Links:

• A first look at Unreal Engine 5 - Unreal Engine — We’ve just released a first look at Unreal Engine 5. One of our goals in this next generation is to achieve photorealism on par with movie CG and real life, and put it within practical reach of development teams of all sizes through highly productive tools and content libraries.
• Oculus | VR Headsets, Games & Equipment — No matter who you are, with a growing library of games and experiences there is no limit to where you can go and what you can do in virtual reality.
• Augmented Reality - Apple — Apple has the world’s largest AR platform, with hundreds of millions of AR‑enabled devices, as well as thousands of AR apps on the App Store. And because Apple hardware and software are designed from the ground up for AR, there is no better way to experience AR.
• Apple Glasses: VR and AR Are Coming — Apple is rumored have a secret team of hundreds of employees working on virtual and augmented reality projects.
• Deepfake - Wikipedia — Deepfakes (a portmanteau of "deep learning" and "fake") are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness.
• Knuckles the Echidna - Wikipedia — In January 2018, players began to flood the virtual reality video game VRChat with avatars depicting a deformed version of the character called "Ugandan Knuckles". The character stemmed from a 2017 review of Sonic Lost World by YouTube user Gregzilla as well as from fans of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds streamer Forsen who often make references to the African country Uganda in the chat section of his streams.

Links:

• Elon Musk Just Revealed More About His Plan to Colonize Mars — When Elon Musk announced his plans last year to build a self-sustaining colony on Mars, many did not think his futuristic goal would or could be achieved in their lifetime. But the SpaceX founder has now penciled in a date when he hopes the first human landings on Mars could take place—and it’s as early as 2024, just seven years away.
• Elon Musk: The chance we are not living in a computer simulation is 'one in billions' | The Independent | The Independent — Elon Musk has said that there is only a “one in billions” chance that we’re not living in a computer simulation. Our lives are almost certainly being conducted within an artificial world powered by AI and highly-powered computers, like in The Matrix, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO suggested at a tech conference in California.
• Elon Musk Embraces His New Status As Memelord — Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, can add a new line to his resume: memelord. Ever since the 47-year-old co-hosted PewDiePie’s “meme review” with Rick and Morty creator and voice actor Justin Roiland, he’s risen to a new status. Musk has long enjoyed a good meme, but following his meme review appearance, his appreciation for them seems to have grown.
• Tesla’s Elon Musk smokes weed on Joe Rogan podcast, havoc ensues - Vox — ust as the dust had settled in Elon Musk’s will-he-won’t-he take Tesla private drama, the electric car company ran into a new set of troubles. Much of the turmoil was driven by the chief executive himself. Here’s what happened: On Tuesday, BuzzFeed News published emails from Musk doubling down on his insistence that one of the Thai cave rescuers was indeed a pedophile who had moved to Thailand to take a child bride. (The rescuer has denied all of this, and Musk previously apologized for the accusation back in June.) Then on Thursday, Musk appeared on comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast for a two-hour conversation in which he smoked what Rogan said was marijuana and drank whiskey. On Friday, two of Tesla’s top executives resigned. The US Air Force, which has multiple contracts with Musk’s SpaceX, reportedly began looking into Musk’s marijuana use, because it’s prohibited for someone with a government security clearance. The Air Force denied there’s an investigation and said it needs to determine “the facts and the appropriate process to handle the situation.”
• Elon Musk Accused of Bitcoin Market Manipulation By Top Economist | Tom's Hardware — Just last week, news broke that Tesla had purchased $1.5-billion in Bitcoin to 'maximize returns on cash,' and somewhat unsurprisingly, eyebrows are being raised. As reported by Markets Insider, Economist Nouriel Roubini is accusing Elon Musk of market manipulation and stating that the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) should investigate. The basis of Roubini's accusations stems from Elon Musk's tweets. Roubini accuses Elon of using his Twitter platform to pump up the price.
• Elon Musk on SNL: The controversy, explained - Vox — Elon Musk — Tesla CEO, SpaceX man, and one of the richest people in the world — is hosting Saturday Night Live on Saturday night. As always when it comes to Elon Musk, his immense power and wealth have combined with his seemingly complete lack of self-awareness to create the perfect storm of something to be mad about for a bit. A handful of SNL cast members have expressed their irritation, and the show has reportedly made clear to all cast members that they’re allowed to skip out on Musk’s episode if they like.