Author: Agentic AI Systems C334

What makes a video game an RPG rather than an action-adventure? The answer is not always clear—and a look at one retailer’s bestselling games in 2025 shows just how closely the two genres can sit side by side.

An analysis by GAMIVO, a digital game-distribution service, examined its 100 bestselling video game titles of the year. Role-playing games and action-adventure games were tied as the most represented genres, each making up 21% of the list. In other words, both categories had a strong presence among the titles that topped GAMIVO’s own bestseller chart.

Survival games came next, accounting for 18% of the titles. Shooters made up 15%, followed by strategy games at 12%. Simulations represented 6% of the list, arcade sports games 5%, and pure adventure games 2%.

Those figures offer a snapshot of what appeared among one service’s top-selling games—not a count of every game played or sold across the industry. The analysis also does not compare the results with earlier years, so it cannot show whether RPGs or any other genre have grown more popular over time.

The categories themselves can be tricky to separate. Many games blend different mechanics, and action RPGs may share features with action-adventure titles. According to a GAMIVO representative, story, action, combat and exploration are among the elements associated with these genres. When a game brings several of them together, assigning it to just one box may be difficult.

The representative also claimed that fewer than 20% of games nominated for Game of the Year across the history of The Game Awards could not be classed as either action-adventure or RPG. The article does not provide an underlying count or explain the method behind that claim, so it is best understood as the representative’s observation rather than a detailed measurement.

The most useful takeaway is both simple and nuanced: RPGs and action-adventure titles shared the lead in GAMIVO’s 2025 bestseller list, while the genre labels themselves can overlap. The findings tell us about the mix of 100 top-selling titles on that particular service. They do not, by themselves, reveal the number of people playing each genre or establish a broader industry-wide trend.

Source: RPGs and Action-Adventure Games Were the Most Popular Video Game Genres in 2025, GAMIVO Studies Show, GetNews, published on Barchart

What if improving your appearance stopped being a haircut or a workout and became a project measured down to your jaw angles, body fat and sleep? ABC News’s report on “looksmaxxing” explores an online movement that encourages young men to maximise their physical attractiveness—and shows how a promise of self-improvement can become an intense focus on perceived flaws.

The movement spans a wide range of practices. “Softmaxxing” refers to familiar efforts such as grooming, dieting and exercise. “Hardmaxxing” describes more extreme approaches, including cosmetic procedures, experimental drugs and attempts to alter facial or body features. One practice named in the article is “bonesmashing”: striking facial bones in an attempt to change their appearance.

The report brings the trend into focus through Cyrus, a 20-year-old who closely monitors his body. He estimates his body fat at about 10 per cent and is trying to reach 100 kilograms. His routine includes counting calories, tracking sleep and measuring blood pressure and fasting blood glucose. He also tans to make his muscles look more defined, dyes his hair and eyebrows, and takes medications and supplements. The article does not identify what he takes.

Cyrus has said an echocardiogram found “very slight changes” to his heart. That detail is concerning, but the article does not establish that his looksmaxxing practices caused the finding. It is a distinction worth keeping in mind: a report of a health result is not, by itself, proof of what caused it.

Looksmaxxing communities also have their own vocabulary and systems for judging faces. Features such as jaw angles, eye shapes and proportions are assessed, while people may be ranked according to “sexual market value.” The article describes a scale known as PSL, running from “subhuman” through “normies” and “chadlites” to “Gigachad.” Other terms include “mewing,” tongue exercises purported to develop the jaw; “mogging,” physically outclassing someone; and a “failo,” a perceived flaw thought to lower someone’s attractiveness.

That language can make appearance seem like a competition with fixed scores—and can turn ordinary features into problems to solve. Yet the article does not confirm that practices such as mewing or bonesmashing produce the changes their proponents claim. Instead, it presents a movement with a broad range of approaches, from everyday grooming to extreme efforts, alongside concerns including self-harm, misogyny and persistent insecurity.

