We may not have had quite as much unfettered reading time as we did in the lockdown days of the COVID pandemic, but Engadget's editors have still managed to pick out, peruse and ponder a broad variety of this year's most intriguing books. Whether we learned how to wield a wok, listened to life lessons from Hideo Kojima, or dove into the seedy underbelly of an alt-universe 1940's San Francisco, here are a few of our favorites from 2022. Classic noir cinema was a staple in my house growing up -- I mean, my first celebrity crush was on The Thin Man series co-star, Myrna Loy -- so any story from the days when mugs were mooks and gals were dames holds sway over my heart. But The Thin Man, like the rest of the media made at that time, only showed a very narrow, very male, very white view of life. Christopher Moore's latest novel, Razzmatazz, adds some much needed color to the otherwise black-and-white world of noir.

Ansel, age 11, plays Fortnite featuring Travis Scott's in-game event, "Astronomical," on April 23, 2020 in South Pasadena, Calif. Ansel, age 11, plays Fortnite featuring Travis Scott's in-game event, "Astronomical," on April 23, 2020 in South Pasadena, Calif. On Thursday, Grammy-nominated rapper Travis Scott performed to millions of fans worldwide -- not during a living room set or from an empty venue, but via the massively popular video game Fortnite. Fortnite's developer Epic Games says the virtual concert drew in 12.3 million players, setting "an all-time record" for an in-game event. Over the course of the performance, Scott appeared as a towering version of himself which transformed into different globe-headed avatars transported through a series of impossible landscapes. The performance also featured the debut of a collaboration with Kid Cudi, "The Scotts."

Nvidia's future-focused reveal of the GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti admirably outlined the gorgeous potential of real-time ray tracing, but left gamers hanging on a key question: How will the new Turing-based GPUs perform in traditional non-ray-traced games? With preorders already open for GeForce RTX graphics cards, it's a crucial detail. On Wednesday, Nvidia pulled back the curtain on how much faster the GeForce RTX 2080 is compared to the GeForce GTX 1080, and revealed some additional information about new RTX-boosted software features, including a massive upgrade to Ansel super-screenshots. Nvidia expects rasterized (read: normal) PC games to run about 1.5 times faster on the GeForce RTX 2080 than the GeForce GTX 1080, as you can see in the graph below. Games that take advantage of the new Deep Learning Super Sampling technology for the GeForce RTX series are roughly twice as fast on the 2080, Nvidia says.

Artificial Intelligence is top of mind for most technology leaders these days and as a result the competition for employees with an AI skillset is high. So how do employers attract this elite group of people? Assuming the salary you are offering meets their expectations, here are some suggestions from people who know. People want to work for an organization that is having a positive impact on the world and they want to work in a place where they can reach their potential. Such was the case with Pamela Wickersham, who left SpringCM several years ago to join Google's Ad Tech team.

GoDaddy may not spring to mind as a developer of cutting-edge AI technology, but the internet company is currently employing new tech to help small businesses compete with tech giants. "If you have the local bookstore that has built their website on GoDaddy, that local bookstore needs to compete with Amazon," GoDaddy director of engineering Jason Ansel told VentureBeat in an interview. Amazon is a machine learning powerhouse. One of the most significant issues facing those small businesses is a shortage of data compared to their huge competitors. But Ansel says GoDaddy is in a position to pool information across its massive customer base to create intelligent systems that help them all.

At GDC 2018, they're debuting in games like Tekken 7, Star Wars Battlefront II, and Call of Duty to help you spread your most glorious gaming moments to the world. Highlights was formerly called ShadowPlay Highlights, but it seems Nvidia changed the name to coincide with these announcements. It automatically identifies your gaming highlights--such as kills, multi-hit combos, or oh-so-delicious chicken dinners--and lets you easily create short video clips that can be shared on social networks. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, LawBreakers, Metal Gear Survive, and Fortnite Battle Royale previously supported Highlights, and it's coming to even more games soon: the aforementioned Tekken 7, Call of Duty: WWII, and Star Wars Battlefront II, as well as Escape from Tarkov and Dying Light: Bad Blood. Better yet, you can share your clips as GIFs now!

For years I've claimed Assassin's Creed is better as virtual tourism than it is as a game proper. It was only a matter of time until they gave players a camera. Uplay tells me I'm at 83 percent completion overall--just some forts and a few side quests to mop up, but I've finished Bayek's story, learned how the Assassins came into existence, uncovered the secrets of the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx. And Bayek's right, the Sphinx is smaller than I thought. And yet my map is still full of icons.