are just beginning to scratch the surface in terms of the loyalty programs ability to drive incremental traffic and sales, and we are also starting to learn the purchasing habits of our loyalty members that will lead to more personalized marketing.

During a recent interview, IHOP CMO Kieran Donahue said the chains recent rollout of a new point-of-sale system will further buoy the loyalty program, as all of the brands technology is now integrated, allowing better one-on-one connection with guests.

Thats been a key for us, she said. Well continue to get more value out of our loyalty program and use that to meet guests where they are and use the program to recognize and incentivize members. Theres a lot that we have in front of us.

Contact Alicia Kelso at [emailprotected]

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The loyalty program evolution makes its way to the full-service restaurant category - Nation's Restaurant News

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin was a blockbuster series with a gloriously simple premise. Years into the future - and in a continuity separate from the original TMNT - three of the original Turtles have been killed in battle leaving only one survivor, Michelangelo, to avenge his fallen family. It was tougher and darker than most Turtles comics and fans lapped it up.

Two years later, the sequel is upon us. Clearly hoping that lightning will strike twice, IDW has re-assembled the original creative team, including writers Tom Waltz and TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, along with artists Esau and Isaac Escorza, and Ben Bishop. We've read the first issue and while we can't get into spoilers just yet - the issue is published this Wednesday - it's safe to say that The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #1 will satisfy those hoping for an action-packed sequel even if, on the basis of this first issue, it has quite a different tone to the previous series.

The story picks up 15 years after the events of The Last Ronin. Hiroto and the Foot Clan are long gone, but New York City is falling ever further into chaos. Meanwhile, April O'Neil and her daughter Casey Marie are raising a new generation of ninja turtles in secret while also fighting to keep a lid on the growing violence on the streets. It's not quite working - as Casey puts it early in the issue, "it's become a war of attrition" - and even their allies are starting to feel that the Resistance's non-lethal methods aren't making enough of an impact.

Enter the new Turtles: Yi, Odyn, Moja, and Uno, trained in the skills and traditions of Clan Hamato and Masters Splinter and Michelangelo. Can they turn the tide and save the city?

It's fair to say that The Last Ronin II isn't simply more of the same. By its nature, four young, wise-cracking Turtles are going to be a very different proposition to the terse, solitary and vengeance-driven Michelangelo going it alone. In some ways it feels closer in tone to the regular TMNT - not a bad thing, but it does mean that this first issue feels less distinct and radical than the original Last Ronin. It's also a little slower, with lots of exposition, often in very wordy speech bubbles. Hopefully this cautious pacing will pay off as the run continues.

Where the book shines is in its art. Primarily drawn by Esau and Isaac Escorza (with a tasty interlude by Ben Bishop, the nature of which we won't spoil here), it's kinetic and hyper-detailed, especially in the later pages where we see the new team leap into their first mission. The fights are as crunchy and physical as you'd hope and there's plenty of action here both involving the turtles themselves and Casey Marie, who has grown into something of a badass.

Indeed, the characters are another of the book's strengths. None of the original turtles feature here and the new gang have a slightly different and younger dynamic, but there's something really appealing about being with these brothers and sisters as they make their first moves in the hero game.

Of course, with only one issue to go on so far it's too early to judge how The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution will stack up against its predecessor, but it certainly feels good to be back in this version of the TMNT world. The second issue is set for May 1 and it can't come soon enough.

You can keep track of everything happening with TMNT: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution right here.

The rest is here:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II - Re-Evolution #1 spoiler-free review: goes hard on the action, but ... - Gamesradar

Many organisations in India are migrating to the cloud, and there is no shortage of cloud providers. But if you want cloud to revolutionise your business, it wont help to get stuck with a basic cloud configuration that works by default but doesnt keep pace with your evolving goals.

This is what Mobicule Technologies, an independent software vendor (ISV) in fintech, realised as they expanded their client base in Indias financial services industry.

Large banks have tens of thousands of loan customers. Managing these accounts is an operational burden, as it involves constant follow-ups on monthly instalments, account maintenance and timely collections, especially when customers default on payments.

Mobicule has developed a comprehensive, cloud-based platform that automates the end-to-end management of various loan types, including consumer, vehicle, home and business loans. Their clients transfer the full management lifecycle of their loan accounts to this platform, which blends a range of digital functionality with a customer-focused call centre to streamline debt collection and resolution.

While other loan-management software vendors typically charge a fixed monthly fee per loan account, Mobicule only bills their clients once instalments have been recovered. This allows banks to minimise the risks associated with their loan accounts in a flexible, cost-effective way.

Before Mobicule started working with NTT DATA, they had already sourced cloud services from a large hyperscaler and were doing development in the cloud.

However, they lacked a sense of ownership of their cloud environment, and they found themselves having to fit square pegs in round holes while demand was rising for their services. They needed a provider who could tailor a solution to their needs, with an emphasis on cost efficiency because they deliver their software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering in a hypercompetitive market.

In financial services, security and compliance are as important as reliability and responsiveness. Mobicule needed help with their security information and event management (SIEM) approach: combining security information management (collecting, analysing and reporting on log data generated from all their technology infrastructure) and security event management (monitoring, correlating and analysing security events generated by hardware and software, in real time).

This level of reliability and security had to be scalable across multiple clients, each of which needed a guarantee that, despite being part of a cloud-native, multitenant environment, their data and infrastructure would remain private and protected.

As a pioneer in a competitive market, we need to be nimble in order to maintain our early-mover advantage. To achieve this, we needed a cloud partner who could assume the role of a trusted adviser and deliver a cloud landscape that would enable us to create a robust, secure and cost-efficient cloud landscape for our SaaS offerings, says Siddharth Agarwal, Founder and MD of Mobicule.

NTT DATA went the extra mile to help Mobicule, starting with cloud discovery and analysis sprints to define clear objectives. Working with the Mobicule team, we selected our SimpliCloud public-cloud platform as the optimal execution venue for their application landscape.

With SimpliCloud, Mobicule can deploy infrastructure-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service solutions, containers and microservices, and connect to other hybrid or multicloud platforms as needed.

The combination of SimpliCloud (an on-demand enterprise public cloud) and SimplyVPC (an agile and secure hosted private cloud) allows us to offer a seamless hybrid and multicloud solution for organisations navigating the complexities of SaaS delivery.

Mobicule now consumes cloud capacity in an on-demand, pay-as-you-go model, with access to a range of cloud-native microservices, all managed around the clock by NTT DATA. In this way, they have realised savings in the form of a 40% cloud cost optimisation compared with their previous public-cloud setup.

Combined with our portfolio of managed services, which span everything from the application layer to people, tools and processes, this cloud solution is a compelling proposition not only for Mobicule and financial service providers but also for organisations in other industries.

NTT DATAs cloud platform has been instrumental in enabling us to be efficient and agile. Their approach to cloud transformation allows us to focus on our core ISV offerings rather than worry about our cloud landscape, says Agarwal.

We want to help our clients grow because their success is our success. This sets us apart in the cloud space, and we hope to help many more innovative organisations like Mobicule advance their digital transformation.

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