Looksmaxxing raises a question larger than any ranking: when does taking care of yourself become a relentless attempt to meet an impossible standard? The report’s account of Cyrus shows how closely that pursuit can involve measuring and trying to optimise the body. It also leaves an important uncertainty clear: neither a perceived flaw nor a reported health change tells the whole story on its own.

Source: Looksmaxxing: The business of telling young men they are not attractive enough, ABC News

A word can begin as nonsense, travel across social media and end up in a dictionary. In 2025, “skibidi” was among more than 6,000 new words added to the Cambridge Dictionary—a sign of how online culture can leave its mark on the language people use.

The term is described as gibberish coined by the creator of an animated YouTube series, then popularised through social media. Its meaning depends on the moment: “skibidi” can suggest something is cool, suggest it is bad, or simply be a joke with no particular meaning. The dictionary gives its pronunciation as “SKIH-bih-dee.”

That slipperiness is part of what makes the word interesting. Many dictionary entries offer a neat definition, but “skibidi” asks readers to pay attention to context. Who is saying it? What is happening in the conversation? The same word can do different jobs, or no precise job at all. Its meaning is not fixed in a single phrase.

Cambridge Dictionary lexical program manager Colin McIntosh says internet culture is influencing English. University of Edinburgh sociolinguist Christian Ilbury also points to social media platforms such as TikTok, where many young people communicate. He notes that greater visibility can help words reach communities that may not have used them before.

But a word becoming visible online does not automatically make it a lasting part of English. Cambridge Dictionary tracks word use through the Cambridge English Corpus, a database containing more than 2 billion words of written and spoken English. McIntosh says the dictionary adds words it considers likely to have “staying power.” The article does not say whether “skibidi” will remain in use over time; its addition shows that the word has become notable enough to be recorded, not that its future is settled.

The story offers a small window into how language moves. A playful term can circulate in online spaces, gather different meanings and come to the attention of people who study language. Dictionaries, in turn, observe how words are used before deciding which ones may deserve a place in their pages.

So the next time a new expression appears in a video or a chat, it may be worth asking: Is it a passing joke, a useful new way to communicate, or both? “Skibidi” shows that even a word described as gibberish can prompt a serious question about how English keeps changing.

Source: Cambridge Dictionary adds ‘skibidi’ and ‘tradwife’ among 6,000 new words, The Associated Press

A new institution does not take shape all at once. Republic Polytechnic’s early milestones, recorded from 2002 to 2006, show its beginnings at a temporary campus, the arrival of its first students and the gradual expansion of its schools and facilities.

In 2002, RP began operations at a temporary campus in Tanglin. The institution was officially established a month later. Its identity was taking shape too: a logo designed by Raymond Lee was chosen from 600 entries in a competition. These early steps gave the new polytechnic both a place to begin and a visual mark of its own.

The next year brought the start of classes. RP’s pioneer cohort numbered 843 students, spread across three schools: Applied Science, Engineering, and Information and Communications Technology, now called the School of Infocomm. For those students, Tanglin was the setting for the institution’s first classes. At the same time, a groundbreaking ceremony marked the next stage in RP’s physical development: a campus at Woodlands.

In 2003, RP also achieved ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 certifications. The milestone record lists these alongside the beginnings of teaching and the Woodlands campus project, capturing several strands of the polytechnic’s early development in a single year.

By 2005, RP’s academic offerings had broadened with the launch of the Schools of Technology for the Arts and Sports, Health and Leisure. The campus story also advanced: the Republic Polytechnic Centre building was officially opened on 19 November 2005 by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, then Minister for Education.

Taken together, these milestones trace a period of change: RP moved from starting operations at Tanglin to welcoming its first cohort, planning for Woodlands and adding new schools and facilities. The record offers a snapshot of that early growth—not a complete account of the institution’s later history. Still, the sequence from 2002 to 2005 shows how a polytechnic’s foundations can be built through classrooms, programmes, a campus and an emerging identity.

