Tech

Starfield Inventory Tips: How to Expand Your Storage and Not Be Encumbered

Published

1 year ago

September 1, 2023

One of the things you’ll learn real quick in Starfield is that your pockets are only so deep. And by that I mean, unless you’re very particular about what you loot, you are going to find yourself encumbered a whole lot. Increasing your storage space both on your person and on your ship should be an early priority, along with learning some easy workarounds so don’t have to play the game of “what should I throw away so I can fast travel back to my ship,” Here are our tips on how to increase and deal with Starfield’s Storage.

You Have an Infinite Storage Locker in The Lodge

It may not be obvious, and the game definitely never tells you this, but let’s get this out of the way first: You have unlimited storage at The Lodge on New Atlantis. You can leave stuff in your personal safe in your bedroom at the Lodge, once you become a member of Constellation through the main quest. Take the stairs up, head through the third door on the right, go all the way down the hall, take a left, and it’s the second door on the left. Or if you need a second box of infinite storage, there’s one right on the desk in the basement in the form of an unassuming storage box.

Increasing Your Personal Storage

When it comes to increasing your own inventory space, there’s really only one way to do so… Well one that doesn’t involve hunting down a whole bunch of Freestar Collective Magazines. You’ve gotta add to the Weight Lifting skill when you level up. At the first level, it’ll increase your max weight by 10 kilograms, which isn’t much, but will at least let you equip a few extra weapons, giving you some other options if you run out of ammo with one of your main guns in a fight.

You can add more points into the Weight Lifting skill, but in order to do so, you’ll first have to level it up. Fortunately, the way to level up this particular skill is actually fairly easy: You just need to sprint a certain amount of distance while at 70% or higher carrying capacity. Chances are, you’ll do this without even trying to, but nonetheless, make sure to keep an eye on your equip load and make sure that if you do want to further this skill along, you’re carrying a relatively heavy load and running around a whole bunch.

By maxing out this skill, you’ll be able to increase your personal weight limit by a total of 100kg, which makes it a very worthwhile investment if you plan on using heavy weapons, heavy armor, and plan on hauling a bunch of heavy resources. Or maybe you just don’t want to deal with the pain in the ass of being over encumbered, which hey, I get it. If that is the case though, and you’re just carrying around a bunch of non-essential items that you don’t want to just throw away, there’s another option.

Using Your Companion as a Mule

Sam Coe, professional mule, at your service

In classic Bethesda fashion, your companion can also double as a secondary backpack. If you find yourself over encumbered and you just need to offload a few things to allow yourself to fast travel, the easiest option is to chat with your companion, ask them to trade with you, and then just give them whatever you don’t want to carry.

Then when you get back to your ship you can store the excess items in your ships cargo hold. There’s a handy feature that lets you automatically drop off all resource materials, which you absolutely should because they’re easily among the heaviest things you can carry and all that weight adds up quickly.

That said, if you do that, you’ll run into another problem, which is:

Increasing Your Ship Storage

Your ship has a storage limit as well, which you will likely quickly reach if you’re just offloading all of your resources into your cargo hold. In order to increase your ship’s cargo capacity, you’re going to have to delve into some ship customization.

You can find a Ship Services Technician near the landing pad of virtually all of the big cities in Starfield. Talk to them and you can either outright purchase a bigger, better ship with more storage, you can modify the ship you currently own and upgrade your cargo hold, or you can build an all new ship from scratch.

In order to increase your ship’s cargo capacity, you’re going to have to delve into some ship customization

All of these options cost either a lot or an obscene amount of credits. The cheapest option is to just upgrade your existing ship, but be aware that it’s not as simple as just slapping on a larger cargo hold and then calling it a day. When you open up the ship builder and start editing your ship, the first thing you’ll find is that there’s nowhere to actually put a larger cargo hold. So the first thing you’ll have to do is make some space for it. I’d recommend deleting the currently existing cargo hold, adding a structural mount in its place, and then placing however many side mounting cargo holds you want on the sides.

This will make your ship too heavy to properly maneuver, so you’ll need to upgrade or add new engines. Upgrading your engines is the cheaper and easier route, but if you’d prefer to go big: grab your two engines and pull them out, place large engine bracers in their place, reattach the engines you already had, and then add two more rear facing engines, and you should be good to go.

If you do this though, you will likely make your ship too heavy to grav jump, so you’ll need to either upgrade the one you have, or delete it and add on a better one. This is all of course, just an example of something I did, and you’re free to customize your ship however you’d like. If you’d like to learn more about it, we’ve already got a ship building guide that goes into far more detail than this, including where and how to find special cargo holds that shield your contraband from scans.

You can also get more out of the storage you currently have on your ship by investing in the skill “Payloads,” which is in the second tier of the Tech skill tree. One point will increase your cargo holds’ capacity by 10%, while maxing it out will increase it by 50%.

Other Storage Tips

If you still don’t have enough storage, you little space hoarder you, or maybe you’re just looking for a way to save on some credits, you can also use the captains locker on your ship, which is located just to the right of the cockpit and can store 40 kilograms of cargo. If you find Freestar Collective Magazines, you can increase your storage space by five for each magazine you find.

And finally, if you want to be truly chaotic, you can also just… drop stuff on the ground and they will stay there right where you left them. In your ship, in your home, or on an outpost. Like a dang child. I hope your mother doesn’t see this.

Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit

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Tech

Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

Published

1 week ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Health

Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Published

3 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Tech

Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

Published

3 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

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