The 22nd Fan Expo Canada took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this weekend, attracting thousands to the event, one of the most popular in North America. Crossing between the genres of science fiction, horror, anime, fantasy and comics, the event sprawled throughout all corners of the facility. Hundreds of vendors offered products new and old, joined by celebrity guests like Stan Lee, Mark Hamill, and Margaret Atwood. Various local fan organizations were there in a charitable capacity, and thousands of fans donned costumes, many of which they themselves created.Atwood, a Booker Prize-winner, was there to launch her graphic novel Angel Catbird, with illustrator Johnnie Christmas. Lee was making his final Canadian convention appearance, part of a larger farewell tour. Hamill’s schedule included a panel with Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in Batman: The Animated Series, in which the Star Wars lead played the Joker.Ubisoft, Microsoft, and PlayStation VR all had large areas set up for attendees to try their latest games. In the 20-minute PlayStation VR demonstration of Batman: Arkham VR, players are dropped down a secret elevator in Bruce Wayne’s manor, to the Bat Cave, to suit up. From there, the demonstration took players to investigate the murder of Nightwing.The Northern Arena Esports Championship ran throughout the weekend, facing off teams of video gamers in a packed hall. Even in early rounds, the event was well attended, with the stands full of gamers, watching the matches with live colour commentary. The finals saw US team Cloud9 and Immortals, from Brazil, face off in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Both unbeaten teams going in, the Brazillian team won the championship and $50,000.Gameplay was delayed during the “third map” (third round) of the finals, when one Immortals player was caught with their headset off. After nearly half an hour, the team was deducted a point, leading to a sudden but temporary rush of success by the US team.The Canadian garrison of 501st Legion returned with their setup of photo-ops, with proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.Volunteer organization Comic Corps of Canada collects donations of comics, to distribute to children and youth in the hospital. Along with collecting comics on-site, the group was fundraising through raffles and button sales.Other charitable fan-based groups included The Ontario Ghostbusters, Doctor Who Society of Canada, and Klingon Assault Group.The thousands of cosplay outfits on parade around the various halls offered a tremendous cross-section of genres and eras of pop culture. The majority of outfits involved at least some elements made from scratch, a fantastic display of craftsmanship. Of the thousands, Wikinews spoke with a cosplayer going by the name “The Katherinator”. She was outside the building in the gardens, waiting for a photographer she had arranged to shoot her new Epic Mickey costumed character-style outfit. With shoes as wide as a forearm, and a rigid torso of carved foam, she remained exuberant even when caught in the traffic between halls, many hours into wearing the outfit.DisneySuperheroesAnimeVideo games, movies, and more
Month: July 2024
After calling for the recall of more than 2 million Teslas, the Nhtsa (the Federal Highway Traffic Safety Agency) has now opened an investigation in the US to ascertain whether the Austin-based company has actually upgraded its Autopilot or Full Self Driving (FSD) safety standards, as requested by the government agency as recently as last December: Reuters reports. Specifically, the federal transportation safety agency had called for an upgrade of the system that monitors the driver’s attention when the Autopilot or Full Self-Driving system is in use, deeming the warnings issued by the car to be insufficient to ensure that the driver is always in control of the situation. The company agreed to recall the vehicles and remedied the situation with a software update.Several unclear points. According to the feds, the campaign implemented by the manufacturer may not be conclusive. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in fact, opened the new file concerned by a number of accidents that occurred after the cars affected by the recall were updated via software to resolve the criticalities detected by the agency. But also ‘preliminary test results from Nhtsa on repaired vehicles’ were said to have triggered the investigation. In addition, the federal agency stated that the software update – which increases reminders to pay attention and keep one’s hands on the wheel – initially requires the owner’s consent, but then allows the driver to easily reverse the settings. The agency is also assessing subsequent Autopilot fixes implemented by Tesla to see why they were not included in the recall campaign. The new investigation covers Model Y, X, S, 3 and Cybertruck cars equipped with Autopilot sold in the US, from model year 2012 to 2024.