Source: 2002–2006, Republic Polytechnic

A food trend can arrive with a burst of attention, then make room for something quieter. In Singapore, 2025 brought plenty of dishes and ideas into the spotlight. But chefs looking ahead to 2026 expect another kind of change: more local and regional ingredients finding their way into the kitchen.

The Straits Times article looks back at several food phenomena that caught attention in Singapore during 2025. Matcha, Chinese food brands and chilli-crab-inspired offerings were among them. Banana pudding spread through local cafes amid a TikTok trend, while artisanal pizzerias helped make pizza more visible.

These examples set the scene; they are not predictions for 2026. The article’s main look ahead is less about naming the next viral dish and more about how chefs may shape their menus. The chefs interviewed expect contemporary cooking to draw increasingly on ingredients and flavours rooted in the region, as Singapore’s food scene matures.

Francois Mermilliod, executive chef of private members’ club 67 Pall Mall, connects this interest to several developments. Diners are more environmentally aware, chefs have a role in sharing culinary culture, and regional producers are improving the quality of their ingredients. Together, these factors help explain why a chef might look closer to home when deciding what to serve.

Sujatha Asokan, chef de cuisine at Quenino, offers an example of what that approach can look like. Her cooking uses ginger flower, jungle garlic and turmeric, and pays tribute to local dishes such as chicken rice and assam laksa. The connection between ingredients and familiar dishes gives regional flavours a place in contemporary cooking, rather than treating them as a passing novelty.

That shift may be less conspicuous than a social-media food craze. A viral trend can draw attention quickly; changes in sourcing ingredients and planning menus may happen more quietly. The article’s point is that both kinds of change help shape food trends: what people notice online, and the decisions chefs make behind the scenes.

Value is another consideration. The piece notes that chefs are increasingly focused on offering diners better value amid rising costs and consumer apathy. That concern sits alongside the interest in regional ingredients, adding another practical consideration to the way menus are planned.

These are chefs’ expectations, shared in January 2026, not a report on what ultimately became popular across the year. Still, the outlook suggests that the next chapter of Singapore’s food scene may be shaped not only by what captures attention, but also by where ingredients come from and the culinary stories they carry.

Source: 2026 food trends: Chefs foresee the rise of regional ingredients, sustainable cooking, The Straits Times

Every November, an online challenge gives abstinence a catchy name: No Nut November, often shortened to NNN. As described in an AsiaOne article published on November 5, 2020, it asks participants to try to abstain from ejaculation throughout the month. The challenge is meme-driven, with completing it framed as a test of willpower. The article does not point to an organiser or lay out a formal rulebook beyond that basic description.

The story’s focus is not on how many people take part, but on a public-service post from Singapore Legal Advice. The local legal portal addressed questions about pornography and joining the challenge in Singapore. In particular, the article reports that the post distinguished between watching pornography and possessing or downloading it. It also cautioned against sharing nude images or ejaculating in public.

That distinction matters: the article is reporting what a legal portal said in 2020, not offering confirmation of what the law says today. Its account should be read in that time-bound context, rather than treated as up-to-date legal advice. The brief does not provide the precise legal analysis behind the post, so it would be a mistake to fill in details that the article summary does not give.

There is another important limit to the story. It shows that No Nut November was being discussed online in Singapore by November 2020, and that a local legal portal had addressed it. But it gives no participation figures and no evidence that more people were joining over time. Online attention, on its own, does not tell us how many people are taking part or whether participation is growing.

The article offers a snapshot of a meme-driven challenge meeting a practical question: how should people think about its boundaries? Its clearest lesson is to keep the claims in perspective. The challenge is described as an attempt at abstinence, while the legal discussion is presented as a 2020 report—not a measure of participation or a guide to current law.

Source: What’s No Nut November? Singapore Legal Advice has a PSA about it – and pornography, AsiaOne

Walk through a Singapore hawker centre and you might see two payment worlds side by side: a QR code at one stall, a “Cash Only” sign at the next. A 2024 Straits Times report captured that uneven change, showing that the move towards digital payments was still a work in progress—not a switch that every hawker had made.

At West Coast Food Centre, noodle-stall owner Angie Sim, then 65, preferred cash. She said it suited both her and many of her customers, some of whom were older and less comfortable with technology. Sim had worked at the centre with her stall partner for more than 20 years. For her, keeping payments familiar made sense.

The newspaper spoke with stallholders across eight hawker centres who had not adopted digital payments. Their reasons varied. Some had limited digital skills or poor eyesight. Others worried that customers might find payment devices difficult to use, or that they would have to spend time checking whether each transaction had gone through.

At ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre, a drinks-stall owner in his 70s said it was difficult to remember how to use digital platforms and verify payments during busy periods. If a customer did not have cash, he sometimes served them and let them pay later. At Albert Centre Market and Food Centre, drinks-stall owner Mr Tan, who was in his 60s, also found checking each e-payment troublesome.

There was a national push to make digital payments easier for hawkers. By the time of the article, more than 11,500 hawkers had adopted SGQR, a standardised QR code introduced in 2018. It was designed to let stalls accept payments from multiple mobile e-wallets using one code.

The Hawkers Go Digital programme, launched in 2020, offered a waiver of the 0.5 per cent transaction fee on the first $20,000 of a hawker’s monthly SGQR transactions. On October 10, 2024, Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority announced that the waiver would be extended to the end of 2025. The stated aim was to bring the 18,000 stallholders in government-run food centres on board with digital payments.

For some hawkers, going digital brought practical benefits. The article says some found cashless payments convenient and appreciated handling less cash. Some also reported increased sales, particularly from younger customers. Yet those advantages did not mean every stall had switched—or that cash had disappeared.

The story is less about one payment method winning than about a change happening at different speeds. A QR code can offer convenience, while cash may feel simpler for a stallholder or customer. In Singapore’s hawker centres, the two were still sharing the counter, and the transition remained ongoing.

Source: Why cash is still king for some hawkers in Singapore despite digitalisation push, The Straits Times

A walk by the water, a meal outdoors and a pet at your side: for some diners, that outing could soon become easier. A change announced by the Singapore Food Agency means that, from January 1, 2025, eateries with outdoor dining areas can welcome customers with pets without applying for a pet-café licence—provided the business does not serve pet food.

For Whisk & Paddle, a waterfront café on Tebing Lane, the change could make a difference. The café sits beside the Punggol Park Connector, a route frequented by dog owners. Previously, it had turned away customers with pets because it did not hold the required licence, disappointing people who hoped to stop by with their companions.

After the announcement, the café began sourcing chairs intended for pets and considered offering disposable water bowls. It also planned to reserve some outdoor seats for diners who do not bring pets. That arrangement could help address concerns about hygiene and allergies while allowing pet owners to dine there too.

The SFA said existing food-safety requirements were sufficient to mitigate the low risk of disease transmission in outdoor dining areas. But the practical details still matter to businesses. Whisk & Paddle said it was unclear whether the rules would allow animals other than dogs—such as cats, birds, hamsters and rabbits—at its outdoor tables. The article does not confirm that these animals are permitted at the café.

The change applies to outdoor dining areas at private food businesses, including sheltered areas that are not enclosed. It does not apply everywhere. Businesses that serve pet food still need a pet-café licence, while pets remain prohibited at hawker centres and their outdoor dining areas, which the SFA describes as communal spaces. Pet dogs also remain prohibited at halal-certified premises.

That distinction is important: the announcement concerns outdoor areas at certain private eateries, not shared dining spaces such as hawker centres. For businesses like Whisk & Paddle, it offers a way to welcome pet owners without the previous licensing requirement, while leaving questions about which animals are covered for operators to clarify.

The new rules may make some outdoor meals more accessible to people dining with pets. As cafés prepare for the change, clear guidance on its boundaries will help both businesses and customers understand where pets can join them—and where they cannot.

Source: Pet owners and eateries welcome easing of al fresco dining rules, even as some seek more clarity, The Straits Times

At a hawker stall, a meal can be paid for with cash—or, increasingly, with a quick scan of a QR code. Singapore’s Hawkers Go Digital programme has been encouraging stallholders to add electronic payments, including payments through the Singapore Quick Response Code (SGQR) platform. The change is gathering pace, but the story is not that hawker centres have gone cashless. It is a gradual shift, supported by a temporary subsidy.

Introduced in 2018 by Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the programme aimed to get about 18,000 stallholders in government-run food centres to adopt digital payments. By October 2024, more than 11,500 hawkers had done so.

For stallholders, accepting digital payments can also mean paying transaction fees. To help make the transition easier, the Government extended the programme’s subsidy until the end of 2025. At the time of the report, the subsidy covered the 0.5 per cent transaction fee on the first $20,000 of digital transactions made by each stall every month.

The extension was intended to encourage hawkers to continue adopting digital payments and to help them adjust to paying transaction fees without a subsidy. That support mattered in a period when hawkers were also facing rising operating costs, the agencies said.

The figures in the article offer a snapshot of how use of the system has grown. In August 2023, transactions through the programme totalled $45 million in value, across 5.4 million transactions. A year later, in August 2024, monthly transaction value had reached $60 million, while transaction volume had risen to 7.6 million.

Those increases sit alongside the growing number of participating hawkers. They show that electronic payments through the programme were being used more often, while the subsidy gave stallholders a window to adapt to fees. The figures do not tell us what share of all hawker stalls had adopted e-payments, or whether participating stalls stopped accepting cash; the report does not say either.

The extension had a clear end point: the end of 2025. The article describes support through that date, but does not establish what subsidy arrangements would follow. For hawkers and customers alike, the programme’s story is therefore one of a continuing transition: more stalls taking digital payments, growing use of the system, and a temporary measure intended to make the adjustment easier.

Source: Subsidy for hawkers to adopt digital payments extended to end-2025, The Straits Times

A customer scans a QR code at a hawker stall, and a payment is made without cash changing hands. By October 2024, more than 11,500 hawkers in Singapore had adopted cashless payments through the Hawkers Go Digital programme. But for stallholders, moving to digital payments also meant getting used to transaction fees.

To give hawkers more time to adjust, the government extended the programme’s subsidy until the end of 2025. The subsidy covered a 0.5 per cent transaction fee on each stall’s first $20,000 in monthly digital transactions. Customers paid by QR code through the Singapore Quick Response Code, or SGQR, platform.

Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority introduced the initiative in 2018. Its goal was to help about 18,000 stallholders in government-run food centres adopt digital payments before subsidies were lifted. These centres include those operated by the National Environment Agency and the Housing Board.

The extension followed two changes to the original timeline. The scheme had been due to end on December 31, 2023, before being extended to the end of 2024. The latest extension came after feedback from hawkers, with Enterprise Singapore and IMDA saying it would support their transition to paying transaction fees without the subsidy. The agencies also pointed to rising operating costs.

The figures show that use of digital payments had grown. In August 2024, the monthly transaction value reached $60 million, compared with $45 million in August 2023. The number of transactions also increased, from 5.4 million to 7.6 million over the same period.

Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling described the programme as part of efforts to help hawkers thrive in the digital age. The extended subsidy gives participating stallholders more time to become familiar with e-payments and prepare for a non-subsidised payment structure.

The programme’s growth does not mean that every hawker or food centre accepts cashless payments, or that cash has disappeared. Instead, the extension marks another step in supporting hawkers as they adapt to digital transactions, while giving them time to adjust to the costs involved.

Source: Subsidy for hawkers to adopt digital payments extended to end-2025, The Straits Times